Rebeca Omordia is a pioneering champion of African art music – that is, works by African composers that blend the influence of both their own musical roots with their experience and knowledge of the Western classical ‘canon’. Back in spring 2022, I wrote about Omordia’s CD ‘African Pianism’ (SOMM Recordings), a stunning collection of solo…
Category: contemporary
A new support system: Music Patron
Music Patron is an exciting, fascinating and even provocative new arts-funding initiative. It not only examines and challenges the ways we can, and do, support musicians, but offers a solution that aims to achieve practical, positive outcomes in the face of ongoing financial and ideological attacks on the industry. The name itself deliberately conjures up…
Inside tracks: Olivia Chaney, ‘Circus of Desire’
Because Olivia Chaney only makes great records, it’s tempting to take her new album ‘Circus of Desire’ almost for granted: of course it’s another 40 minutes of uninterrupted beauty and understated elegance. But to do so would be a terrible mistake, especially if it meant ignoring the knotty contradictions and thrilling undercurrents in this latest…
Voice recognition: Carolyn Sampson
As many of you will know, soprano Carolyn Sampson reached her 100th recording as a soloist with the release of ‘but I like to sing…’ in November. She celebrated this achievement online, with a series of short videos explaining some of the background to each recording. Full of relaxed charm – with an extra layer…
Beat poetry: Rick Simpson, ‘Twice Shaded’
After a few listens, this album feels like a heroically original achievement: without doubt, a jazz record, but unpredictable in ways one wouldn’t have predicted. Warm yet inscrutable; modest in approach but confident and fizzing with ideas: it’s improvised music that feels as though it’s always existed. How can something so spontaneous feel so permanent?…
Past and present collide: Saariaho, ‘Innocence’, Royal Opera House, London
Perhaps the most compelling testament to the impact of ‘Innocence’ is that I’ve thought about little else since the curtain fell. Knowing I would want to write about it, I’ve felt the intricacies of the piece turning round in my mind, dovetailing with each other, not unlike the interlocking 3D jigsaw of a set that…
Sound and visions: Sean Shibe, ‘Lost & Found’
The latest album from Sean Shibe is original and rewarding; inspired and inspirational. And the more I play it, the more it also feels like a game-changer, the kind of release that could challenge any preconceptions about the instrument featured and open new avenues of writing and recording for it. * For those unfamiliar, Shibe…
Get ‘Carta’: Xuefei Yang, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Clark Rundell perform the works of John Brunning
This is an elegant, ravishing album. On first encounter, it might place you firmly in a ‘traditional’ British orchestral soundworld, and lovers of that heritage should investigate this without hesitation. However, there are mysteries and idiosyncrasies waiting to be discovered on further listens – and no wonder, given Xuefei Yang’s distinctive brilliance and composer John…
Hang about: Andreas Gursky (White Cube, Bermondsey); ‘For the Record’ (Photographers’ Gallery)
A few Saturdays ago, I went to two photography exhibitions. When you see two shows more or less together like this – even though they are nothing to do with each other – it’s hard to stop unlooked-for, and occasionally revelatory, connections popping into your head and affecting how you perceive the work. Both the…
National address: Chorus of English National Opera, St Martin in the Fields
No doubt about it, this was one of those concerts where my batteries felt properly recharged, restored to full strength with the power of these voices, somehow still flowing through me. A real privilege to hear such a fine group of singers at such close quarters, presenting a programme as individual as their own distinctive…
