It’s hard to imagine the biographies of two collaborating artists looking more incongruous and incompatible than those of Hans Joachim Roedelius and Christopher Chaplin. The former, born 1934 in Berlin, who lists his occupations as nurse, physiotherapist, masseur, escort of the dying, composer, writer, poet, foto-collage-artist, producer, curator. The latter, born 1962 in Lausanne. The youngest son of Charlie Chaplin, a trained pianist but an actor by trade until resuming musical work in 2005. Yet, strangely and surprisingly, it seems to be a perfect union, with the resultant album a masterclass in both composition and execution.
Trickling effortlessly between ostensibly conventional neoclassical movements and dissonant, tension-building passages, ‘King of Hearts’ is broadly filmic and evolutionary within the framework of its own existence. At times tranquil and at others tempestuous, it’s a beautifully balanced work that far surpasses expectations or prejudices.
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