Southbank Centre
Bell, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival HallThursday, 13 December 2012
Why so much of Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO on theartsdesk, you may ask, when other concerts pass unremarked? The answer is simple: quite apart from the immaculate preparation and the most elegant conducting style in the business, Jurowski... Read more... |
Black-Out Ballet: The Invisible Woman of British BalletTuesday, 11 December 2012
In 2006 an elderly dancer died in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. She was 88, and had once been one of Britain's most recognised ballerinas. Why did she die in obscurity? Why is the great ballet company that she ran now a forgotten name? This was what I set... Read more... |
Kris Kristofferson, Royal Festival HallSaturday, 08 December 2012
From being disowned by his family to writing the ultimate hangover lament, Kris Kristofferson has, partly, led the life of a country song. The other part, however, has included a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, an illustrious movie career and dating... Read more... |
Kate Royal, Spira Mirabilis, QEHThursday, 06 December 2012
The billing for this all-Schubert concert, "Spira Mirabilis and Kate Royal", was a little misleading, since they did not actually share the stage at any point, the two halves being clearly separate events. First came the hour-long Octet, played by... Read more... |
Hearing Voices: Jocelyn PookSunday, 02 December 2012
“I am always fascinated by how much is in a voice, by their textures and qualities,” says composer Jocelyn Pook. “They’re like aural photographs of a person and you recognise them instantly.” We are in her studio in north London and Pook flicks... Read more... |
Music of Today - November: Sonica, HCMF, Oliver Knussen, the Arditti Quartet and Heiner GoebbelsSunday, 02 December 2012
Arditti String Quartet, Wigmore Hall, 31 October ****November is always a good month for new music. This year saw the interest begin a day earlier. Whichever wag chose to hand over Halloween at the Wigmore Hall to two of the most uncompromising... Read more... |
Mørk, LPO, Nézet-Séguin, Royal Festival HallThursday, 22 November 2012
Mozart and Wagner were the opposite compass points of Richard Strauss’s classical-romantic adventuring, and Amadeus has often made an airy companion to the rangy orchestral tone poems in the concert hall. By choosing Haydn instead as the clean... Read more... |
Kurt Elling and Sheila Jordan, Queen Elizabeth HallThursday, 15 November 2012
Just occasionally an artist hits the truth of the song in such spectacular fashion that it makes you feel with ever greater intensity what it means to be human. Last night, vocalist Sheila Jordan's performance of the Jimmy Webb standard, “The Moon... Read more... |
Herbie Hancock Plugged In, Royal Festival HallTuesday, 13 November 2012
At the beginning of last night's show, Herbie Hancock looked like he was going to perform with the dignity and serenity befitting a 72-year-old with some 50 years playing experience. The improvisation that launched from a base of Wayne Shorter's “... Read more... |
Charley Pride, IndigO2/ Lucinda Williams, Royal Festival HallMonday, 12 November 2012
Britain has a grudging relationship with country music – we’ve never produced a successful country singer (although the likes of guitarist Albert Lee and several songwriters have prospered in Nashville) and our love for the likes of Johnny Cash is... Read more... |
Benjamin Grosvenor, Queen Elizabeth HallThursday, 01 November 2012
Benjamin Grosvenor made his Southbank recital debut last night in a sold-out Queen Elizabeth Hall in another milestone in his unstoppable evolution from wunderkind to fully-fledged concert star. It has been a good year for the 20-year-old pianist,... Read more... |
Tetzlaff, LPO, Vänskä, Royal Festival HallThursday, 01 November 2012
Some symphonies are natural curtain-raisers: Sibelius’ Third is one. Music began with rhythm and in this piece the cellos are the distant drummers who bring us back to basics with their curt opening measures. Osmo Vänskä clipped the... Read more... |
