Finland
Holland Panorama, Hoddinott Hall, CardiffThursday, 27 October 2011
Isn’t it strange how national talent goes by subject? Put on a blockbuster exhibition of Dutch painting and the queue will stretch to the Embankment. But can you imagine a festival of Dutch music? Sweelinck (d 1652) and Andriessen (b 1939) more or... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Reykjavík: Iceland Airwaves 2011Sunday, 23 October 2011
Iceland is remote. Strategic too. Vikings stopped off there on the way to North America. It hosted the Reagan-Gorbachev summit 25 years ago. On the anniversary, visitors from America, Canada and across continental Europe are in Reykjavík for the... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Oslo: FolkeLarm FestivalSunday, 09 October 2011
It’s almost dark. Frescoes depicting the cycle of life are barely visible. They could be shadows. Waves of sound pulse through the mausoleum of Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland. Fiddle player Nils Økland is feeding the 15-second delay with peals... Read more... |
DVD: HannaTuesday, 30 August 2011
It’s pretty damn cold inside the Arctic Circle, but Eric Bana’s former CIA agent Erik Heller doesn’t notice. Striding out of his wilderness cabin into metres-deep snow, he’s fine in a business suit. Demanding a catering-sized suspension of disbelief... Read more... |
CD: Grumbling Fur – FurrierSaturday, 13 August 2011
Calling Grumbling Fur a supergroup would be pretty over the top, but the name does corral five distinctive musicians that usually follow their own paths. There’s a pair of Finns from the legendary drone outfit Circle and the challenging metallers... Read more... |
Beginner's Guide to the music of Scandinavia: not what it says it isSaturday, 09 July 2011
Certain Nordic countries are identified with particular forms of music. Norway and Finland are the home to various strands of metal. Sweden’s pop songwriters and producers are world-renowned, attracting the likes of Britney Spears to Scandinavia.... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Liszt, SibeliusFriday, 08 July 2011
This week’s reviews include a generous Liszt anthology played by one of the 20th century’s most fondly remembered pianists. There’s a reissued box of Beethoven symphonies performed on modern instruments by one of the classiest European orchestras.... Read more... |
CD: Tuusanuuskat - Nääksää nää mun kyyneleetSunday, 03 July 2011
Abstract music will always be at a disadvantage compared to abstract art because of one thing: duration. It requires commitment and immersion, you can't sum it up at a glance, and when it stops it's gone until you go back to the start. Yet a record... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Aarhus: SPOT Festival 2011Tuesday, 31 May 2011
On the Jutland coast, Aarhus is Denmark’s second largest city after capital Copenhagen. Its attractive continental atmosphere is amplified by the presence of this week’s temporary population, which includes visitors from Britain, Estonia, France,... Read more... |
HannaMonday, 02 May 2011
Hanna begins with a bang, and there will be those for whom the excitement never lets up – especially if you like your action movies all but bereft of chat. The young assassin of the title scarcely needs words when her days are given over to taking... Read more... |
CD: K-X-P - K-X-PWednesday, 23 March 2011
This is the most gorgeous Finnish Krautrock album I've heard in ages. Yeah, I know, how wacky, how alternative, how off-piste – but bear with me. If you associate Krautrock with over-serious record collectors it might sound like damning with faint... Read more... |
Ballet's Bad Girl Has a New SoundSaturday, 19 March 2011
Kenneth MacMillan’s dramatic ballet Manon was premiered in 1974 to a chorus of attacks on its tale of a “nasty little diamond-digger”, as one critic had it. Since then the slut who can’t help herself has risen to become one of the most coveted roles... Read more... |
