Prom 44: Michael Gordon's genre-defying Big Space

By Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 21 August 2017

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 17 August 2017

Gordon, Big Space (BBC commission; world premiere)

Lang, Sunray (London premiere)

Wolfe, Big Beautiful Dark and Scary (London premiere)

Glass, Glassworks (Closing)

Andriessen, Workers Union

BBC Proms Youth Ensemble

Bang on a Can All-Stars

Rumon Gamba, Conductor

A ghost of an opera at BAM

Jacob Slattery, 7th September

David Lang’s new opera the loser opened the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Wednesday night, but simply lacked theatricality.

*1111

Voices, voices in space, and spaces: Thoughts on 50 years of Meredith Monk

Rebecca Lentjes, 22nd March

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

*****

Captivating winter warmer from the Bang on a Can

Frank Kuznik, 28th February

Composer David Lang joined the ensemble in Oberlin for an invigorating night of fresh ideas played with a spirit of adventure.

****1

Bang on a Can and the New York Phil

Rebecca Lentjes, 31st May

In addition to the “Mickey Pick-Slate” chants, the score of Anthracite Fields incorporates the banging of a can, the spinning of bicycle wheels, whistling, and shouting.

****1

Minimalism with a bang: Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Cabaret Contemporain in Paris

Leopold Tobisch, 28th September

Bang on a Can All-Stars are by no means small fish in a big pond. Their work within the world of minimalist and contemporary music, as well as their collaboration with some of the biggest names in 20th-century music, has made of them today a name respected by any fan of John Cage, Steve Reich, Terry Riley or Brian Eno (to name but a few of the best).

*****

A Scream and an Outrage: Session Two at LSO St Luke's

Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, 11th May

The title for this Barbican event certainly threw up some interesting questions. Having failed to attend a riotous dinner party that was characterised by one attendee as “a scream and an outrage”, Nico Muhly set about curating a series of concerts under this title. However, no screams or outrages occurred this weekend.

***11

More reviews...

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres

Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres is a Bristol-based film composer and classical electronic artist. Alexandra's passion in scoring and as a performer lie in the duality between the classical and electronica worlds, moving picture and her love for the piano. Her music has been described by The White Room Magazine as “majestic, at times monumental…the force and vastness of nature”.

Prom 44: Michael Gordon's genre-defying Big Space receives fantastic world première