Dmytro’s twist on movie a reel treat
Renowned pianist Dmytro Morykit will bring an iconic silent film to life when he performs a live score at Perth Concert Hall next month.
Dmytro, who lives in Comrie, has written a series of new pieces to complement Fritz Lang’s influential science fiction film Metropolis.
Over two hours, he will perform live on stage as theatre-goers watch and listen to both him and the movie in an electrifying show which has received standing ovations following previous performances.
The concert takes place on Saturday, October 8, with Dmytro playing a total of 29 compositions solo and from memory during the 1927 film classic.
He told the Herald: “It requires a lot of stamina to play and to hold an audience for that length of time.
“I spent some time as a lounge pianist earlier in my career which definitely helped with that.
“And the performances I’ve done so far have been great experiences with lovely reactions from the audiences.”
Dmytro was born in Northampton to parents displaced during the Second World War.
His father was Ukrainian and his mother Italian and he didn’t speak English when he first arrived at school.
Instead he turned to music and, in particular, the piano as a way of expressing himself beginning lessons at the age of five.
In later life, he moved to Edinburgh where he brought up two children and worked on a variety of musical projects.
He toured Poland with influential artist Richard Demarco and wrote compositions in collaborations with dance and theatre companies.
He also worked for some years as the resident pianist at Edinburgh’s Sheraton Hotel, which proved an excellent grounding for the gruelling Metropolis performances to come.
A few years ago, he and his partner Hazel Cameron moved to Comrie where Dmytro decided to concentrate on playing his own music alongside silent films.
He worked on a project called Music in Manufacture which featured a selection of his compositions accompanied by short films visualising various manufacturing processes.
After watching a performance at Strathearn Artspace in Crieff, Felicity Snowsill, of Comrie Film Club, suggested he write a new score for Fritz Lang’s classic Metropolis.
Dmytro said: “She said: ` Why don’t you do Metropolis?, I said `yes’ and Hazel booked it for just eight weeks after that – which was pretty soon!
“I knew the film quite well and started work immediately.
“Because of the limited time frame, instead of writing a lot of new material, I decided to incorporate some of the pieces I had done in the past and reworked them.
“This worked well and gave me the chance to showcase a lot of the pieces I’ve written before – some of which had been used in choreography and some which had run alongside short films.”
Since Dmytro finished his compositions, Metropolis LIVE has been performed 18 times across the UK, most recently at Green Man Festival in Wales.
The performance proved popular among the mixed audience of families and festival- goers, who gave Dmytro a standing ovation at the end which he describes as “quite overwhelming and just amazing”.
The classical musician’s career has rocketed since Metropolis LIVE, with his music now listened to and downloaded across the world with fan mail arriving in Comrie from Turkey, South America and the USA.
He said: “Everything has really taken off since we moved to Comrie – it’s a great place to live and I enjoy being able to engage with the community here.”
Dmytro is now busy practising for the Perth performance. The evening was described in one review as being modern yet with a “timeless quality that might contribute to Metropolis being embraced by a wider contemporary audience”.
The show takes place from 7.30pm on October 8 at the concert hall.
Tickets are available by calling the box office on 01738 621031 or online via www.horsecross.co.uk