Classical music
'We wanted to emphasise the “ordinariness” of people affected by torture': Sally Beamish on her new work for Ex CathedraSaturday, 12 November 2022
I was first approached by Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT) in 2016 with the idea of a creating a piece of music to raise awareness of torture – its use worldwide, and the terrible damage it does both to victim and to perpetrator.... Read more... |
Ott, LSO, Stutzmann, Barbican review - highways to hell (and back)Friday, 11 November 2022
In a Renaissance artist’s studio, a wannabe master proved his skill by drawing a perfect circle. Perhaps playing Beethoven’s A minor Bagatelle (aka “Für Elise”) as an encore should count as the pianist’s equivalent. At the Barbican last night, Alice... Read more... |
First Person: composer and co-founder of The Multi-Story Orchestra Kate Whitley on car-park creativityMonday, 07 November 2022
We started The Multi-Story Orchestra back in 2011 with a group of friends when we’d left university. Conductor Christopher Stark and I basically wanted to find new ways to play orchestral music that would escape formal concert halls and be more... Read more... |
Kavakos, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Harding, Barbican review - elegance without poiseSaturday, 05 November 2022
The Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam began their two-concert visit to the Barbican with a crowd-pleasing programme: Brahms and Beethoven. We are used to hearing the pinpoint precision and transparent textures of the London Symphony Orchestra... Read more... |
The Hermes Experiment, Purcell Room review - familiar objects, unfamiliar soundsSaturday, 05 November 2022
The Hermes Experiment are the cool kids of the contemporary music school, who have brought a "build-your-own-repertoire" approach to generating music for their unique combination of soprano, clarinet, harp and double bass. As their name would... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Bells, birthdays and elephantsSaturday, 05 November 2022
Hélène de Montgeroult: Études Clare Hammond (piano) (BIS)“How can music of this quality and vision be forgotten so comprehensively for so long?”, asks pianist Clare Hammond. It is the right question. The piano music of Hélène de Montgeroult (... Read more... |
Britten Weekend, Snape review - diverse songs to mostly great poetry overshadow a problem operaTuesday, 01 November 2022
In usual circumstances, a fully staged opera and every voice-and-piano song-cycle by a single genius in one weekend would be an embarrassment of riches. The only problem about Britten hitting the heights, above all in setting toweringly great poetry... Read more... |
An Anatomy of Melancholy, Barbican Pit review - stunning journey into an Elizabethan heart of darknessTuesday, 01 November 2022
We enter the Barbican Pit as if visiting an apothecary. On the walls of the passage approaching it there are scientific diagrams and documents, while the stage itself is set up with glass cases filled with different potions and experiments.A figure... Read more... |
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tognetti, Milton Court review - from Beethoven to didgeridooFriday, 28 October 2022
I’ve not heard a didgeridoo in concert before so was grateful to the Australian Chamber Orchestra for giving me the opportunity, as part of a busy programme at Milton Court last night. Didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton was put alongside Beethoven,... Read more... |
Orfeo ed Euridice, Opera North review - more than a concertThursday, 27 October 2022
Though billed as a “concert performance”, this was really much more than that. With the resources of their own theatre, Opera North’s team present a staging that employs a big, built-up and raked floor, with a simple platform in the centre and a... Read more... |
Mulroy, Aurora Orchestra, Kings Place review - old and new worlds of songTuesday, 25 October 2022
You invariably come away from an Aurora Orchestra concert with ears refreshed and mind revived. As a storm swept across London on Sunday, the audience at Kings Place enjoyed their own cleansing wind in the form of this genre-spanning gig in the “... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Death, dragons and sea shantiesSaturday, 22 October 2022
The Playhouse Sessions: Bjarte Eike, Barokksolistene (Rubicon)The Playhouse Sessions is a follow-up to the irresistible Alehouse Sessions, in which Bjarte Eikke and his Barokksolistene recreate a 17th century London pub gig, where sea shanties... Read more... |
