A Cage in Search of a Nightingale

Lose yourself in the sights and sounds of a cinema temple. Here, the profane is sacred, flesh is exalted and monks sublimate desire by milking llamas during the witching hour.

Armenia’s leading composer Tigran Mansurian collaborates with Elvin Brandhi, the Cathy Berberian of Bridgend, to create a new sound work. The piece will accompany Daniel Bird’s film-triptych of outtakes, screen and camera tests from The Colour of Pomegranates, the Soviet-Armenian classic that marked Mansurian’s beginning as a composer.

In the original film, the life of the poet Sayat Nova served as a springboard for the wayward director’s fantasy. Thanks in part to censorship from the authorities, Parajanov’s wildest imaginings were missing from the final cut. After rummaging through the editing bins of a defunct Soviet film studio, all that was repressed now takes centre stage…

A Cage In Search of a Nightingale and its supporting programme has been supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.