{"id":31,"date":"2026-10-21T13:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/projekte\/bartellow-noosphere\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T13:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:31:37","slug":"bartellow-noosphere","status":"publish","type":"projekt","link":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/?projekt=bartellow-noosphere","title":{"rendered":"Bartellow \u2013 Noosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"

2LP “Noosphere” on ESP Institute<\/strong><\/p>\n

ESP Institute artist Bartellow, one third of the project Tambien and otherwise known in the Contemporary Classical sphere as Beni Brachtel, returns to the label with his second full-length release, ‘Noosphere’. While currently heading the SVS label and residency series out of Munich, Beni\u2019s resume expands well beyond electronic music to include immersive sound installations such as ‘The Adventure Of The Empty House’ (solo live performance across seven floors of Walter Henn\u2019s Deckelbau building), a slew of compositions for the Bavarian State Opera (for which he doubled as conductor), and a prolific career of over twenty-five theater scores for institutions such as the M\u00fcnchner Kammerspiele, Schauspiel Basel, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Berliner Ensemble, Schauspiel K\u00f6ln, Schauspiel Graz and with directors Ersan Mondtag, Alexander Eisenach, Jessica Glause and Tobias Staab among others. <\/p>\n

‘Noosphere’ is a compendium excerpting from theatrical scores ‘WUT’ (Elfriede Jelinek, at Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2020), ‘\u00d6dipus and Antigone’ (Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2017), ‘Der Zauberberg’ (Thomas Mann, Schauspiel Graz, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2017), ‘Hass Tryptichon’ (Sybille Berg, Wiener Festwochen \/ Maxim Gorki Theatre, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019), ‘Wonderland Ave.’ (Sibylle Berg, Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2018), ‘Die Verdammten’ (after Visconti\u00b4s film, Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019) and ‘Roi Ubu’ (Alfred Jarry, Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2018). <\/p>\n

The work traverses homages, infusing everything from Baroque to Impressionism, and while these types of references are certainly built into the canon of Theatre as a discipline, here we gather historic layers in an even wider net. Under the self-referential thumb of Contemporary Classical music, this sort of “hindsight” approach has been largely avoided, however, in today\u2019s all-access arena, the constant stream of historic causal-chained events has opened a delta where anything is possible. This defines Bartellow\u2019s stance among his colleagues as well as his cultural position as a composer. <\/p>\n

Beni considers beauty a fleeting objective in the arts, that expression is often expected to follow notions of Destructivism or the unfulfilled. Art will pore over wounds, collective angst, mourning a loss of natural habitat or a fear of technological invasion, yet there is a bitter irreverence for the friction or salvation in beauty itself. Acknowledging this subjectivity \u2014 what one audience considers superficial pleasure may be deeply profound to another \u2014 he leans into musical instinct as if composing via divine conduit. <\/p>\n

‘Noosphere’ conjures an array of suspense, ecstasy, melancholy, and dread, but in isolating the work from its theatrical component, Brachtel directs our focus toward formal qualities, clearing unimpeded space to conceive fresh narratives and examine dynamism and interconnectivity. In sympathy with often difficult theatre pieces, the passages can be dark and transgressive, but more importantly they remain relative to Brachtel\u2019s circumstances at their time of creation. The title ‘Noosphere’ speaks to the evolution of human thought and knowledge, opening a door to subjective points-of-view. For example, ‘Nexus II On The Beach’ refers to both Roberto Musci\u2019s ‘Water Messages On Desert Sand’ as well as the film ‘Bladerunner’, invoking the image of a android enjoying the sunset, but whether or not this abstraction may be considered beautiful depends the listener\u2019s cumulative life experience and perspective. <\/p>\n

This is hybrid chamber music, augmented by electro-acoustic layers, juxtaposing various periods and successively processing their residual themes into a trans-generational rendering of \u201cnow.\u201d
\ncredits
\nreleased January 26, 2024 <\/p>\n

All works composed, conducted, recorded and mixed by Beni Brachtel, 2017-2020. <\/p>\n

A1, B1, B7, C1, C2, \u2018WUT\u2019 [excerpt], Elfriede Jelinek, at Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2020. Violin: Anton Roters, Emmanuel Hahn; Viola: Georg Roters; Violoncello: Johannes K\u00f6nig; Doublebass: Juan Ruiz; Trombone: Marina Langert; Bass Trombone: Felix Schlueter; French; Horn: Lukas R\u00fcdisser; Percussion \/ Drumset: Gabriel Hahn; Piano: Jean-Pierre Collot; Timpani: Benedikt Kurz. A4, B3, D1, D3, D4 \u2018\u00d6dipus and Antigone\u2019 [excerpt], Maxim Gorki Theatre Berlin, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2017. Arnon Quartett: Violin: Emmanuel Hahn, Elias Sch\u00f6del; Viola: Rosa George; Violoncello: Johannes Dworatzek; Record-ing: Moritz Colitti. B4 \u2018Der Zauberberg\u2019 [excerpt], Thomas Mann, Schauspiel Graz, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2017. B5 \u2018Hass Tryptichon\u2019 [excerpt], Sybille Berg, Wiener Festwochen \/ Maxim Gorki Theatre, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019. Violin: Gayoung Turrell, Emmanuel Hahn; Viola: Ludwig Hahn; Violoncello: Diego Hernandez; Double-bass: Robin Yermer; Drums: Daniel Scheffels. A2, B6, C4 \u2018Wonderland Ave.\u2019 [excerpt], Sibylle Berg, Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2018. Piano: Claudia Chan; Violine: Francesca Reyter; Viola: Tabea Haarmann-Thiemann; Violoncello: Ulrike Sch\u00e4fer. C3 \u2018Die Verdammten\u2019 [excerpt], after Visconti’s film, Schauspielhaus K\u00f6ln, directed by Ersan Mondtag, 2019. Piano: Jean-Pierre Collot; Viola: Ludwig Hahn; Violoncello: Nargiza Yusupova, Walter Brachtel; Bassflute: Serena Amino; Bassclarinet: Arabella Puruckerl Bassoon: Kaspar Reh. D5 \u2018Roi Ubu\u2019 [excerpt], Alfred Jarry, Theater Neumarkt, Zurich, directed by Alexander Eisenach, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32,"menu_order":9,"template":"","bereich":[4],"class_list":["post-31","projekt","type-projekt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","bereich-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/projekt\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/projekt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/projekt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bereich","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neu.benibrachtel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbereich&post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}