Southbank Centre
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival HallThursday, 23 September 2010
From primeval baying to a very human song in excelsis, Mahler's Third Symphony cries out for Olympian interpretation. That I've found in recent years with Abbado in Lucerne and the Albert Hall, Bělohlávek at the Barbican and Salonen on the South... Read more... |
Gilberto Gil, Royal Festival HallThursday, 22 July 2010
The dreadlocks are gone, the dark suit is gone, the acoustic guitar which was his faithful travelling companion during the four years as Brazilian Minister of Culture, is also gone. Instead, Gilberto Gil skipped on stage with a cool, short, grey... Read more... |
Ernesto Neto / The New Décor, The Hayward GalleryFriday, 18 June 2010
The Hayward has been closed for the past six months for "housekeeping": those boring cleaning and repair jobs we all do. It's entirely suitable, therefore, that the two exhibitions that reopen the gallery showcase ideas of how we live both... Read more... |
The Duckworth Lewis Method, Queen Elizabeth HallFriday, 18 June 2010
There cannot be many famous rock songs that mention cricket. Roy Harper's poetic "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease" springs immediately to mind. And 10cc's "Dreadlock Holiday". And then the trail goes fairly cold. Until 2009, when The Divine... Read more... |
BeauSoleil, Queen Elizabeth HallThursday, 17 June 2010
Our story begins in the early 1970s, when a young fiddler from Louisiana named Michael Doucet was making rock music. Then one day he heard a song by Fairport Convention: “Cajun Woman” (from the band’s Unhalfbricking album). He was shocked and... Read more... |
Nigel Kennedy's Polish AdventureMonday, 14 June 2010
Brilliant though it was to be shooting an Imagine film for BBC One, we did experience the occasional tremor of foreboding about making a programme with Nigel Kennedy. We (that's me and director Frank Hanly) had a bit of previous with Nigel - I'd... Read more... |
Pop-Up Poetry, UdderbellyWednesday, 09 June 2010
Performance poetry, I am told, is the new rock ’n’ roll. Poetry nights may vie with comedy at venues up and down the country, and a new generation of twentysomething urban poets and rappers are certainly strutting their stuff, but I’m yet to be... Read more... |
London Philharmonic holds on to the bestTuesday, 18 May 2010It already has the finest balance in its team of house conductors, and fortunately - though few are more sought after worldwide - Vladimir Jurowski and Yannick Nézet-Séguin have pledged to extend their contracts with the London Philharmonic... Read more... |
Berlin Sounds, Ether Festival, Queen Elizabeth HallSunday, 25 April 2010
One of the recurring themes in BBC4's recent documentary, Krautrock: The Rebirth Of Germany, was the importance placed by so many of its participants upon transcending Germany's then-recent past. Move on several decades, and you now have a country... Read more... |
Varèse 360°, SouthbankSunday, 18 April 2010
For those of you who think that classical music ends with Mahler - or Brahms just to be on the safe side - that the musical experimentation of the past 60 years was some sort of grim continental joke, an extended whoopee cushion of a musical period... Read more... |
Nigel Kennedy greets theartsdeskSaturday, 17 April 2010Despite his "interesting" haircut and fondness for the undeleted expletive, violinist Nigel Kennedy is a man of exceptional taste and discernment. While recording his new jazz album Shhh! at Rockfield studios, he took time out to hail theartsdesk... Read more... |
Paolo Nutini, Royal Albert HallSunday, 11 April 2010
Earlier this week, when the line-up for Richard Thompson’s Meltdown festival was announced, one name in particular will surely have raised a few eyebrows: Paolo Nutini. Among the appearances by serious old folkies and earnest young Wainwrights and... Read more... |
