Robert Laidlow: Reality Eaters album review

BBC Philharmonic/Havlat/Kaziboni/Piatti Quartet (NMC) Einstein’s field equations, Newton’s universal law and artificial intelligence are among the subjects of Laidlow’s ambitious orchestral works

R obert Laidlow is as at home in the realms of science and technology as he is in the world of classical music. As this NMC debut album demonstrates, his intricate, wildly imaginative work is eminently approachable, even if the core concepts are highly complex.

Warp, a terse, 12-minute piano concerto, proposes a musical solution to Einstein’s field equations as the intrepid Joseph Havlat boldly goes where no pianist has gone before amid the distorting fabric of orchestral space-time. Strident orchestral lines spiral ever upwards, stretching instruments to their limits, while the piano maintains its course towards a serene conclusion. Handsomely recorded, the BBC Philharmonic and Vimbayi Kaziboni offer vibrantly detailed support.

The Piatti Quartet plays Gravity, a harmonically unstable if slightly verbose homage to Newton’s universal law that at one point pitches the players into the musical equivalent of a black hole.

Silicon, a mind-expanding three-movement work of symphonic proportions, employs a cheeky wit as it reckons with the impact of AI on human creativity. In the opening movement, Mind, Laidlow’s music wrestles with a machine that has been instructed to imitate his own output. Body employs teasing adaptive electronics in the service of diabolical musical deepfakes. Finally, Soul pits the BBC Philharmonic against an AI algorithm trained on its own broadcasts, phantom announcers and all.