At the climax of James MacMillan’s St Luke Passion, after Christ has breathed his last on the cross, the composer summons up a cacophonous orchestral fury. But amidst thunderous, discordant brass blooms an ethereal chorale – a direct quotation of Bach’s chorale, O Haupt Voll Blut und Wunden. This is an audacious gesture handled with maturity and woven into a highly distinctive musical language.
Read MoreBBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist Zhang Zuo made her Wigmore Hall debut last Monday with a programme pairing late Schubert to early Schumann. Two pieces close in history (written just over 10 years from each other) but miles apart in temperament. However, under Zuo’s fingers, all seemed youthful and attacked with significant energy – almost to the point of seeming nervy, even though she has become a distinguished performer in both China and Europe.
Read MoreThe culmination of Brecht and Weill’s tumultuous three-year collaboration, Mahagonny is a bizarre and difficult work. Expanded from their 1927 songspiel, the opera tells of the foundation of the city of Mahagonny by the outlaw Widow Begbick, and encompasses everything from economic collapse and impending ecological apocalypse, to the defeat of God himself.
Read MoreBrittle Love is the latest offering from a label establishing itself as a key player in a nascent scene that intertwines elements of electronic music and the avant-garde.
Read MoreExperimental guitarist Taku Sugimoto has become known for a contemplative style of playing that aims for a kind of true ‘minimalism’, in the sense of playing as little and as quietly as possible. Now finding modest international fame on the merits of his compositions and free improvisations, Sugimoto is often associated with onkyō, practiced by Japanese performers at the (now closed) Off-Site club in Tokyo.
Read MoreBartók described Duke Bluebeard’s Castle as a “mystery of the soul”. In his masterpiece of symbolist music drama, he takes us, the audience, with Judith, the curious and naïve young bride, on a revelatory journey into the soul of the mythical Duke Bluebeard.
Read MoreSeven Last Words from the Cross is James MacMillan’s eccentric yet highly dramatic presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Jesus before his crucifixion. It is a challenging piece, handled well by the young singers and reduced forces of Clare College Choir and the Dmitri Ensemble, under the direction of Graham Ross, the conductor of both groups.
Read MorePanda Bear, AKA Noah Lennox, after finding initial success as a member of Animal Collective, has become known for his own brand of warped yet highly infectious pop since the breakthrough 2011 solo album Tomboy. Now settled with a young family in Lisbon, his latest album, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, sees Lennox mellow out and bring his style to maturity in the process.
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