Baryshnikov Arts Center To Screen THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI with Live Music Performed by Puck Quartet

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) continues its Spring 2018 Music Series on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 7:30pm with a screening of the 1920 silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, accompanied by the New York premiere of an inventive score for the film by Stephen Prutsman performed live by New York's Puck Quartet. The film tells the story of a hypnotist who uses a sleepwalker to commit crimes. Directed by Robert Wiene, written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, and dubbed "the first true horror film" by critic Roger Ebert, it is considered a classic.

This quintessential example of German expressionist cinema is paired with Prutsman's new score, which draws on his diverse musical background - he moves freely between classical, jazz, and world music as a composer, conductor, and pianist. Prutsman says, "I was well aware of the cardinal rule that film music ought never take attention away from the film itself; hence a complex yet cheap Schoenberg-like allusion would no doubt detract from the visual. I decided to 'sprinkle' dodecaphonic elements here and there, (Caligari and Cesare do each have their own tone-rows), yet most of what one hears can be described as imitations of either post-romantic concert, salon, theatre, or carnival music around the turn of the 19th century."

Prutsman, who has a passion for silent films, previously scored Buster Keaton's 1924 comedy Sherlock, Jr., which was given its New York premiere at BAC in 2011. The New York Times wrote, "As a composer Mr. Prutsman has worked with collaborators including the Kronos Quartet, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, folk ensembles and jazz orchestras. His multistyled facility was given full vent in Sherlock, Jr. The music one moment evoked a lilting, lyrical Fauré and the next a jaunty rag. When the villain appeared, there were ominous string tremolos and thumping piano themes. During the dream segment there were strange, slightly off, wrong-note waltzes. The big chase scene was prodded along by a relentless peasant dance. And some effective borrowings included a reference to the love-at-first-sight chords from Strauss's 'Rosenkavalier.'"

Leadership support for BAC's music programming is provided by the Anne and Chris Flowers Foundation and the Thompson Family Foundation.

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