Handel ‘Cara pianta’ from Apollo e Dafne | inspired by Radiohead 'No Surprises' with James Newby

With credit to Grant Gee, the filmmaker behind the Radiohead concept for No Surprises. No Surprises’ by Radiohead is an iconic music video. In it we see frontman Thom Yorke submerged underwater for a nail-bitingly long length of time, musing on the banality of life. “That looks dangerous,” we thought. “Let’s do that…but with Handel.” In our latest digital adventure, we play with expectations of genre in this remake of Radiohead’s 'No Surprises' with Handel’s ‘Cara pianta’ from Apollo e Dafne. The breathtaking underwater feat is taken on by baritone James Newby, who is an alumnus of the OAE’s Rising Stars of the Enlightenment singers’ scheme. Why are we doing this? We to explore the effect of taking one of the biggest cultural influences of the 90s, Radiohead and combining them with one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the 1700s, Handel. To celebrate the enduring power of music, whatever the age. What is the link between the pieces? ‘Cara pianta’ is the final setting in the story of a narcissist, Apollo, who expresses unrequited love for a woman, Dafne. After being chased by Apollo, Dafne cries for help and is transformed into a laurel bush to escape Apollo’s advances. Seeing this, Apollo breaks down with grief. Radiohead’s 'No Surprises' is similarly tinged with sorrow as the singer contemplates the banality of life. When we see the water levels rise around him, we feel the visceral sense of claustrophobia, of grief and loss; and the release from it is a baptism into a new life of wise manhood.” If music is good, it’s good regardless of its genre. Love Radiohead. Love Handel. Love Music. This film was made possible by the generous support of Gramophone. Save 25% on gift subscriptions to Gramophone magazine: bit.ly/GRMOAE20 _______________________________ To find out more about this project please join us for a Zoom Webinar Thu 11 Mar 2021 | 6pm with Helen Charlston and James Newby. Helen and James will be joining us to talk about their experience as Rising Stars of the OAE, their careers so far, and taking us behind the scenes of this music video project. RSVP via the following link - we'd love to see you there!' with a link here: https://oae.co.uk/event/meet-the-band... _______________________________ View the programme: https://issuu.com/orchestraenlightenm... With thanks to the OAE musicians Violin I Matthew Truscott Violin II Margaret Faultless Viola Annette Isserlis Cello Sarah McMahon Double Bass Liz Bradley Oboe Katharina Spreckelsen Sarah Humphreys Bassoon Györgyi Farkas Harpsichord Steven Devine Keyboard Keith McGowan Digital and Technical Director Zen Grisdale Engineer Dave Hinitt Watch the original video by Radiohead:    • Radiohead - No Surprises   If you enjoy our videos, please subscribe. It is free to you and it would mean a lot to us:    / @oae   Website: http://oae.co.uk Facebook:   / orchestraoftheageofenlightenment   Twitter:   / theoae   Instagram:   / oae_photos   We are grateful for the support of our OAE Corporate Partners: Gramophone: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/ Swan Turton: https://swanturton.com/ Champagne Deutz: https://www.champagne-deutz.com/en/