Beau Pluto
| Beau Pluto | |
|---|---|
| Born | Beau Pluto |
| Other names | Ephandras |
| 🏫 Education | Royal Academy of Music |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 🏡 Home town | Roth, Germany |
Beau Pluto, also performing under the name Ephandras, is a critically acclaimed classical pianist and artist.[1]
Early life[edit]
Pluto was born in Roth, Germany. He commenced his piano studies at the age of five, winning his first piano competition one year later. Over the course of nine years he was awarded over 30 prizes in various national and international competitions, notably receiving at least an award in every competition he participated in.
He has performed with the Youth Orchestra of the Opera House Nuremberg, recorded with the radio station BR-Klassik in the series "U20 – Classic and more", and participated in the international Festival MusicAlp in Tignes, France. For his outstanding achievements and the international cultural representation of his hometown, the City of Roth has honoured him with the jubilee medal "950 Years Roth", which was presented by then mayor Richard Erdmann.
Musically, Pluto has studied with Professor Christopher Elton (Royal Academy of Music, London, UK) and Professor Claude-France Journès (University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, Germany). He has organised numerous solo concerts with the proceeds going to charity. He has given a solo piano recital for the Lions Club's centennial in 2017, and performed at the Closing Ceremony of the Rotary International Music Festival in Belvedere Castle in Weimar, as well as the Art Pride Festival in London.
His name consists of the words Beau, the French adjective for "beautiful", which expresses the fact that true beauty is universal, eternal and shines from within, and Pluto, the Ancient Greek god of wealth and the beyond, who has returned with art, music, peace and kindness in his cornucopia.
2016 - 2017: Vision Versus Verity[edit]
Debut Liberation[edit]
In spring 2016, Pluto began working on his debut full-length studio album, titled Liberation, which marked the first chapter of a trilogy called Vision Versus Verity. The recording took place at the Air Edel Studios near Baker Street in London. He also produced two music videos for promotional purposes, they were shot in November 2016 on two consecutive days in Berlin.
On February 2, 2017, Pluto released the lead single, the prominent Fantaisie Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin, to streaming platforms worldwide, alongside a music video of the same name, available on his Vevo- and YouTube-Channel. The clip begins with Pluto performing the first part of the musical work at a black grand piano and continues with his awakening in a forest and encountering a mysterious maiden. Once kissed, the forest nymph transforms into a lad. The piano used at the video shoot was provided by the piano manufacturing company Steinway & Sons. Pluto's outfit whilst playing the piano, a custom-made bright blue suit with embroidered silver kingfishers, one of which is also featured on the single cover, was designed by Eva and Michael Söhn. The video expresses the blossoming of romantic feelings during adolescence and symbolises the liberation from the harmful repression of sexuality.[2]
One month later, Pluto's second digital single, Für Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven, was released. The single artwork shows a love letter from Pluto addressed to Elise.
His third single, Prélude by Sergei Rachmaninoff, was released on April 21, 2017, together with a music video of the same name. The video also begins with Pluto performing the track at the grand piano but does not have a narrative plot like Fantaisie Impromptu, instead, various scenes fused with elements of performance art and horror show Pluto visually expressing the emotions of the music in front of an army of mannequins. For the musical part Pluto wears a custom-made black suit with hand-painted blood-red ornaments inspired by Alexander McQueen; once again the piano was provided by Steinway & Sons. The outfits in the separate scenes include a cap with letters spelling the name PLUTO in the front, a face mask made of white bandages and a pair of black suit trousers inspired by Dolce&Gabbana. This music video symbolises the liberation from the restrictive beauty ideals that are culturally coined and expresses the pain that arose from the discrepancy between the protagonist's conceived vision and perceived verity. The album cover shows a deep red rose that stands for the fierce beauty of the soul.[3]
Pluto released three more audio singles the week leading up to the official album release: Black Keys by Frédéric Chopin, Pathétique B', and Pathétique A', the second and first movement of the Grande Sonate Pathétique by Ludwig van Beethoven, respectively. The artwork for Black Keys shows spiralling piano keys that visualise the track's iridescent cascading movements, Pathétique B' features the universal peace symbol of a dove with an olive branch that encapsulates the calmness and the serenity found in the music, and Pathétique A' is held in grave baroque simplicity in line with the work's opulent and monumental nature.
