Edinburgh International Festival: Ensemble musikFabrik's tribute to Frank Zappa

Does opera have room for film? And live video? Multiple screens and advertorials? And allusions to onscreen identity and cyber-immortality?

An evening of frivolousness and solemnity.

Under the direction of Heiner Goebbels, Ensemble Musikfabrik’s twenty-two multifaceted percussionist-vocalist-actor musicians executed an industrious performance of Partch’s magnum opus, The Delusion of the Fury.

In the world of concert music, it is a rare privilege to witness the first ever performance of an instrument in Britain, let alone a whole host that have been specifically created for a piece of music. A stage full of weird and wonderful creations took over the Colston Hall for one of the most surreal concerts I have ever attended.

If there were a gold medal for programming at Musikfest Berlin, it would go to last night’s concert with the RIAS Chamber Choir, Ensemble musikFabrik, and a host of other musicians, gathered under the baton of James Wood.

My preparations for a Thursday evening trip to Lincoln Center: studying the super-formula of Stockhausen’s 29-hour opera project, entitled Licht; choosing an outfit in the perfect shade of cerulean; girding myself for a panic attack similar to the one I experienced the last time I witnessed a section from Licht (Oktophonie).