The Dead City by Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an operatic hit in Europe in the 1920s. Korngold seemed destined for a brilliant operatic career. The opera however sunk into musical oblivion in the 1930s when Hitler’s censorship and the changing tastes of audiences sent Korngold to Hollywood. Invited by the great director and actor,…
Author: ArtMuseLondon
ArtMuseLondon is a site for reviews of art exhibitions and music in London, and general cultural musings, written by people with a keen interest and an honest, accessible approach.
Philip Glass’s Akhnaten Still Shines Brightly at the Coliseum
As Glass read Oedipus and Akhnaten about the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten, who ruled Egypt in 1351-1334 BC, he knew he had found his final hero to his operatic trilogy of ‘portrait operas’ he had been formulating, dedicated to the great thinkers of this world. By then, Glass had composed two: Einstein on the beach (on Albert Einstein) in…
Light fantastic: Mary Bevan, ‘Visions Illuminées’
It’s always a delight to come across an album so richly crafted and ingeniously programmed, you get an overwhelming sense that you’re hearing something intensely personal, a snapshot of what the artist wants to say ‘right now’. ‘Visions Illuminées’ feels like one of those records. Soprano Mary Bevan has featured on numerous recordings, but on…
Future Choral – where next?
In 1914, Oscar Schmitz declared that Britain was ‘das Lande ohne Musik’ and when it comes to the average fare on-offer at any of the myriad Choral Societies across the country, it feels that we’re trying to prove him right. Look across the sector and one can easily see how programming has become lazy, music…
Tár-nation
I finally saw the film Tár, directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett as conductor Lydia Tár, as it is now available via streaming. The small screen is perfect for a film where the narrative and drama is intense and concentrated. It also allows one loo/refreshment breaks, as it’s a slow-moving film – nearly…
Artist Collishaw creates ‘Heterosis’ a horticultural metaverse
Mat Collishaw is known for his unsettling, startlingly elegant photographs of burning butterflies and flowers. In his latest artistic project however, Collishaw has changed his focus favouring growth over death. Heterosis is a horticultural metaverse which he has created with designer, Danil Krivoruchko. The two have built a phenomenal website, created a digital environment, in…
The Golden Road to Samarkand – Joseph Tawadros, Zeb Soames and Britten Sinfonia
Joseph Tawadros Constellation Three Stages of Hindsight [world premiere; arranged Tawadros and orchestrated Alex Palmer] Constantinople Delius Hassan What a joy of a concert! Superb venue – the wonderful Milton Court concert hall which is the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s new performance venue – fabulous soloists (of which more in a minute) and…
Narrative threads: ‘Africa Fashion’, V&A, London
This was one of the most purely exciting exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time. So vibrant and visually assured, it stimulates one’s sight in the same way a complex gourmet meal explodes in multiple flavours across the taste buds. Seasoned visitors to the V&A might not be surprised by this. Quick note for those…
A riveting Rhinegold at ENO
The Rhinegold at English National Opera and the auditorium is buzzing with high-energy. Not a spare seat in view. Wagner may be one of opera’s most controversial figures but interest in his music dramas shows no sign of abating. And for good reason, there is much to admire in his musical theatre. Wagner revolutionised opera, created masterpieces of…
Fauré with a film: We meet innovative French Conductor Laurence Equilbey
Laurence Equilbey is the Musical Director and founder of Insula Orchestra, resident orchestra of La Seine Musicale, a state-of-the-art concert space in the west of Paris, opened in 2017. We interviewed Equilbey on the evening she was conducting Fauré’s Requiem and Gounod’s St Francis of Assisi. A video installation by British artist Mat Collishaw entitled Sky Burial, was to animate both…
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