Wandering around Cage: Margaret Leng Tan plays Four Walls in the Barbican Art Gallery

By Paul Kilbey, 18 March 2013

Loading, please wait...

Reviewed at Barbican Centre: Art Gallery, London on 14 March 2013

Cage, Four Walls

Margaret Leng Tan, Piano

A birthday happening for Stephen Montague at St John's Smith Square

Frances Wilson, 12th March

It’s not every day that one goes to a dinner party at lunchtime, but this was a rather special dinner party – A Dinner Party for John Cage. It formed the centerpiece of a lunchtime “happening” at St John’s Smith Square to celebrate the 70th birthday of American-British composer Stephen Montague.

*****

Tarmo Peltokoski conducts the Hallé in Mahler and Vaughan Williams

Leighton Jones, 16th April

Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder provide an apt, if somewhat unexpected, partner to Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.

****1

A special relationship renewed: Leonard Slatkin returns to Prague

Frank Kuznik, 16th April

Leonard Slatkin returns to the Prague Symphony Orchestra with one of his own pieces, a Schubert tribute that steals the show.

****1

Cummings and the AAM win ‘Leipzig's Got Talent’

Nick Boston, 16th April

The Academy of Ancient Music poses the question what might have been in Leipzig with stunning performances of Bach and his competitors to be the new Thomaskantor.

*****

Kinan Azmeh offers a sampling of delights with St Luke’s

No’a L. bat Miri, 15th April

As part of St Luke’s ‘Visionary Sounds’ series, Kinan Azmeh joined the chamber ensemble to play a variety of his own compositions.

****1

Carlo Rizzi brings Respighi’s Rome to Birmingham

Robert Gainer, 15th April

Carlos Rizzi believes that Puccini’s orchestrations are good enough to stand alone, without their vocal lines, but can the drama compete with the romance of Respighi?

****1

More reviews...

Paul Kilbey

Paul was Reviews Editor at Bachtrack from 2012 to February 2014. He has written on music and culture for publications including Culture Wars, the Huffington Post, the Independent and the Guardian. He holds BA and MPhil degrees in music from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and is particularly passionate about contemporary music of all types. His website is here.