This fascinating exhibition, offering a detailed, thoughtfully-assembled overview of Miller’s career, leaves the visitor in no doubt that she was one of the finest, most important artists to have picked up a camera. I was fortunate enough to go in the show’s final weeks, and for those of you unable to get there, I hope…
Tag: Adrian Ainsworth
Retrospecstive 2025: Adrian Ainsworth’s albums of the year
Putting this list together seems to take me a little longer each January, but I firmly believe that – my ‘winning’ approach to organisation aside – it’s simply because I’m privileged to discover so much more great music every year. Without any further delay, then, here are the (20)25 releases I’m keen to bring to…
International anthem: Jo Quail and Friends, Enschede, Netherlands
When I first heard cellist-composer Jo Quail perform – back in 2013, in a solo support slot – it was immediately clear that she occupied a genre all her own. A kindred spirit, for sure, with other musicians active in the dark folk / neoclassical / what-you-will underground – especially fellow ‘loopers’ (like Matt Howden,…
“Why, I auteur…”: ‘The Makropulos Case’ (mostly), Royal Ballet & Opera, London
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…
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…
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…
Rock of ages: Matt Howden / Keith Howden, ‘Language for Stone’
This latest collaboration between violinist and songwriter Matt Howden and his poet and artist father Keith – their third – is an extraordinary achievement: in its sonic ambition, its storytelling, its joy in language, its historical reach. A concept album, for sure: but precise, brisk, intricate and forthright. ‘Language for Stone’ began as a record…
Through roots: an African Concert Series update (and more)
This is a public service announcement! – an all-purpose post rounding up some recent African Concert Series activity, with a look ahead to some events and releases to come. The latest African Concert Series day at Wigmore Hall took place on 19 July this year. As ever, pianist and curator Rebeca Omordia assembled a remarkable…
Plain song: Coleridge-Taylor, ‘The Atonement’, Three Choirs Festival 2025, Hereford
A highlight of a brief visit to the Three Choirs Festival this year was the opportunity to hear Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s little-known and rarely-performed choral work, ‘The Atonement’. The sense of occasion was twofold: this revival in the glorious setting of Hereford Cathedral was like a homecoming for the cantata, which received its premiere in Hereford…
Latin translations: Julieth Lozano Rolong & João Araújo, ‘Alma: Ibero-American Songs’
This is a thrilling hour in the company of two artists who perform as if this music is flowing through their veins as well as their heritage. ‘Alma’ shines a spotlight on 20th-century repertoire mostly from Latin America, alongside a smaller selection from Spain and Portugal. Although, as the liner notes tell us, some of…
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