UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth impresses on scale, not substance

Julia Wolfe's unEarth performed by the BBCSO

Else Torp

Martyn Brabbins

Par Susannah Moody, 26 janvier 2026

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“the orchestra reached a frenetic urgency reflective of the climate crisis”

Critique faite à Barbican Hall, Londres, le 23 janvier 2026

Wolfe, unEarth

Anne Kauffman, Mise en scène

Lucy Mackinnon, Vidéaste

Ben Stanton, Lumières

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Else Torp, Soprano

BBC Singers

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Martyn Brabbins, Direction

Le Barbican Hall transfiguré par le BBC Symphony Orchestra

Nicolas Schotter, 21st October

Le Barbican Hall accueillait le BBC Symphony Orchestra et son chef Sakari Oramo pour un programme d'une remarquable cohérence, à de multiples niveaux, et dont la gradation dramatique a conquis l'assemblée.

****1

Beethoven et Lutoslawski par le BBC SO à Londres

Julie Jozwiak, 24th April

Le BBC Symphony Orchestra donnait un programme Beethoven/Lutoslawski au Barbican Hall. Le chef Michal Nesterowic et le pianiste Steven Osborne ont remplacé les têtes d'affiche initialement annoncées. Un changement de distribution qui n’a pas empêché la soirée d'être réussie.

***11

Sakari Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 26th March

Yeol Eum Son’s Britten Piano Concerto formed the evening’s centre of gravity, played with lucid line, structural command and sudden fire. In Brahms’ Second Symphony, Sakari Oramo found conviction, proportion and a warmth that felt earned rather than applied.

****1

Sakari Oramo and Yeol Eum Son summon up vivid landscapes

Christopher Woodley, 13th March

Yeol Eum Son's superb performances of Bartók and Finzi are matched by intense and heady readings of Stravinsky and Weir by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo.

****1

From snow to sludge: Icelandic music at the Barbican Centre

Marat Ingeldeev, 22nd February

A bewildering evening at the Barbican, where ambitious Icelandic programming collapses under its lofty ambition of defying genres and making music more appealing to a wide variety of audiences.

**111

Fine Lindberg and Stravinsky double bill from the BBC Symphony

Roy Westbrook, 6th February

After a performance of Magnus Lindberg’s First Violin Concerto by Lisa Batiashvili at the Barbican, Stravinsky’s Perséphone stands the test of time.

****1

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Susannah Moody

A London-based journalist and ex-lawyer, Susannah will cheerfully listen to most styles of music. Having trained as an operatic soprano through school and university, she has worked for several opera companies and set up a student opera company where she translated, directed and performed in productions including flash mob opera. Most recently she took part in the ENO Response programme reviewing the company's 2022-2023 season. She also writes about food as The Moody Foodie.