Bitter Ruin’s music, high wire and high octane, has always found the sweet spot between intimacy and impact. The duo – Georgia Train (vocals) and Ben Richards (instruments, vocals) – possess a kind of volatile creative chemistry that allowed their records to calm one minute, combust the next. Live, they really were stage animals, presenting…
Tag: Adrian Ainsworth
Active listening: The Necks, Cafe OTO, London
Dalston’s Cafe OTO hides in plain sight, tucked away from the main drag, the venue’s name invisible to the outside observer until their nose is almost pressed up against the chalkboard by the door. Intimate and somehow inscrutable – quite an achievement for a premises – it hosts a jaw-dropping variety of free jazz and…
Self taut: Barbara Hepworth ‘Strings’, Piano Nobile
I managed to see this exquisite exhibition with only a few days to spare: it closes on 2 May. If you are in the right place at the right time – Holland Park, London – I urge you to go if you can. For those of you who cannot get there, here is a brief…
Song cycle: Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, ‘Schubert’s Four Seasons’
Carolyn Sampson deftly sidesteps that ‘difficult 103rd album’ syndrome, teaming up with regular duo partner Joseph Middleton on the remarkable ‘Schubert’s Four Seasons’ – a worthy successor to their first two releases dedicated to this composer, ‘A Soprano’s Schubertiade’ and ‘Elysium’. Followers of this team will be well aware of their gift for programming, and…
New tradition: an African Concert Series update
Back in 2018, pianist Rebeca Omordia released a solo recital CD called ‘Ekele’, which showcased African art music – that is, works by African composers who had studied and were influenced by Western classical repertoire. To me – and no doubt many others who came across the album – it was an ear-opening journey into…
Blood ties: ‘Festen’, Royal Opera; ‘Mary, Queen of Scots’, English National Opera
It’s been an intense week. Two operas, over two consecutive evenings, spent with two explosively dysfunctional onstage families. Time to decompress. If you keep an eye on London operantics, you’ll be aware of the world première of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s ‘Festen’ (libretto by Lee Hall, directed by Richard Jones) at Royal Ballet & Opera. And if…
No limit: Barb Jungr and her Trio, ‘Hallelujah on Desolation Row’
While Barb Jungr has interpreted a range of songs by both Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen throughout her career, this marvellous new release is only her second album to bring them together as ‘twindred spirits’ of sorts. The first, ‘Hard Rain’, is an essential, blistering listen, focusing on the politics in the poetry. However, this…
Retrospecstive 2024: Adrian Ainsworth’s albums of the year
Time again for my annual labour of love, rounding up my favourite releases of the past year. As usual, I’ve ranged across genres as freely as I can in the time and space available – so I sincerely hope you will browse through the selections and find something intriguing. A bit of housekeeping. Where possible,…
Male gaze: Francis Bacon, ‘Human Presence’, National Portrait Gallery, London
This collection of more than 50 portraits painted by Francis Bacon is certainly intense – although perhaps not for the reasons one might have expected. Some of Bacon’s most famous and celebrated canvases show extremes of violence and distortion: the full-on body horror of the early figures at the crucifixion, or the melting abyss of…
Thirst class: ‘The Elixir of Love’, English National Opera, London
ENO’s new production of ‘The Elixir of Love’ is a witty and affectionate take on Donizetti’s comic romance, beautifully realised and performed. On entering the auditorium of the Coliseum, you immediately notice something a little out of the ordinary. Instead of the normal safety curtain, a big screen spans the stage, showing a stylised drawing…
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