Review: Les Quatre Temps Cardinaux

The poems [in Felder's Les Quatre Temps Cardinaux] are heard not only in the spiky, emotionally intense vocal writing, but spoken on the recorded tracks, which also include percussion sounds and the sparkle, buzz and variegated growl of purely electronic timbres, all moving around a dozen speakers placed throughout the hall. Abstract video by Olivier Pasquet added atmosphere rather than commentary. All this could easily have become an exhibition of gimmickry, but Mr. Felder kept his grand audio-visual fabric focused, sober and often wrenching.