Nonclassical at Scala

By Jonathan Russell, 19 November 2013

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Reviewed at The Scala, London on 16 November 2013

Programme to include:

Reich, Drumming

Varèse, Ionisation, for percussion

Bartók, Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, Sz.110

Crumb, Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III)

Cowell, Ostinato Pianissimo

Rust, Skeims

Cage, Credo in US

Cage, Child of Tree

Prokofiev, 9 Triangles

Roldán, Ritmica no. 1, for wind quintet and piano

Prokofiev, Import/Export, suite for global junk

Xenakis, Okho

Álvarez, Temazcal

Abass Dodoo One Drum, Drums

Shahbaz Hussain, Tabla

Southbank Gamelan Ensemble

Junk Orchestra, Percussion

Dumtak

Joji Hirota, Drums

Leon Michener, Piano

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

Nelson Goerner shines with the CBSO and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody

Robert Gainer, 9th April

The CBSO present the work of three European émigré composers of the 1930s and 40s, who reimagined their musical influences with contrasting approaches and results.

****1

Karabits and Szeps-Znaider carouse with the LPO

Christopher Woodley, 8th April

The sparkle of Max Bruch's Fecond Violin Concerto and the drama of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony overcome the gloom of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s dark forebodings.

****1

Savall conducts Beethoven and Haydn at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 3rd April

Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge is paired with Haydn's Die sieben letzten Worte, a journey from agony to transcendence in which the agony proves the more honest companion.

***11

Portraits and pictures from Ibragimova, Gardner and the LPO

Roy Westbrook, 1st April

From Three Screaming Popes to Pictures at an Exhibition, a pair of works inspired by paintings frame a violin concerto by Béla Bartók at London's Southbank Centre.

****1

Energy, precision and drama from the Philadelphia Orchestra

Susan Stempleski, 31st March

Marin Alsop is joined by pianist Hayato Sumino as she conducts the Philadelphians in an exhilarating program of works by John Adams, Gershwin and Prokofiev.

****1

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Jonathan Russell

Jonathan Russell is a London-based composer, clarinetist, conductor, and educator, active in music ranging from classical to contemporary to klezmer. He is a member of the Edmund Welles bass clarinet quartet and the Sqwonk bass clarinet duo, and co-founded San Francisco’s Switchboard Music Festival. He holds degrees from Harvard University and San Francisco Conservatory, and is a PhD Candidate at Princeton University.

Nonclassical rocks the house at Scala