Virtual Virtuoso
Tim Fain’s “PORTALS” opens many paths for the violin star
By Augusta Olsen
Photos by Colin Conces
“God is alive, magic is afoot.” Leonard Cohen’s evocative statement is right at home in Tim Fain’s multi-media performance, “Portals.” God is still alive in the digital age and magic is on the move, thanks to Fain, the 35-year-old violin virtuoso and his collaborators, who debuted the contemporary recital in New York, Omaha and Los Angeles over the last two weeks.
Fain’s “Portals” project received a flurry of critical adulation between its New York City debut on Sept. 24 and its Los Angeles showing last weekend. Omaha audiences were treated to two mid-week performances by Fain at KANEKO last Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 5 and 6.
Fain’s performances last week marked the climactic growth of a new era in violin music. Fain conceived of the “Portals” program after he was inspired by a particularly epoch work Philip Glass composed for him entitled “Partitia.”
Fain asked Glass to expand “Partitia” and the resulting composition is the centerpiece of Fain’s 85-minute performance, which explores the concepts of human longing and connection through the context of the digital age. Fain offered an mesmerizing live performance set on the backdrop of a film by Kate Hackett.
The film opens to split screen shots of intimate Skype settings; Fain is in his bedroom, unpacking his instrument. Musicians collaborate via the web in the film, dancers dance through lonely houses, Fred Child delivers Cohen’s poetry with might and main, and Fain eloquently unfolds the work of six living composers with such finesse and veracity, it must be considered a contemporary classic.
Glass’s composition is alternately lonely and bold, eerie and nostalgic, much like our wanderings through life, be they in the flesh or online. The other compositions echo these sentiments in the program, with William Bolcom’s “Graceful Ghost Rag” lending a melodic dance toward the end of the program, culminating with Kevin Puts’ soaring piece, “Arches” to close the show to a standing ovation.
Pianist Nicholas Britell and Fain play flawlessly together, although Britell’s performance is only recorded in the movie, which is an extended music video of sorts. The film is as textural visually as the music is sonically, capturing the softness of skin, the sheen of varnished wood and the gauziness of fabrics in a sensory exploration of the digital. Roderick Murray’s lighting design ingeniously connects the live performer with his digital backdrop, creating a seamless and cohesive experience.
While “Portals” is well-balanced between the film aspect and Fain’s live performance, Fain is the undeniable human factor. His presence and his performance establish the supremacy of experiencing an artist’s work live. His emotion in delivering the contemporary violin solos and violin/piano duets is matched by his astonishing precision on his Stradivarius.
“Portals” opens many doors, not just between artists and audience, or different media, but within the mind of the individual, as well. The cerebral works that come to life in “Portals” are as stimulating as they are cryptic. Fain’s synaptic path in “Portals” unlocks a gateway for modern violin music, connecting the past with the future. As Child so grippingly related, “Alive is afoot. Alive is in command…But magic is no instrument. Magic is the end.”