BUBENEC - OPERA by Sonicity

V zimě roku 2009 se budova Staré čističky odpadních vod v Bubenči v Praze 6 stala dějištěm jediného provedení tříhodinové, site-sound-specific, kompo-impro-vizované opery, nebo operety „Lucidní sen pana Williama Heerleina Lindleyho“. Autory scénáře a scénografie byli Peter Cusack a Miloš Vojtěchovský, producenty Michal Rataj z Českého rozhlasu Vltava a kurátorka projektu rádia d-cz Gaby Hartel z Berlina. Archivní album Bubeneč připomíná po 14 letech představení, které tehdy slyšelo a vidělo nanejvýš několik desítek diváků.

In winter 2009 The Old Sewage Plant in Bubeneč, Prague 6, became a set for a three-hour site-sound-specific compo-improvised opera "Lucid Dream of Mr. William Heerlein Lindley". It was designed by Peter Cusack and Miloš Vojtěchovský, produced by Michal Rataj from the Czech Radio Vltava and the curator of the project radio d-cz Gaby Hartel.

The multimedia piece was inspired by special acoustical qualities of the engineering architecture which was the output of the urban metabolism system of the metropolis at the end of 19th century. It reflected the architectural complex, it‘s acoustic qualities, conceptual and historical framework of the surrounding, including the landscape, the technology - screens, sand trap and sedimentation reservoirs - hidden underground in a vast labyrinth of catacombs. The building of Old Sewage Plant represents a neural nod, integrated into the waste water draining system of the city of Prague.

We paid as well a tribute to its architect, British engineer Sir William Heerlein Lindley. The central point of the site / sound stage design was a huge tub placed in the main entrance hall on the ground floor. The vessel was filled with water and contained a number glass bowls of floating on the surface. The vortex was driven by a pump which made bowls hit one another and producing conctinuous soft clinking, an idea designed by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. The sound was amplyfied and fed to PA system. Another source of sound was one of the underground halls with sedimentation basins where performers used handmade objects and instruments. Three performers were reading parts from the historical document about William Lindley, building the underground sewage system of Prague or list of names of Prague streets from 1965. Peter Cusack selected from different field recordings from the database of the Favourite Sounds of Prague project and mixed them live with the other sound inputs, reverberating through the entire building. The inner soundscape was penetrating to outside terrains around the complex located near area where the Vltava river leaves the town.

A respected civil engineer Sir William Heerlein Lindley (1853 in Hamburg – 1917 in London) worked on a number of architectural urban projects in Europe. He worked together with his father on a number of projects in Europe and was a renowned engineer on the turn of the centuries. His specialization was the construction and reconstruction of drinking water and sewage water system in many towns across Europe. Between 1881 and 1889 he supervised the construction of waterworks in Warsaw, designed by his father in 1876-8. He designed and oversaw the construction of the sewage works in Prague, built between 1895 and 1906. He was the architect of the water supply system of (among other places) Saint Petersburg, Kaunas, Magdeburg, Frankfurt, Bucurest, Craiova and delivered the project for water supply system in Baku. In 1909 he designed a drink water and sewage system for Lodz and Wloclawek.

What remains in memory - participated: William Heerlein Lindley - stage design, Miloš Vojtěchovský, Peter Cusack - concept, Michal Rataj - production, voices - Ondřej Vavrečka, Alexander Krestovský, Miloš Vojtěchovský, music performance - Michal Kindernay, Stanislav Abrahám, Lucie Páchová, Matěj Gorner, light design - Jakub Hybler., produkce Nikola Bohmová,

One hour of 180 min performance (visitors coming and leaving) was broadcasted live via Europena Broadcast Union to a satellite network, including Kulturradio in Berlin amd SW Rundfunk in Baden Baden.

The following tracks: Streets and Names, Drops and Sirens, Bells and Bangs are selected segments of the recording made by Milos Vojtěchovský during the event. Tracks Overture and Terminus are composed from various field recordings from the sonicity archive related to the Prague underground.
fecit, MV, 2025.

The album is a hommage to the memory of William Heerlein Lindley and Jakub Hybler (1974– 2023) who designed and built the light design for the entrance hall.

the videodocumentary made by Martin Blažíček can help to imagine the space and setting of the piece.

https://archive.org/details/lindley_202508

Sonicity is a virtual entity, devoted to soundscapes, field recording, acoustic ecology, slow music, slow food, slow movement, quick actions. based in Prague. Occasionally making the recording public. see: sonicity.cz
contact: zvukac@centrum.cz

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