ELISION: The Table of Knowledge

For their performance in Primrose Potter Salon, ELISION traverses the contrabass solo Table of Knowledge which gives this performance its title and refers to a section of the Medieval-inspired garden of the Cistercian Abbey of Royaumont in Asnières-sur-Oise, France visited by composer Liza Lim in 2010.

Arrayed there were psychotropic and poisonous plants including some of the typical ingredients of a hallucinogenic mixture known as ‘witches’ flying ointment’: datura, belladonna, henbane and cannabis. These plants are understood in various traditions in Europe and Asia as ‘pharmakon’ – both poison and remedy, where their potentially lethal toxic properties are employed for ritual and medicinal purposes.

The idea of dangerous, compelling and wildly crafted sonic imaginations continues with a program comprising Richard Barrett’s ferocious and unrelenting splinter, Einar Torfi Einarsson’s implosive and subterranean graphic score and trios for percussion, harp and contrabass by Mary Bellamy and Dominik Karski which deliver energising and beguiling alternative folk music.

ELISION presents one of the most interesting contrabass performances from young virtuosi Kathryn Schulmeister and Rohan Dasika; rare flights of the imagination from some of the amazing composers of our time.