Max Richter – The Barbican, London 24/01/14

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In 2002 composer Max Richter released his debut album Memoryhouse, recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. An epic journey of sweeping orchestral strings it’s abstract electronic flourishes and subtle repetitions crossed over with scenesters in to Sigur Ros and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. And tonight those same scenesters pack in to the Barbican’s huge main hall for the album’s live debut, more than a decade after its release.

Looking on to a full orchestra set-up I feel like I’ve gatecrashed The Last Night Of The Proms, such is Richter’s weighty reputation as prolific modern composer equally at home with film scores, ballet and multimedia art installations. Perhaps more recently famous for his award-winning Waltz With Bashir film score, Richter has co-written a ballet with Wayne McGregor and even had solo albums released on Fat Cat. Such a neat crossover of Radio 3 and 6 Music audiences may have rightly cemented Richter’s career, but does it add up to an amazing live show?

Not exactly. While opening piece “Europe” is rendered in all it’s epic proportions by the full orchestra, it’s a little uncomfortable watching Richter then stumble over the opening bars of “The Twins”. At the heart of Memoryhouse‘s haunting cinerama, however, are are those mournfully repeating string melodies, where cellist Paul Grennan and violinist Eva Thorarinsdottir steal the show. Her note-perfect, near-frantic arpeggios of “Sarajevo” soar around the Barbican amphitheatre while Grennan’s beautiful playing on “Sketchbook” evokes Mr Rochester galloping through the moors.

But there remains an uneven dynamic with so many elements in the mix, both visually and musically. Sitting centre stage at the helm of piano, laptop and harpsichord Richter’s electronic openings and recorded voices are tagged on rather than layered into the mood of the music. And purists, too, would frown at a soprano singing into a microphone. Sitting there among all the punters in this great space I wonder, what is everyone one else hearing that I am not? But that is Memoryhouse’s main appeal: accessibility. Rousing, filmic, yes. But at times it does feel like a live score to an Audi commercial.

12 years after it’s first release, Memoryhouse remains a rare moment where classical training and national orchestras cross over with post-rock, hipsters and indie labels. But the live performance somehow falls between the cracks of those two differing musical worlds.