Resonating Earth, the new album from from American pianist Carolyn Enger, was created in response to the climate crisis and emerged from her deep connection to nature and her dedication to environmental activism. Enger lives in a wooden house outside Manhattan, a building which creates a wonderful chamber in which the sound of her seven-foot…
Naresh Sohal’s Complete Piano Music: A Fusion of Eastern Mysticism and Western Techniques
British-based composer Naresh Sohal was born on 18 September 1939 in Punjab in pre-Partition India, and was the first person of Indian origin to make his mark as a composer of western classical music. His family had no musical pedigree, nor any connection with western classical music; his musical tastes were formed by listening to…
Charted territory: an African art music update
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…
‘Now You See Us’ at Tate Britain Women artists 1520-1920
Tate Britain honours all things female in painting and photography from the 16th century to the earlier part of the 20th century. In this exhibition, expect to uncover women artists you wouldn’t have heard of, and also to revisit works by Angelica Kaufman, Artemisia Gentileschi and photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron. At the show, things take off in…
Nature and Mysticism, Sibelius and Holst at the proms
This week the BBC Proms offered up an evening of music by Jean Sibelius, Gustav Holst and contemporary woman composer, Lara Poe, all three works sharing in the themes of nature and mysticism. Sakari Oramo, a regular guest composer of the proms, had the job of leading the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and…
“Everything is connected” – an interview with pianist Annie Yim
Annie Yim is a Hong Kong-born Canadian concert pianist, creative collaborator, and founder of MusicArt [LINK http://annieyim.com/musicart/%5D based in London. We caught up with her to talk about her latest project and recent collaborations. Your current project is ‘The Well Gardened Mind Music Project’. Can you tell us more about the evolution of this project…
Liner notes: Tavares Strachan, ‘There is Light Somewhere’, Hayward Gallery, London
This stunning exhibition educates as it enthrals. Strachan’s themes are serious and consistent: he focuses our attention on black people and their achievements that have been sidelined or obscured by our overwhelmingly white understanding – and re-telling – of history. He navigates this over-arching topic through a wide range of disciplines and media: sculpture, paint,…
Marital jealousy and the tears of a clown at Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park’s decision to bring two operas together in a double-bill was a stroke of genius yesterday evening. Il segreto di Susanna and Pagliacci deal with the same theme of marital jealousy, but in style and content they couldn’t be more different. ‘Il segreto di Susanna’ by German-Italian composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, is a little-known…
Emotional intelligence: ‘Eno’
This post is about Gary Hustwit’s new documentary on musician, producer, artist, thinker and what-you-will, Brian Eno. Please feel free to read the sections in any order. Pro-Bono This version of U2’s lead singer – still a youngster, suspended between earnest rookie and later model of save-the-world self-assurance he would eventually become – pours every…
‘Edgar’ – Puccini’s early unloved opera performed at Opera Holland Park
2024 is the centenary of Puccini’s death. In order to honour the great man, James Clutton, Director of Opera at OHP, opted to put on Tosca this season and also Edgar, a little-known early work of Puccini’s. Edgar premiered at La Scala in 1899 and received a lacklustre reception. Believing he could improve on the opera,…
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