Simon Cummings is a composer, writer and researcher based in the Cotswolds. He composes instrumental and electronic music, exploring aspects of algorithmic composition, and has recently completed a Ph.D. in composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire under the supervision of Richard Causton and Howard Skempton. His musical tastes are ludicrously broad but are focused most on contemporary/avant-garde classical and electronic music. When not composing, he writes regularly about new music; Simon is the author of the contemporary music blog 5:4 (5against4.com), and regularly contributes articles for a variety of books, journals and websites. Follow him on Twitter @5against4.
The CBSO and Kazuki Yamada, with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, get their new season up and running with an evening of ebullience, pain and, ultimately, happiness.
The Singaporean conductor is soon to become Principal Guest Conductor at the Dresden Philharmonic. He talks about Mahler and Strauss, world premieres, creating bridges between West and East, and classical music’s future.
Under Kazuki Yamada, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra gives one of its finest performances in years, in a concert featuring music by Holst, Beethoven and Rachmaninov.
Robert Treviño and the CBSO channel the stylistic shifts of Mahler’s Symphony no. 10 to reveal a work volatile and painful, yet bristling with life to the last.
Factory International’s Director of Music Jane Beese talks about the contemporary classical music on offer this summer at their biennial event, Manchester International Festival.
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla’s polarised approach exaggerates music by Weinberg and Prokofiev, while Kirill Gerstein keeps control in a refreshing, elegant performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto.
A self-effacing, literal approach from conductor Ilan Volkov brings marvellous transparency to works by Sibelius and Prokofiev, while highlighting the flaws in a new work by Freya Waley-Cohen.
Conductor and soloist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider oversees a stunningly beautiful account of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto and guides the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra through both glory and violence in Strauss’ Alpine Symphony.
Gergely Madaras’ interesting approach to Mahler’s First suffers from sloppy execution while Larcher’s Third succeeds in a vivid evocation from the CBSO of triumph and tragedy.
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Ryan Bancroft and violinist Anthony Marwood deliver an evening of rapid gear-shifting, punchy momentum, dancing lyricism and mischief at Hoddinott Hall.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the CBSO give a flat rendition of Haydn in an otherwise emotionally-conflicted, moving evening featuring Weinberg, Elgar and Thomas Adès.
Nicola Benedetti and the CBSO under Kazuki Yamada bring impressive levels of sensitivity and honesty to Dvořák’s New World Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
Elizabeth Watts gives an unforgettably powerful performance of Finzi’s Dies Natalis in an otherwise problematic concert, marred by Adrian Partington’s uncertain approach.
Rolf Martinsson opts for clichéd opulence in his song cycle Ich denke Dein…, while Emilia Hoving delivers a sublime, conflicted account of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.
