Total Immersion: BBC Symphony Orchestra dedicates a day to the sounds of Japan

By Sarah Reid, 05 February 2013

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Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 2 February 2013

Nishimura, Bird Heterophony

Mochizuki, Musubi

Takemitsu, November Steps for biwa, shakuhachi and orchestra

Fujikura, Atom

Hosokawa, Woven Dreams

Miyoshi, Litania pour Fuji

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Kazushi Ono, Conductor

Kifu Mitsuhashi, Shakuhachi

Kumiko Shuto, Biwa

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

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

Susannah Moody, 23rd January

Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.

**111

Sir James MacMillan delights with his Christmas Oratorio

David Karlin, 19th December

MacMillan's large scale choral work offers a rich variety of texts and musical ideas, the composer conducts the BBC Symphony with unerring precision.

*****

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Sarah Reid

Sarah studied Music at Cambridge University, graduating in 2010 and now works for Rhinegold Publishing coordinating their music directories and listings supplements. Sarah is a regular concert- and theatre-goer and appreciates most music – with the exception of heavy metal and Wagner.