Klangforum Wien play music in the space–time continuum, in London

By Paul Kilbey, 28 June 2013

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Reviewed at Kings Place: Hall Two, London on 26 June 2013

Furrer, Spur

Gander, Khur

Rusconi, De materia nigra et obscura

Klangforum Wien

Annette Bik, Violin

Sophie Schafleitner, Violin

Dimitrios Polisoidis, Viola

Benedikt Leitner, Cello

Joonas Ahonen, Piano

Haas’ 11,000 Strings at Park Avenue Armory

Kurt Gottschalk, 30th September

Like Ligeti before him, Georg Friedrich Haas makes the avant garde approachable as this performance of 11,000 Strings reveals.

***11

Miroslav Srnka’s Voice Killer premieres at MusikTheater an der Wien

Chanda VanderHart, 16th June

At MusikTheater an der Wien, Miroslav Srnka’s new opera provess a deeply compelling, meticulously crafted work. It may not uplift, but it sears itself into the memory.

****1

Smart, stylish Klangforum Wien residency wraps at Prague Spring

Frank Kuznik, 1st June

Klangforum Wien finishes a far-reaching excursion into the boldest realms of modern music with a flourish.

****1

Freitag, der Dreizehnte celebrates Schoenberg at the Reaktor

Chanda VanderHart, 28th April

What do you get for the composer who made – and also kind of broke – everything? Arnold Schoenberg’s well-documented phobia of the number 13 aside, he could not have asked for a superior tribute in his 150th anniversary year.

****1

Embracing the new at Prague Spring

Frank Kuznik, 21st May

A world première by a Czech composer highlights a strong outing by Klangforum Wien.

****1

“To infinity and beyond! ”Cosmic Mondparsifal

Sam Johnstone, 15th October

After Jonathan Meese's Parsifal staging was rejected by Bayreuth, he channelled his frustrations into an "arch-Parsifal" which shoots the titular hero into space, with a musical re-imagining of Wagner’s score by Austrian composer Bernhard Lang.

*****

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Paul Kilbey

Paul was Reviews Editor at Bachtrack from 2012 to February 2014. He has written on music and culture for publications including Culture Wars, the Huffington Post, the Independent and the Guardian. He holds BA and MPhil degrees in music from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and is particularly passionate about contemporary music of all types. His website is here.