Nosferatu (1922) + Michaela Antalová & Adrian Myhr at The Northern Market
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
With Robert Eggers’ shiny new remake of Nosferatu hitting cinemas across the UK, Elusive Jazz have decided to remind us of the haunting genius of the original 1922 film. Scheduled to screen at The Northern Market in Leeds on Tuesday 21 January, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror will be accompanied by an original live score and special performance by Michaela Antalová and Adrian Myhr who will be using Slovak traditional fujara flute, Norwegian willow flute, double bass and field recordings.
The film is a cornerstone of what we now know as German expressionist cinema, full of stark shadows, dramatic landscapes and the terrifying figure of Count Orlok (played unforgettably by Max Schreck), cast in silhouette against the night sky. It was the first of countless adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula — a fact that almost proved its doom when Stoker’s estate won a copyright case that demanded all copies be destroyed — and helped set the template for so many screen vampires to come.
Slovakian flautist Michaela Antalová and Norwegian double bassist Adrian Myhr blend traditional folk musics from their respective countries with field recordings to compose new hybrid soundscapes. The Oslo-based couple have a background in avant-garde, contemporary, improv and jazz music and it will be fascinating to see how they interpret and enhance the experience of Murnau’s now century old film.
