Steve Reich at 90 celebrated in Liverpool

Mark Simpson and Ensemble 10:10

George Jackson conducts Ensemble 10:10

By Pwyll ap Sion, 30 April 2026

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“a profound work that exudes a detached, intangible beauty”

Reviewed at Tung Auditorium, Liverpool on 29 April 2026

Stephenson, In Time Like Air (UK premiere)

Adams, Gnarly Buttons for clarinet and orchestra

Reich, Reich/Richter

Ensemble 10:10

George Jackson, Conductor

Mark Simpson, Clarinet

Taj Mahal by Nishat Khan premieres at Grange Park Opera

David Karlin, 10th July

Scion of generations of sitar players, Nishat Khan is the perfect person to tell the "greatest love story never told" behind India's most iconic building.

***11

A confusing operatic take on The Tempest at Grange Park Opera

Nick Boston, 11th July

Strong vocal and orchestral performances, supported by impressive visuals, struggle to bring coherency to Anthony Bolton's Island of Dreams at Grange Park Opera.

***11

Lights, camera, distraction: Opera Holland Park stages B-movie Bohème

Stephen Pritchard, 19th July

Natascha Metherell relocates the action to an Italian film studio of the 1950s, which looks great but brings problems.

***11

Taking the Pils: Pountney proves that rare Janáček is no small beer

Matthew Rye, 26th June

Janáček’s satirical opera The Excursions of Mr Brouček may not be among his greatest dramatic works, yet it earns its place in the limelight for its musical, visual and dramatic wit at Grange Park Opera.

****1

Opera Holland Park: colour and laughter as Figaro opens the season

Stephen Pritchard, 1st June

Amid all the18th-century flummery, contemporary touches abound as the OHP's post-pandemic season opens.

***11

Magisterial performance of Feldman's Rothko Chapel in Brussels

Timothy Robson, 6th November

Part of Brussels' Ars Musica festival, the concert also included a fun world premiere by Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber, and the riveting Streaming Arhythmia by Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

****1

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Pwyll ap Sion

A composer and musicologist, Pwyll studied music at Oxford and is currently Professor of Music at Bangor University in Wales. He has published several books and articles on the music of Michael Nyman, Steve Reich and Philip Glass and is considered an authority on minimalist and postminimalist music. He writes regularly for Gramophone and Strad magazines, has given talks on Glass and Louis Andriessen for the Barbican’s ‘Total Immersion’ concert series, has been interviewed on BBC Radios 3 and 4, and contributed composer profiles and articles for the BBC Proms.