Infra

This latest release from modern classical star Max Richter is a collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor for the Royal Ballet. Premiered at the Royal Opera House in November 2008, the piece was put in the spotlight by a BBC documentary around the same time, only to be revived at the beginning of this year, resuming its run at Covent Garden.
 
Richter's soundtrack is an absorbing blend of shortwave-style droning transmissions, beautiful string ensemble pieces and piano compositions. Compared with his solo studio albums, the format of the score seems to permit Richter to shift into a more abstract mode at regular points over the course of the album, dissolving orchestration into airwave-cruising static for introductory piece 'Infra 1' or exploring a dulcet ether-dwelling hum on 'Journey 2', but over the course of the album you'll hear plenty of this composer's more conventional neo-classical writing too: 'Infra 5' is vintage Max Richter, developing a sumptuous, yet repetitive melodic theme and laying a shifting chord sequence beneath it. The results are typically emotive and by the conclusion ascend to a kind of urgent crescendo while blistering radio noise begins to swell in the mix.
 
A quick glance at Richter's IMDB page suggests that we can expect more collaborations and soundtrack-style projects from Richter in the months and years to come; already he's scored a slew of TV projects, along with notable films such as Waltz With Bashir, and recently the Blue Notebooks piece, 'On The Nature Of Daylight' played a prominent role in Scorcese's gothic schlock-fest, Shutter Island. Infra proves Richter's versatility and searchingly experimental drive as a composer, pitching that ideal balance between ear-bending soundscapes and all-out heartbreak. Highly Recommended.