contemporary classical
Steve Reich at 80, BarbicanSunday, 06 November 2016
I could have sworn there was a spontaneous outbreak of phased coughing in the Barbican Hall on Saturday night, rapidly dissolving into laughter; such was the festive atmosphere at Steve Reich’s 80th birthday gig. This three-part epic attracted a... Read more... |
Neil Cowley Trio, Union ChapelFriday, 28 October 2016
For more than a decade, Neil Cowley and his trio have built a fervent and substantial following for their prog-jazz compositions of frenetic loops and engaging melodies. With a jazz trio’s organic movement and intimacy allied to a rocker’s bolder... Read more... |
Icebreaker and BJ Cole, Milton CourtThursday, 13 October 2016
Call it re-analogification, de-digitisation or perhaps just plain reverse-engineering, Icebreaker’s set at Milton Court was all about reclaiming the electronic for hoary-handed instrumentalists. Their skills are well-honed: from Anna Meredith to... Read more... |
CD: Vangelis – RosettaSunday, 18 September 2016
The career of Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, better known to us as Vangelis, has been as wide-ranging as it has influential. From his beginnings as one-third of the almighty Aphrodite’s Child, veering from light, classy psychedelic pop to... Read more... |
Proms at...Roundhouse: London Sinfonietta, GourlaySunday, 21 August 2016
Some enchanted afternoon in Camden Town… the Proms returned to the Roundhouse after four decades with a dreamlike fusion of sound, space and light. Ron Arad’s Curtain Call – a 360° installation of 5,600 sillicon rods – encircled the London... Read more... |
Prom 13: London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, JurowskiMonday, 25 July 2016
The last time I heard Beethoven's setting of Schiller's Ode to Joy in the finale of his Ninth Symphony, it was as European anthem at the end of this May's Europe Day Concert, and everybody gladly stood. That hopeful occasion was distinguished by... Read more... |
The Golden Dragon, Music Theatre Wales, Buxton FestivalTuesday, 19 July 2016
It’s the kitchen of a Thai-Chinese-Vietnamese fast food restaurant. The onstage orchestra wear sweatbands and T-shirts, and a red work surface stretches across the stage. As the four chefs take the stage, the clatter of pans and knives is first... Read more... |
Hallé Children’s Choir and Orchestra, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, ManchesterWednesday, 22 June 2016
’Tis the season for big children’s choirs to show off their end-of-season projects, and the Hallé Children’s Choir and Orchestra had something exceptional to present under Sir Mark Elder’s baton on Sunday afternoon: the world premiere of Jonathan... Read more... |
4.48 Psychosis, Royal Opera, Lyric HammersmithWednesday, 25 May 2016
New operas are a risky business, or so the Royal Opera’s past experience teaches us. For years, visiting the company’s Linbury Studio Theatre was like rolling the dice while on a losing streak: vain, desperate hope followed inevitably by... Read more... |
Tharaud, CBSO, Volkov, Symphony Hall BirminghamFriday, 29 April 2016
Left, alone, Hans Abrahamsen’s new piano concerto for the left hand, swirls out of the darkness to a jagged motor rhythm. Piano and orchestra clash and interlock; you’re reminded of Prokofiev and Ravel. Then something happens. A piano plays, but the... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Tallinn: Estonian Music DaysThursday, 21 April 2016
A young nation with a small population and the most untarnished democratic credentials in Europe today can do certain things with festivals not so easy to imagine here. When Estonian Music Days, focused on native and contemporary music, took nature... Read more... |
The Importance of Being Earnest, Royal Opera, BarbicanWednesday, 30 March 2016
Some new operas worth their salt work a slow, sophisticated charm, but the handful that holler "masterpiece" grab you from the start and don't let go. Gerald Barry's shorn, explosive Wilde – more comedy of madness than manners – was so obviously in... Read more... |
