Birmingham Contemporary Music Group play Britten at Turner Sims

By Edward Whitney, 24 April 2013

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Reviewed at University of Southampton: Turner Sims, Southampton on 21 April 2013

Berg, Four pieces for clarinet and piano, Op.5

Britten, Elegy, for solo viola

Copland, Nocturne

Copland, Ukulele Serenade for Violin and Piano

Britten, Going downhill on a bicycle

Knussen, Cantata (Triptych, part 3), Op.15

Henze, Olly on the Shore

Berg, Adagio for violin, clarinet and piano

Britten, Suite for violin and piano, Op.6 (March, Lullaby and Waltz)

Britten, Phantasy Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello, Op.2

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

John Woolrich, Presenter

Melinda Maxwell, Oboe

Joanna Patton, Clarinet

Malcolm Wilson, Piano

Alexandra Wood, Violin

Christopher Yates, Viola

Ulrich Heinen, Cello

Pastel-perfect hell: To See The Invisible

Charlotte Valori, 8th June

Emily Howard's new opera, an Aldeburgh Festival commission, takes an ambitiously modernist approach to a dystopian story of loneliness: a tough, but thought-provoking work.

****1

Proms at... Wilton’s: Conference of the Birds

Danny Riley, 2nd September

The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group present an ambitious mixture of experimental chamber music and disquieting monodrama.

***11

A bracing density of musical incident

Roy Westbrook, 3rd March

Oliver Knussen and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group excel in a cunningly linked group of works from the old (mid 1980s) to the brand new.

*****

Singing from the same Songbook

David Fay, 24th February

John Woolrich's Songbook project provided the vocal material on show at the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group recital at Wigmore Hall, featuring sopranos Gillian Keith and Rebecca von Lipinski.

***11

Birtwistle's early gems mesmerise

Katy Wright, 6th September

Lean yet nuanced performances from Oliver Knussen and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in commemoration of Harrison Birtwistle's 80th birthday

****1

Barbican’s Birtwistle at 80 over-eggs the pudding during its exploration of the chamber works

Penny Homer, 25th May

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group are masterful, but chamber works lack context during the birthday celebrations at Milton Court.

***11

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Edward Whitney

Edward is a trombonist, writer and critic based in Reading. He has an interest in small-scale arts projects and assists with a number of grassroots music groups. He is a supporter of amateur music and participation at every level.