Edinburgh International Festival: Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble – On Behalf of Nature

Carnegie’s Zankel Hall hosts a four and a half hour celebration of the work of Meredith Monk.

Bravo to Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony for blowing the dust off of some of the boldest innovators America has produced. As part of a mini-festival at Carnegie Hall of 20th- and 21st-century composers who stretched musical and formal boundaries (to put it mildly), the program on Tuesday night was packed with rarely-played wonders.

A concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA saw Liverpool audiences treated to a sumptuous Copland as well as a symphony  as well as a barn-storming performance of Gershwin and Duke Ellington, performed by Frank Dupree who was making his debut with the RLPO. 

Two technical mishaps punctuate the evening, but Hilary Hahn maintains poise throughout a French programme crowned by a finely judged, deeply expressive performance of Fauré.