At home with eclectic cool: The Hermes Experiment at SJSS

By Christopher Woodley, 30 September 2022

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“rarely have I heard a harp sound so angry, its wires strangling the air”

Reviewed at Smith Square Hall, London on 28 September 2022

Programme to include:

Strozzi, Tradimento! (arr. Werner)

Meredith, Fin Like a Flower (arr. Schofield)

Coult, I Find Planets

Shaw, Plan & Elevation (arr. Denholm)

Wallen, gun, gun, gun

The Hermes Experiment, Bass Piece

Witter-Johnson, Draw the Line

Hall, Befalling (arr. Pashley)

Leith, Uh Huh, Yeah

The Hermes Experiment

Héloïse Werner, Soprano

Oliver Pashley, Clarinet

Marianne Schofield, Double Bass

Anne Denholm, Harp

Marianne Crebassa: potent and versatile at Leeds Song

Richard Wilcocks, 12th April

Accompanied by Joseph Middleton, Marianne Crebassa performs an exquisite recital of Debussy, Mahler, Mompou and Ravel.

*****

Eroica: Riccardo Minasi and the WASO

Sandra Bowdler, 11th April

Guest conductor Riccardo Minasi leads the West Australian Symphony Orchestra with a program of old favourites, with outstanding contribution from trumpeter Jenna Smith

***11

A superb Salzburg sojourn: Philadelphia Orchestra plays Mozart

Cameron Kelsall, 11th April

Guest conductor Harry Bicket brings a sense of urgency to Mozart's Requiem and pulse-quickening energy to Symphony no. 40.

****1

Artistry at full throttle: Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony

Sam Jacobson, 10th April

Can one be artful and musical while playing at maximum volume? In a program of López, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony answer a resounding yes.

*****

A cerebral bacchanalia: Young's bold, brainy Messiaen at Disney Hall

Néstor Castiglione, 10th April

Simone Young's take on Messiaen's Turangalîla with the Los Angeles Philharmonic proves a night to remember.

*****

Andris Nelsons and the BSO arrive in New York, with baggage in tow

Cameron Kelsall, 9th April

In his first New York appearance since the termination of his contract as BSO Music Director, Nelsons courts public sympathy and makes some thrilling music.

***11

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Christopher Woodley

Christopher’s professional background is in the public sector, and includes a spell in music librarianship. A composer, he is a keen follower of contemporary music and has attended all but four editions of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, including the first concert in 1978. Other musical passions include a fascination with the “bad boys” of the New Complexity fixation, particularly the god-like Brian Ferneyhough – arguably the best thing to have come out of Coventry. When not listening to Boulez, Christopher relaxes by frequenting the fields, orchards, woodlands and pubs on the Weald of Kent, where he lives.

At home with eclectic cool: The Hermes Experiment at St John's Smith Square