WOMEN AND THE PIANO: A History in 50 Lives by Susan Tomes Following on from her splendid ‘The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces’, celebrated pianist and writer Susan Tomes now turns her attention to that oft-neglected corner of classical music history – women pianists. Focussing on 50 women pianists – some well-known (Louise Farrenc,…
Spiritual awakening: Leon Bosch & Rebeca Omordia in concert and on disc
The African Concert Series was originally founded and curated by pianist Rebeca Omordia to shine a spotlight on African art music: the diverse work of African composers who, as the series website explains, create “a bridge between Western classical music and African traditional music”. Launched in 2019, the series has had a torrid infancy. After…
La Muse Oubliée II – Antonio Oyazarbal, piano
Music by women composers is now almost ubiquitous in concert programmes and recordings, and the contribution of female composers to classical music’s canon is finally being properly recognised, though not without significant effort on the part of advocates, such as Spanish pianist Antonio Oyazarbal, and the work of DONNE: Women in Music, for which he…
Board senseless
For any ArtMuseLondon readers not following the story in the media (social or otherwise), it’s important that we post about latest developments at English National Opera (ENO). Anyone familiar with my articles will know the extent of my admiration for this ensemble, both Chorus and Orchestra. They have continued to give powerful, committed performances across…
English National Opera brings comedy to the fore with The Barber of Seville
Rossini’s Barber of Seville doesn’t often get the attention it deserves. Perhaps because it has often been unfavourably compared to Mozart’s weightier opera, Marriage of Figaro. The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro started life as plays by eighteenth century playwright, Pierre Beaumarchais. Sharing the same main characters, the operas are often confused….
Picture This : ‘It all started with the Fauves’ Ceramicist Suzanne Katkhuda.
If I ask myself the question “what is success to me in terms of my Art” I find it difficult to explain. I suppose I have always been artistic, but I had a strong urge to study ceramics when I had my two children and attended a pottery evening class in London once a week….
‘I had no other tools than to react as an artist.’ – Igor Levit, pianist
MENDELSSOHN – LIEDER OHNE WORTE (SONGS WITHOUT WORDS) IGOR LEVIT piano This new release on CD and streaming from German-Russian pianist Igor Levit is his personal response, in music, to the 7th October 2023 atrocities in Israel and the alarming rise of anti-semitism around the world. ‘I made this recording out of a very, very…
Retrospecstive 2023: Adrian Ainsworth’s 25 recordings of the year
At last! The wait is over. Here is my round-up of favourite releases from the previous calendar year. 2023 felt richer than ever and there were so many wonderful records to choose from. As usual, I’ve spared myself the agony of ranking the selections: democracy rules and the list is in alphabetical order, by artist…
Elisabeth Frink : A View from Within
A concise, detailed and sensitively curated new exhibition of work by British sculptor and printmaker Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) is currently on show at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery in Dorchester. The exhibition focuses on the period when Frink lived in Dorset, working from her home and purpose-built studio at Woolland House near Blandford Forum….
EARTHCYCLE – A Four Seasons for the 21st century
EARTHCYCLE Orchestra of the Swan An innovative and timely project from ever-inventive Orchestra of the Swan (OOTS), Earthcycle finds a compelling way to engage with the threat of climate change, and the human impact on the Earth’s environment and the disruption of its natural rhythms through music inspired by or evoking the natural world,…
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