Liberation was released via Homme Royal worldwide on May 5, 2017. To illuminate the concept of the album, an official statement by Beau Pluto titled Declaration of Liberation was uploaded to his social media accounts; in it he compares the tracks to the different layers that make up our personality and describes the album as a reflection of ourselves that commences with the upbeat and playful exterior, delves through wistful, romantic and longing parts, and ultimately reaches the most intimate core filled with emotions that we usually keep hidden from the world like isolation, despair and darkness. The album is designed to express and understand the whole of our being with the final aim of experiencing a liberation from the past which enables the listener to move on to an auspicious and promising future that awaits each and everyone of us. The album cover is a collage and shows Pluto twice. He embraces himself which reflects self-love, the final stage and ultimate aim of Liberation that is achieved after a thorough examination of one's self. On release night Pluto staged the concert The Liberation in the Kulturfabrik Roth to celebrate the official album release; the sold-out show was produced in co-operation with the venue which in turn celebrated its 25th jubilee. A few days later, Pluto performed in the Hellenic Centre in Paddington, London, at the UK-version of The Liberation.
On June 30, 2017, Grand Sousta by Manos Hatzidakis was made available for streaming. The dance served as seventh and final single of the album Liberation and captures the summer spirit.
Sequel Progression[edit]
Pluto continued Vision Versus Verity with the release of Progression on September 1, 2017. The record includes selected pieces from Robert Schumann's Waldszenen, as well as the Fantasia No. 3 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On social media, Pluto described the record as a symbol for change that is natural and necessary in order for our world to progress; this is reflected in the album cover that features Ancient Egyptian gods Osiris (embodying transition and revitalisation), Anubis (symbolic for the afterlife together with Osiris and thus acting as the Egyptian counterpart to the Ancient Greek god Pluto), and Amun (signifying self-creation and the sun).
Whilst Liberation is a descriptive and analytical journey through the various layers of our psyche with the focus on childhood and adolescence, Progression is about regeneration, advancement aided by science, and the power to determine the course of the future. He dedicated this record "to all the real-life heroes of the world".
Finale Edward[edit]
On October 31, 2017, the single Edward marked the final instalment in the Vision Versus Verity trilogy. The ballade was composed by Johannes Brahms and is based on a poem of the same name. Featured in the artwork is an excerpt from the Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray that is scratched on a weathered tombstone against the backdrop of a starry night. The track is an homage to time, which merges the past with the present and later the future, as well as to the beauty of winter, and represents the prophesied and concluding liberation of the trilogy's protagonist referred to as The Boy Who Thought Too Much.
2018: A Royal Resurrection[edit]
[edit]
On January 1, 2018, Pluto announced the dawn of a new era titled A Royal Resurrection. He presented a first impression of the new narrative with the stand-alone track Badinerie by Johann Sebastian Bach which was uploaded to his website as an interlude bridging Vision Versus Verity with A Royal Resurrection. To underline the neutral position of this track, the artwork is held in black and white.
Opening Jeux D'Eau[edit]
Jeux D’Eau, Pluto’s first extensive venture as part of the new concept, became available on February 2, 2018, which also marked the one-year anniversary of his first ever single, Fantaisie Impromptu. The EP includes the major works Barcarolle by Frédéric Chopin which was inspired by traditional melodies sung by Venetian gondoliers, Rondo Capriccioso by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and the title track Jeux D’Eau which was composed by Maurice Ravel.
Upon its release, Pluto described this album as a record that focuses on the present and represents the renaissance and creative reinvention of oneself. The EP celebrates love, life, amity and inclusivity, and draws upon Ancient Greek mythology: Pluto presents himself as an ephebe and appeals to the soul's indelible flame of eternal youth. The album cover shows Claude Monet’s painting Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge, which reflects the mossy, lush green and the spirit of the water found in the music, as well as the Asian and impressionist elements that permeate the title track. Pluto referred to the record as the product of the vernal union between Aquarius (himself) and Virgo (his spiritual muse). In comparison to his former releases which prominently feature dark tones and hues, this album employs brighter and more joyful sounds and colours.
Futuristic Mazeppa[edit]
On April 27, 2018, the final EP in the series will be released, titled Mazeppa. The cover incorporates a section of Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin’s painting Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer, which is set against a red background. The album title is inspired by the thirty-fourth poem in Victor Hugo’s Les Orientales, in which the protagonist is punished for a love affair by being tied naked to a rampant horse and sent through the vast steppes. In the second part of the poem, Mazeppa’s journey is likened to that of an artist: they too are bound to their wild imagination which carries them to higher realms; the tormenting ride also symbolises the artist’s toil required to produce their masterpiece.
The album features the works Florestan by Jean Sibelius, a dance by Alberto Ginastera, The Swan from the suite Le Carnaval des Animaux by Camille Saint-Saëns, and concludes with the opus L’Isle Joyeuse by Claude-Achille Debussy which recounts a trip to the island of Cythera, the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Mazeppa is a look into the future and an exploration of adulthood; together with Jeux d’Eau it recounts the journey of a prince (princess) becoming king (queen).
2020: Ephandras[edit]
Following the completion of the cycles, Pluto re-issued the previous releases in a novel and final constellation under the name Ephandras, a combination of the words ephebe and andras. The musical works were presented in nine compact EPs that bore the names of the nine muses.[4]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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