The river knows itself: the music of Liza Lim

Liza Lim in Lucerne

Winnie Huang uses the Eigenthaler-Rümlig to bow a violin

Offerings made to the river

By Tim Rutherford-Johnson, 05 March 2024

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“the music is alive, music is living in our mouths as we play, inside our fingers”

Bachtrack, 24th February

Setting texts by Nobel prize winning author Han Kang, this new work by British composer Laura Bowler for soprano and large orchestra is an emotionally charged exploration of mourning and longing.

The giving of gifts: Pierre-Laurent Aimard on György Kurtág

Tim Rutherford-Johnson, 16th February

As the idiosyncratic, laconic Hungarian composer approaches his 100th birthday, we talk to Pierre-Laurent Aimard about his decades-long relationship with György Kurtág, on his unique playfulness and gift-giving.

Back in the spotlight: Bru Zane gives women composers chance to shine

Elodie Olson-Coons, 2nd February

With significant works by Louise Farrenc, Augusta Holmès and Clémence de Grandval – including two grand operas – Palazzetto Bru Zane is pioneering rediscovery of French music of the 19th century.

Dinosaurs of the Baroque: discovering Les Dinos et l’Arche

Lawrence Dunn, 2nd January

Thomas Leininger’s Baroque-inspired children’s opera at Geneva’s La Cité Bleue is a unique stylistic departure, which asks the essential question: what happened to the dinosaurs left off Noah’s Ark?

The magical world of composers’ handwriting

Lawrence Dunn, 17th December

From Buxtehude, Bach and Handel, to contemporary composer Liza Lim, we take a tour of the myriad forms of composers’ handwriting and calligraphy – and how music makes itself on the page.

A political composer? John Adams revisits Nixon in China

Thomas May, 30th September

Returning to conduct Rome’s Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia this November, John Adams reflects on the situation of music in the US – and why he has so often been labelled a ‘political’ composer.

Tim Rutherford-Johnson

Tim Rutherford-Johnson is author of Music after the Fall: Modern Composition and Culture since 1989, and The Music of Liza Lim. He writes about new music for publications and record labels across Europe and the United States.