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…
Tag: concert review
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…
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…
Voice recognition: Carolyn Sampson
As many of you will know, soprano Carolyn Sampson reached her 100th recording as a soloist with the release of ‘but I like to sing…’ in November. She celebrated this achievement online, with a series of short videos explaining some of the background to each recording. Full of relaxed charm – with an extra layer…
Bold testament: ‘Out of Her Mouth’, Dunedin Consort & soloists, Village Underground, London
A couple of watermelons still share the stage with the artists as they receive our applause. They are the lucky ones. Their fallen comrades gave their lives in mostly spectacular fashion, just one of the bravura surprises in this wildly inventive production. ‘Out of Her Mouth’ is a joint venture by Dunedin Consort, who supply…
The Golden Road to Samarkand – Joseph Tawadros, Zeb Soames and Britten Sinfonia
Joseph Tawadros Constellation Three Stages of Hindsight [world premiere; arranged Tawadros and orchestrated Alex Palmer] Constantinople Delius Hassan What a joy of a concert! Superb venue – the wonderful Milton Court concert hall which is the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s new performance venue – fabulous soloists (of which more in a minute) and…
Noisenight 12 at Signature Brew, Haggerston
Guest review by David Lake If you haven’t come across the ‘noisenights,’ you really should. Two enterprising musicians, Jack Crozier and Jack Bazalgette started these classical/not-classical nights around London during the pandemic and this is the first I’ve had the chance to attend. The idea is simple enough: get top-notch classical musicians playing in the…
“Inspired programming; exceptional playing” – Shostakovich String Quartet Cycle at Kings Place with the Brodsky Quartet
Guest review by David Lake The Brodsky Quartet – sometimes called ‘the British Kronos’ – have been around for 50 years, but, as Paul Cassidy tells us, “have only played the complete Shostakovich cycle three times”, his soft, lightly-lilting Derry accent lulling us into the belief that we’re in for a relaxed weekend of ever-so-soft…
Lieder among wo/men: Carolyn Sampson, Roderick Williams & Joseph Middleton in concert
At this year’s Leeds Lieder festival, I finally got to see – for the first time – a form of classical recital I’d been thinking, and even occasionally writing, about for some time: one that behaved like a rock concert. Fitting, then, that we were surprised, amused, shaken up and energised. But was it a…
Sound travels: Xuefei Yang, Melbourne Guitar Festival
Xuefei Yang had prepared a globe-trotting programme that had the happy effect of demonstrating her breathtaking versatility across so many styles
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