Barbican
Bronfman, LSO, Gergiev, BarbicanMonday, 12 October 2015
Stravinsky and Bartók both escaped Europe at the start of the second world war to live in the USA. For Stravinsky it was the start of 30 years of mostly happy exile, while Bartók was to survive for only five years. Works from their time in America... Read more... |
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Volkov, BarbicanSaturday, 10 October 2015
This Barbican concert began with a Mendelssohn overture and ended with a Haydn symphony. But on stage were the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov. What did you expect in between, a Mozart piano concerto? Not likely. Instead they gave the first... Read more... |
Total Immersion: Henryk Górecki, BarbicanSunday, 04 October 2015
This was Henryk Górecki beyond the Third Symphony. His otherwise ubiquitous masterpiece was notable by its absence from yesterday's programme. That was surely a conscious decision, and a wise one, allowing his many other important works to come out... Read more... |
Il ritorno d' Ulisse in patria, AAM, Egarr, BarbicanWednesday, 30 September 2015
And so the Academy of Ancient Music’s triptych of Monteverdi operas at the Barbican comes to an end, three years after it began with Orfeo. If 2014’s Poppea was the cycle’s sexually-charged climax, then this Ulisse is the dark, contemplative coda –... Read more... |
Rio+Film, BarbicanMonday, 28 September 2015
With eyes trained on sporty Rio de Janeiro once more for next year’s Olympic Games, cultural portals on to the city are bound to be offered in all sorts of places around the world. One such is Rio+Film, a new film festival at the Barbican Centre... Read more... |
Lost In Thought: A Mindfulness Opera, Mahogany Opera Group, LSO St Luke'sSaturday, 26 September 2015
Was it when we all obediently received, then held, contemplated, then savoured, then (and only then) swallowed a single grape? Or was it as we paced solemnly round the room for the sixth time, whirling brightly coloured plastic tubing above our... Read more... |
Cargill, BBCSO, Oramo, BarbicanFriday, 25 September 2015
In 2007, Jiří Bělohlávek set the distinctive seal on his leadership of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and their ongoing Mahler cycle with a riveting performance of the Third Symphony. The legacy he established of a deep, well-moulded string sound... Read more... |
Accentus, Insula, Equilbey, BarbicanTuesday, 22 September 2015
The frail bridge between Baroque and Classical aesthetics was the theme for this debut UK appearance by Insula, the period-orchestra extension to Laurence Equilbey’s superb vocal ensemble accentus.With a chunky harpsichord continuo and urgent pulse... Read more... |
Perahia, Richter, LSO, Haitink, BarbicanMonday, 21 September 2015
Last night's perfectly-judged, superbly communicated performance of Mahler's Fourth Symphony served as a reminder that the passion, experience and astonishing musicality of 86-year-old conductor Bernard Haitink are things to be cherished and never... Read more... |
Hamlet, BarbicanWednesday, 26 August 2015
The set turns out to be the thing now that Benedict Cumberbatch's star turn in Hamlet has finally arrived, trailing in its wake a level of expectation, hysteria and scrutiny that might well have made many a lesser actor head for the hills. None... Read more... |
Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock, BarbicanTuesday, 07 July 2015
There was a buzz at the Barbican last night, the kind that makes you feel like a child again, a ripple of electric energy that only comes with seeing the true greats. And they don’t come much greater than Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, two jazz... Read more... |
Zimerman, LSO, Rattle, BarbicanFriday, 03 July 2015
Over the past decade Krystian Zimerman and Sir Simon Rattle have created and evolved a performing idea of Brahms’s D minor piano concerto which is still remarkable for its considered weight and grimly imposing grandeur, Michelangelo’s Mosè in... Read more... |
