FREE! Music →
In Berlin, the ‘FREE! Music’ festival at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt celebrated musical freedom fighters of all kinds, including Harry Partch, a rebel of a more esoteric kind. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreMulti-media stress test for Antwerp’s new Queen Elisabeth Hall →
Overshadowed by its Hanseatic cousin Hamburg, Antwerp recently celebrated the opening of its own new concert hall. In his Symphony no. 2, Wim Henderickx tested the hall's capabilities with a multi-media extravaganza. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreWhen music strays into politics’ path →
The curators of a new exhibition on Julius Eastman, a recently rediscovered composer from the New York experimental scene in the 1970s and 80s, think he was far more than a political provocateur. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreRebels without a cause: Teodor Currentzis in Berlin →
Teodor Currentzis, bad boy of early music, appeared at the Konzerthaus Berlin with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and MusicAeterna for a performance that turned it up to 11. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreOnce more, with feeling: Víkingur Ólafsson plays Glass in Berlin →
Vikingur Ólafsson, a daring and unique artist, never repeated himself in a performance of Philip Glass' Etudes for piano as part of the Berlin Konzerthaus' "Festival USA". Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreMexican Electronic Music →
‘We refuse to accept a fascist America.’ A recent celebration of electronic Mexican music was politically pointed. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreThe New American Gospel: John Adams in Berlin →
John Adams and Peter Sellars' biblical oratorio given a fine concert performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker under departing chief conductor, Sir Simon Rattle. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreWhat is... the Piano?
The piano is the ultimate celebrity instrument. American pianist Liberace, one of the 20th century's best-loved virtuosos, was the highest-paid entertainer in the world from the 1950s to the 70s. Many kinds of keyboard instrument existed in earlier times but the piano as we think of it was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori.
Read MoreTumultuous times: a history lesson with Vladimir Jurowski →
A firecracker performance by Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin giving urgency to music composed at a time that echoes our own. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreKeeping the Boulez spirit alive →
Daniel Barenboim inaugurated last month the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. The most interesting feature of the hall lies not in its flowing architecture, but rather in its name: the Pierre Boulez Saal. One year after the French composer's death, what is his legacy? Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreGhosts of past and present at Berlin's Philharmonie →
Gidon Kremer, long-time champion of Sofia Gubaidulina, joined the Berliner Philharmoniker and Christian Thielemann for a performance of In tempus praesens. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreWho is... Kaija Saariaho?
Kaija Saariaho is one of 20th century modernism’s most well regarded composers, with her mystical and enrapturing orchestral soundscapes winning admiration outside the avant-garde establishment.
Read MoreScores – Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin →
Scores, a recent exhibition in Berlin, exhibited new ‘scores’ by four visual artists as artworks in themselves, alongside a series of concerts featuring their musical realisation. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreJeder Hase ein Künstler →
Joseph Beuys, the German avant-garde artist and environmentalist, died 30 years ago this year. To mark his anniversary, Soloistenensemble Kaleidoskop mounted the premiere of a new surrealist theatrical work. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreRebecca Saunders' Stasis: a symphony in space →
Stasis, originally written for Ensemble musikFabrik, explores the boundary between sound and silence through a kind of symphony in space. Last weekend, the Ensemblekollektiv performed a new tailor-made version for the Akademie der Künste building in Berlin. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreUncertain States – Akademie der Künste, Berlin →
Round the corner from the Bundestag in Berlin, seat of the German parliament, the Akademie der Künste is mounting a new exhibition of works responding not only to migration, but also to exile, occupation, division and alienation. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreOddballs and outcasts in the ballroom with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin →
The Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin is roaming around its hometown this season with a series of chamber music concerts in unexpected places. In a former ballroom in the up-and-coming Neukölln district, the orchestra’s chamber ensemble presented an eccentric programme of music by oddballs and outcasts. Published on Bachtrack.
Read MoreMusic for Robots – Berlin, 29th September - 1st October 2016 →
This former brewery in East Berlin was the home to a three-day celebration of weird and wonderful musical machines. The Wir sind die Roboter festival featured an array of instrumental contraptions from across the globe, with installations and exhibitions accompanied by three nights of musical performances. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreClaudia Molitor – Profile →
The composer and artist Claudia Molitor challenges the idea of music and how we engage with it. Her work uses sound to explore locations and physical objects. Published on The Cusp.
Read MoreOsmodrama – Berlin, 15th July - 18th September 2016 →
The idea of using smells in art isn’t new, but its history isn’t particularly illustrious. Smell-o-Vision was voted one of the hundred worst ideas of all time; Scratch’n’Sniff didn’t fare much better. Osmodrama, a two-month festival in Berlin, was not deterred. Published on The Cusp.
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