Barbican
Dido and Aeneas, Academy of Ancient Music, Barbican review – prosthetic passionsWednesday, 03 October 2018
“War Horse has a lot to answer for,” grumbled, or joked, my neighbour as the white-draped and white-faced puppet of the Queen of Carthage lay crumpled on the floor at the close of Thomas Guthrie’s semi-staged production of Dido and Aeneas.... Read more... |
Jansen, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - nature's splendours and a fond farewellThursday, 20 September 2018
The LSO and Sir Simon Rattle have been launching their new season with a mini-festival, if not so-called, mixing and matching some delectable repertoire. This was their third concert in four days – and its programme was wonderfully shaped, bringing... Read more... |
LSO, Rattle, Barbican Hall review - a mixed bag of British composersMonday, 17 September 2018
A tradition seems to have been invented. First nights of the LSO’s seasons with Sir Simon Rattle as its Music Director start with a concert of music by British composers. The first one last year had Helen Grime, Thomas Adès, Birtwistle, Knussen and... Read more... |
Ax, Kavakos, Ma, Barbican review - all-star BrahmsMonday, 10 September 2018
Expectations ran high for this recital, Brahms from an all-star piano trio of Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos and Yo-Yo Ma. The group has recently recorded the three Brahms piano trios for Sony, and this concert was part of a promotional tour of the US... Read more... |
h 100 Young Influencers of the Year: Lucie Wolfman vlogs at the BarbicanSaturday, 25 August 2018
Watch Lucie Wolfman's vlog review of Carl Craig's Synthesiser Ensemble at the Barbican. Lucie Wolfman studies English at the University of Sussex, and covers arts for the National Student. She is a Barbican Young Reviewer, creating vlogs... Read more... |
Keaton Henson on creating 'Six Lethargies'Tuesday, 17 July 2018
This Friday, July 20, sees the world premiere of Six Lethargies, a composition by the singer-songwriter Keaton Henson, created collaboratively with various artists, including the Britten Sinfonia who’ll be performing it. Henson, who has six... Read more... |
Benedetti, LSO, Noseda, Barbican review – power and focusMonday, 25 June 2018
Shostakovich is ideal for Nicola Benedetti. His music requires effortless and understated virtuosity, as well as a confident and commanding maturity of interpretation. Benedetti has been demonstrating these qualities since her late teens, and all... Read more... |
Bach Weekend, Barbican review - vivid and vibrant celebrationsTuesday, 19 June 2018
John Eliot Gardiner was 75 in April, and to celebrate, the Barbican Centre staged a weekend devoted to his favourite composer. Gardiner himself provided the backbone of the event, three concerts of cantatas with his Monteverdi Choir and English... Read more... |
Franco Fagioli on performing the Baroque: 'a challenge is to interpret beyond the musical notation'Sunday, 03 June 2018
I started singing when I was nine years old in my primary school choir. I sang plenty of solos there before moving on to another children’s choir; that was a formative experience for me. At this point, I was singing the soprano part and from here I... Read more... |
Bavarian State Orchestra, Kirill Petrenko, Barbican review - Mahler's Seventh as dance suiteSaturday, 02 June 2018
Serendipity as well as luxury saw to it that the night after Simon Rattle gave his farewell Festival Hall performance as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, his imminent successor appeared over at the Barbican with another excellent German... Read more... |
Elizabeth, Barbican review - royal romance under scrutinyThursday, 17 May 2018
Everyone knows that Elizabeth I was a monarch of deep intelligence and sharp wit. Fewer know how good she was at the galliard. This was a virile, proud, demandingly athletic dance, usually performed by the men at courtly gatherings, and the fact... Read more... |
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Barbican, review - a three-decade retrospectiveWednesday, 16 May 2018
Mary Chapin Carpenter lives these days in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she sits at the kitchen table in her farmhouse and writes songs. “I have a couple of cats and dogs and I’m the hermit who lives down the road,” she explained to a... Read more... |
