In yet another intriguing programming maneuver, Seattle Symphony music director Ludovic Morlot devoted this weekend’s performances to the subject of heroism.
With a programme spanning from Bach through Schumann, Cage, all the way to Lera Auerbach and David Lang, Hilary Hahn shows she is on top form alongside pianist Cory Smythe.
David Lang’s curated series collected stories drew to a close with three works by John Cage, including his autobiographical lecture Indeterminacy of 1958, performed simultaneously, and the world première of Lang’s own mystery sonatas, the only work of his own to be programmed for the series.
Budding young choreographer and ex-Rambert dancer Renaud Wiser presents two dynamic, experimental pieces, his choreography bearing the hallmark of his dancing experience. Catherine Sutherland reviews the world première of Metropolis at Rich Mix.
What is it about percussion concerts? They always seem to have a different feeling to other shows, a palpable sense of energy, curiosity and excitement.
Famous as a choreographer and as the star of the award-winning film Black Swan, as well as being the husband of Natalie Portman, there is a weight of expectation on the work of Benjamin Millepied. He will take up the position of Director of Dance at Paris Opera Ballet in 2014, but his latest project, performing at Sadler’s Wells this week, attempts to break free from classical ballet tradition.
Bang on a Can All-Stars are by no means small fish in a big pond. Their work within the world of minimalist and contemporary music, as well as their collaboration with some of the biggest names in 20th-century music, has made of them today a name respected by any fan of John Cage, Steve Reich, Terry Riley or Brian Eno (to name but a few of the best).
The ceiling at the Clark Studio Theater was hung with white gauzy curtains descending all the way to the floor. The wispy fabric served as dividers between four stages, on which were arranged different combinations of instruments.
The third production to launch this year at Glimmerglass Festival is a pairing of two one-act operas spanning four centuries, entitled Passions for expediency’s sake. Presented in one bill, the works couldn’t be more different in style, presentation, and audience appeal, but they ultimately combine to make a unique and important artistic statement about suffering and love.
Inside Juilliard’s Paul Hall, a splendid spectacle of geometric juxtaposition greets the eyes. The wood-paneled interior is a busy mishmash of thin vertical rectangles and squares of varying sizes, whose right angles are further contrasted by a row of glossy spherical lights on each wall.
Nico Muhly describes A Scream and an Outrage, the weekend of events he curated at the Barbican this weekend, as like a dinner party, “a gathering of friends and family new and old; loosely organised”.
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band whose name has become synonymous with new and emerging contemporary classical work. Whether the music is playful of spiteful, dramatic or lighthearted, Alarm Will Sound nails the performance – just as they did Saturday night in Zankel Hall.Opening with Journeyman, a New York première by John Orfe, Alarm Will Sound immediately made their presence known.
December in London doesn’t just mean wall-to-wall carol singing and the Messiah. It also means Spitalfields Music Winter Festival, which can be relied upon to programme something novel for the festive season while still not skimping on the mince pies.
David Lang’s love fail, an incredible interpretation of the timeless Tristan and Isolde tale, graced the ears of all those present last night at the recently-renovated BAM Harvey Theater (remember those agonizing seats? Yikes!). Mr Lang’s non-narrative non-opera, composed for the all-female a cappella quartet Anonymous 4, miraculously limns nearly 1,000 years of tortured human relationships – with a minimum of means.
Between them, Mozart and Bach wrote what is to my mind some of the happiest music in the repertoire, and the works performed in this concert by Northern Sinfonia and Chorus reminded us that great music doesn’t have to be solemn, or deliver a serious message – sometimes it’s about having as much fun as possible.
Bang on a Can were gentle with their London audience last night, giving the UK première of their Field Recordings project, a sequence of nine new compositions which all involved recorded sound or video samples.
It was hard to believe, listening to this evening’s Late Mix concert at the Sage, that three out of the four pieces played had in fact been substituted at the last minute after a soloist’s sudden illness meant that the original programme couldn’t be performed. Especially as all three pieces retained the spirit of adventure and exploration in which the Late Mix series specialises.
The American Ballet Theatre return to the stage of Sadler’s Wells this week with two mixed programmes of 20th and 21st century ballet. The first programme, of four one act pieces, explores the relationship between music and dance, beginning and ending with a UK premiere.Seven Sonatas choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, ABT’s artist in residence and former Bolshoi director, opens the programme.
Dans un programme composite et résolument contemporain, le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris nous invite à découvrir le travail de quatre chorégraphes : Nicolas Paul, Pierre Rigal, Benjamin Millepied et Edouard Lock.
