Serially fascinating: Karim Said plays Schoenberg at The Rest is Noise

By Paul Kilbey, 05 March 2013

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Reviewed at Purcell Room, London on 3 March 2013

Schoenberg, 5 Pieces for piano, Op.23

Webern, Kinderstück (Children's piece) for piano

Webern, Piece (in the tempo of a minuet) for piano

Eisler, 4 Pieces for piano, Op.3

Schoenberg, Suite, Op.25

Karim Said, Piano

The art of fear, or the fear of art? The Rest is Noise with Karim Said

Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, 9th June

This Sunday, pianist Karim Said returned to the Southbank Centre to put Arnold Schoenberg under the microscope for a third and last time. Performing as part of the International Piano Series 2012/13 and the cataclysmic Rest is Noise festival, Said’s concerts have focused on the genesis of the Second Viennese School.

*****

Lost for words: Asmik Grigorian excels at Wigmore Hall

Roy Westbrook, 26th May

A first half of vocalises gives way to all Strauss after the interval as the Lithuanian superstar soprano helps Wigmore Hall celebrate its 125th anniversary.

****1

A self-congratulatory Cecilia Bartoli show at Salzburg Whitsun

Laura Servidei, 24th May

This year’s Salzburg Whitsun Festival gala, Ciao, bella ciao, features Cecilia Bartoli in a highly personalised musical programme structured as an autobiographical journey, unfolding as a blend of concert and self-portrait.

Sumptuous Sheffield Chamber Music Festival finale

Phil Parker, 23rd May

Ensemble 360 and soprano Claire Booth test to the limits the definition of ‘chamber music’ in this richly orchestral closing concert of the 2026 Sheffield Chamber Music Festival.

****1

More gold than corn: María Dueñas plays Korngold at the Barbican

Mark Pullinger, 22nd May

The young Spanish violinist proves an ardent advocate for a work originally dismissed as a “Hollywood Concerto” as the BBC Symphony Orchestra closes its Barbican season.

****1

The ears have it: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas on the Cutty Sark

Mark Valencia, 21st May

Come away fellow sailors, your anchors be weighing! All board the Cutty Sark for a semi-staging of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists.

****1

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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.