Debussy was never fond of the establishment. When he did accept a chair on the Board of the Paris Conservatoire in 1909, it surprised everyone who had regarded him as a musical rebel. But by that time he was ill, and was being prescribed exercise, morphine and cocaine. He might have been in a euphoric…
Category: review
The Making of Rodin at the Tate Modern
Guest review by Sarah Mulvey Featured: Mask of Camille Claudel with Hand of Pierre de Wissant, after 1900, plaster assemblage Detail from the Monument to the Burghers of Calais,1889, plaster Rodin’s work evokes very different responses; his humanity is recognised through the fragility and compassion of his works, or by his tolerance of imperfection, but…
Fullana’s Obsession with Bach
Most of us will have heard Johann Sebastian Bach’s exquisite Partita No. 3 in E major for Solo Violin. My knowledge of solo violin repertoire however stops there. I was therefore very keen to listen to violinist, Francisco Fullana’s new album, in which he explores Bach’s solo violin work and its musical legacy. Many legendary…
Young artists bring fresh insights to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro
Opera Holland Park has been nurturing new talent for a good many years with its Young Artists Scheme. To mark its tenth anniversary year, alumni, Nardus Williams, Julian Van Mellaerts and Elizabeth Karani, are singing leading roles in OHP’s The Marriage of Figaro. On the night of the 14th June it was the turn of the…
Stealing & Re-imagining: ‘Landscapes’ by Doug Thomas
Most composers (and artists and writers too) steal from others. They learn their craft by copying; studying the works of others who’ve gone before them offers important insights into the nuts and bolts of the music (structure, harmony, texture etc) as well as the composer’s personal musical fingerprints.
Opera is back at Holland Park
This OHP production is highly recommended. Ticket returns are available if you sign up for an alert system, but I strongly urge you to try or call box office direct. On the evening I was present, filming was taking place of Marriage of Figaro so here’s hoping that plenty of others have access to this remarkable production.
John-Henry Crawford : Brahms and Shostakovich in Dialogo
Brahms’s Sonata for Piano and Cello No.2 in F Major must surely feature in the top ten most played pieces of chamber music of all time. I thought I had witnessed every interpretation under the sun of this romantic masterpiece – and then comes John-Henry Crawford’s version which totally disarmed me and made me fall…
Lost in music: Daniel Bachman, ‘Axacan’
This is an extraordinary piece of work: a new suite of tracks from an artist previously new to me, which had me pressing my headphones to my ears on repeat plays, hungry for every morsel of sonic detail, and enveloping me in a shifting atmosphere of both delight and dread. Absolute required listening. * Daniel…
World’s Finest Musicians Perform in Raphael Court at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Photograph : Rebecca Reid Just when you think you are getting blasé about streamed events, there comes along a concert that you shouldn’t ignore. Conductor Oliver Zeffman is young and has grand ideas. During the pandemic, he commissioned opera-film, Eight Songs from Isolation, from eight leading composers to great acclaim. With his latest project Live at the V&A, he…
Flowers Fascinate in a new show at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Karl Blossfeldt 1928. Photogravures Flowers have always fascinated. In an intriguing exhibition entitled Unearthed: Photography’s Roots, The Dulwich Picture Gallery, endeavours to bring us its story of plant photography, from 1840 up to the present day. Taking…
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