The latest in the Royal Opera’s Janáček cycle, this is their first production of ‘The Makropulos Case’ – and mine, too. I was excited to be seeing at last this piece that I’d read about but, appropriately enough, had difficulty imagining as a real experience. Please note that this write-up includes ‘spoilers’ to a certain…
Czech Centre launches its 29th Made in Prague Festival with ‘Caravan’
The 29th Made in Prague Festival is a celebration of Czech culture and one great film to emerge from this cultural initiative is Caravan, directed by newbie filmmaker, Zuzana Kirchnerová, who has managed to produce a tender and meaningful mother-son story. Single mother, Ester, has a Down Syndrome and autistic son. David is deprived of speech, however he journeys…
Small Treasures – Sarah Beth Briggs, piano
In her latest release, British pianist Sarah Beth Briggs celebrates the notion that “small is beautiful” in a selection of piano miniatures, including two of the greatest sets of miniatures ever written – Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen (Forest Scenes) and Brahms’s 4 Klavierstucke op. 119. These are interspersed with less familiar works by Clara Schumann and…
Argentinian pianist, Ingrid Fliter, dazzles her audience at the London Piano Festival King’s Place
As part of the wonderful London Piano Festival which takes place every year at King’s Place, Argentinian pianist, Ingrid Filter performed a romantic programme of Beethoven and Chopin works. Filter came to the stage in dazzling silver jacket and spangled shoes, her starry appearance under the stage lights suggesting more tango than Beethoven or Chopin. Despite her bold…
Oxford Circus: ‘John Le Carré: Tradecraft’, Weston Library, Oxford
John Le Carré insisted that he was a writer first, and sometime spy second – and this excellent exhibition drawn from the author’s archive honours that self-image. It’s easy to emerge from the exit thinking Le Carré was half man, half words but – appropriately enough – the reality is not so simple. The entrance…
Odd Sympathies
Matthew Schellhorn, piano This new release from British pianist Matthew Schellhorn draws together an interesting and eclectic selection of piano pieces. As a long-standing champion of contemporary composers through commissions and premières, Schellhorn brings new music to a wider audience. The pieces on this new album all are by living composers, including Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Michael…
Gilbert and George -Hogarths of our time
Gilbert and George’s latest show is a collection of their work spanning the past 25 years. The London skies may be concrete grey but the Hayward Gallery is brimming over with vividly hued, kaleidoscopic, digitalised works. Newspaper media abounds – headlines detailing bombings, murders, miscarriages of justice and elsewhere there are male sex ads, ‘religious’…
Tavener’s ‘Veil’ set for live recording at London’s Greek Cathedral
ArtMuseLondon caught up with the much in demand British cellist, Guy Johnston, just as he was about to open the Hatfield House Music Festival. Guy – 2025 will be the 14th year of the Hatfield House Music Festival. What is the musical theme for this year? The Gift of Music. The gift of music is one…
Our dictionaries are being sucked into a maw called the internet
We modern-day Luddites (I am 87) hate stooping to the web for dubious factoids, preferring to get our answers from well-edited books including our old dictionaries that were printed with ink on fine-fibre paper. Those books are now disappearing into a hungry maw called the internet.
Songs to remember: Mary Bevan & Joseph Middleton, ‘Elegy’
‘Elegy’ is a heartfelt, thoughtfully-programmed recital disc that – aside from being a beautiful listen – also shows us something of art’s quieter powers: that living inside music, allowing it to respond to you as much as the reverse, can summon its healing qualities. Bevan began to assemble this collection of songs following the death…
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