Infinite Opera / Rezensionen

Entanglement! An Entropic Tale by the Infinite Opera Company illustrates scientific theories through the medium of "cosmic dissemination opera". As the title indicates, the performance is the depiction of the concept of entropy which, in physics, describes the way energy diffuses into the atmosphere, with death being included in this process. Characters playing the roles of electrons and positrons appear on stage to act out these processes with the use of props in a seemingly random process of give and take. The programme asks you to imagine a cup of coffee with milk being poured into it. As the milk spreads, the amount of possible arrangement of the their particles is greater, "therefore all systems in our universe will move towards such a position". Co-founder of the Infinite Opera Company, who also plays the role of Baron Entropy, Roxanne Korda, wanted to combine her love of music and science. The show very effectively represents the paradoxes and haphazardness of nature, with the music beautifully composed to create an ethereal atmosphere; one note representing entropy chases and destroys the other eleven notes in the scale. The mathematical concept of pi was also used as a tool for composing much of the music. However, despite being based on an arbitrary subject, the music flows effortlessly and not veering too far into the avant-garde as to make it course or difficult to listen to. This is definitely one for the science student and music lover alike.

A brewery might seem like an unlikely place to stage an opera. And beer might seem an unlikely theme for an opera centred around women, and their professional roles. Set it in medieval England and chuck in a harpsichord and it appears more unlikely still, but in fact Infinite Opera’s upcoming mini opera trilogy, Besse: Water, Rye, Hops, which take place in Birmingham’s Digbrew brewery, is rooted in fact and tradition.

“Madcap melodrama”