From the Eiffel Tower to Pagan Russia

By Roy Westbrook, 25 September 2015

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“enjoyably frivolous enough to divert any boulevardier”

Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 24 September 2015

Members of Les Six (Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Germaine Tailleferre), Les mariés de la tour Eiffel

Ravel, Piano Concerto in G major

Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)

Basel Symphony Orchestra

Alice Sara Ott, Piano

Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor

Aix Easter Festival: Janowski conducts Ein Deutsches Requiem

Mark Valencia, 17th April

Janowski's concept rang consistently true and the musicians did him proud.

***11

A striking Lucia di Lammermoor in Basel

Sarah Batschelet, 19th October

For his new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor in Basel, director Olivier Py underscored an emotive kaleidoscope of events with unparalleled creativity and imagination.

****1

A noble case for civil disobedience

Sarah Batschelet, 28th April

Even forty years after its world première in Rotterdam, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new production of Philip Glass’s three-act opera in Basel has particularly timely relevance.

*****

Sexism and callousness in Theater Basel's Don Giovanni

Sarah Batschelet, 27th January

In Richard Jones' production of Don Giovanni at Theater Basel, it was the singers alone who stole the limelight.

***11

Cerrudo's excellent Sleeping Beauty

Sarah Batschelet, 10th March

The recent première of Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Sleeping Beauty” in Basel made a brilliant case for reinventing an old and magical tale.

*****

Tewja: Emotion in motion

Sarah Batschelet, 20th November

Choreographer Richard Wherlock’s new ballet pays tribute to his Jewish roots, but also marks a first collaboration with composer Olivier Truan, whose contemporary klezmer music springs from the same tradition.

***11

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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.

Splendid Swiss tour from the Eiffel Tower to Pagan Russia