Ancient and modern juxtaposed at Milton Court

By David Truslove, 25 September 2017

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“strikingly original textures and flinty dynamism”

Reviewed at Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Milton Court Concert Hall, London on 23 September 2017

Varèse, Octandre

Machaut, Messe de Notre Dame

Birtwistle, Pulse Sampler

Byrd, Lamentations

Birtwistle, The Moth Requiem

Martyn Brabbins, Conductor

BBC Singers

Nash Ensemble

The BBC Singers at full throttle at Milton Court

Nick Boston, 26th February

Powerful Herbert Howells, together with affecting Shaw and engaging MacMillan from the BBC Singers, with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Sofi Jeannin.

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Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.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

Ermonela Jaho gives a tragic twist to Puccini's La rondine

Peter Quantrill, 5th December

A new edition of Puccini's score springs to life in a meticulously prepared Opera Rara concert performance at the Barbican.

****1

ENO, BBC join forces in stunning Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Mark Valencia, 1st September

David Pountney's vernacular translation and Ruth Knight's vivid staging lent a thrilling immediacy to Shostakovich's chilling opera.

*****

BBC Symphony and Josep Pons at the Proms: a dextrous dance

Dominic Lowe, 8th August

A programme heavily skewed to the balletic saw the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Josep Pons dispatch difficult passages with ease.

****1

Yunchan Lim plays a starring role in the CBSO’s Prom

Leighton Jones, 1st August

Adams, Rachmaninov and Berio are not three easy bedfellows, however Kazuki Yamada and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra pull these strands together remarkably.

****1

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David Truslove

After many years as a musician – conducting choirs, singing as a lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral and an involvement in education, David now writes programme notes, occasionally composes and enjoys a busy schedule of reviewing.

Birtwistle curates: Ancient and modern juxtaposed at Milton Court