A memorable & touching portrait of an oft-misunderstood composer: words & music by Gustav Holst at the London Song Festival
Updated: 2024-11-30 10:13:00
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Saturday , 30 November 2024 A memorable touching portrait of an oft-misunderstood composer : words music by Gustav Holst at the London Song Festival Labels : concert review Gustav Holst by Herbert Lambert , bromide print , 1921 NPG P109 National Portrait Gallery London The songs of Gustav Holst Katie Bray , Ruairi Bowen , Nigel Foster London Song Festival at Hinde Street Methodist Church Reviewed 29 November 2024 A portrait of Gustav Holst in words and music , interleaving his varied , fascinating and sometimes experimental songs with the his own words to create a vivid picture The London Song Festival continued its exploration of the Class of 1874 at Hinde
: : , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 29 November 2024 An evening of compelling and involving theatre : Britten , Weill and Ravel triple bill at the Royal College of Music Labels : opera review RCM Ravel : L'heure espagnole Alexandria Moon , Edward Birchinall , Benedict Munden , Marcus Swietlicki part Royal College of Music Photo : Chris Christodoulou Britten : Les illuminations Weill : Chansons des Quais Ravel : L'heure espagnole Georgia Melville , Cecilia Zhang , Alexandria Moon , Marcus Swietlicki , Benedict Munden , Sam Hird , Edward Birchinall , director : Ella Marchment , conductor : Michael Rosewell , Royal College of Music Opera Studio Britten Theatre , Royal College of Music
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 27 November 2024 Christmas with George Frideric and Jimi : the Handel Hendrix House celebrates the season Labels : Handel preview Handel Hendrix House Photo : Christopher Ison We don't know how George Frideric Handel celebrated Christmas , but certainly Queen Charlotte brought the idea of the Christmas tree to England when she married King George III in 1761, decorated yew branches being traditional in her native Mecklenurg-Strelitz , and by 1800 she had set up a Christmas tree in Queen’s Lodge , . Windsor So , we can perhaps forgive Handel Hendrix House for celebrating the season with a Christmas tree and much else besides . From now until 22
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 27 November 2024 From Don Juan to Persia and beyond : Emily Hazrati appointed Associate Composer at Oxford International Song Festival Labels : music news Oxford Lieder Festival Emily Hazrati Photo : May Chi Oxford International Song Festival has announced that Emily Hazrati will be the Associate Composer for 2024 26, following on from previous Associate Composers , Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Alex Ho . nbsp At this year's festival soprano Ella Taylor and pianist Jocelyn Freeman gave the premiere of two of Hazrati's songs inspired by Byron's Don Juan with texts by Joseph Spence see my review of Taylor and Freeman's performance of two more of Hazrati and
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 26 November 2024 Sight and sound : Holst's The Planets superbly reimagined for the Father Willis organ at Salisbury Cathedral by John Challenger with a mesmerising film Labels : cd review The organ in Salisbury Cathedral was originally built in 1876-77 by Henry Willis Father Willis conservatively rebuilt by Henry Willis III in 1934 so that no tonal alterations were made and no pipes removed , the organ has been sensitively looked after since then and as a result , aside from small changes of layout , mechanics and specification , the organ remains as Willis left it in 1877. The tonal scheme has remained unaltered , with the majority of the pipework
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 26 November 2024 Melodies without Borders : two Turkish musicians mixing lyric melancholy with 19th century bravura Labels : concert review Ferec Necef at St Nicholas Church , Chiswick Melodies without Borders : Tchaikovsky , Saint-Saens , Faure , Weber , Dvorak , Sarasate , Rachmaninoff , Popper Ferec Necef , Rasim Yagiz Ilhan St Nicholas Church , Chiswick 15 November 2024 Two Turkish musicians come together for a wide-ranging recital of music for cello and piano with a bit of 19th-century flair Cellist Ferec Necef was born in Turkey to a musical family who had immigrated from Baku in Azerbaijan . His training has included study in his native Turkey
: , , : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 25 November 2024 Community , creativity , the power of music and the importance of brass banding : Martin Green's play KELI debuts in 2025 Labels : preview Scotland Martin Green at the National Mining Museum Scotland , in Newtongrange Photo : Sandy Butler Marking 40 years since the miners' strikes and featuring a sharp , hilarious script and live brass score by Ivor Novello winner Martin Green , KELI is a gripping show about community , creativity , the power of music and the importance of brass banding . nbsp In 2022, having immersed himself in the world of the brass band , the communities , the competition and the legacy of coal and Martin Green
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 25 November 2024 Sarasota Opera Concert Performance : The Music of Giuseppe Verdi Labels : Letter from Florida opera review The Music of Giuseppe Verdi Victor Starsky Sarasota Opera Photo : Sarasota Opera Verdi : excerpts from La forza del destino , Aida , Un ballo in maschera , Attila , La Traviata , Don Carlo , I Lombardi alla prima crociata , Rigoletto Rochelle Bard , Young Bok Kim , Virginia Mims , Jean Carlos Rodriguez , Victor Starsky , Sarasota Orchestra , Victor DeRenzi Sarasota Opera at Sarasota Opera House Reviewed by Robert J Carreras , 15 November 2024 Having become the only opera company in the world to have presented every work by Verdi ,
: , : , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Saturday , 23 November 2024 The music is there , we only have to open our eyes : pianist Alexandra Dariescu on 100 Nutcrackers , advocating for women composers a new direction at the Leeds International Piano Competition Labels : interview Alexandra Dariescu Photo : Nick Rutter Back in 2018, I met up with pianist Alexandra Dariescu see my interview to chat about The Nutcracker and I her innovative stage performance blending live piano music and dance with digital animation , which she had debuted in 2017. Recently , I met up with Alexandra again to celebrate the fact that she reaches the 100th performance of The Nutcracker and I on 26 November 2024 at the.jpg)
: Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 22 November 2024 First public performance of Imogen Holst's Violin Concerto Labels : preview Violinist Midori Komachi at Imogen Holst's house Photo : Britten Pears Arts The bungalow designed and built specifically for the composer by modernist architect HT Jim’ Cadbury-Brown in a corner of his garden , reflecting the architect’s own Japanese-influenced house opposite On Sunday 24 November 2024, violinist Midori Komachi joins the Elgar Sinfonia , conductor Adrian Brown at St Andrew’s Church , Holborn for the first public performance of Imogen Holst's Concerto for Violin and String , Orchestra written in 1935. The work uses Irish traditional airs and
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 22 November 2024 A return to Manchester : ENO announces the first wave of its city-wide collaborations Labels : ENO Manchester music news Manchester Opera House Photograph by Mike Peel www.mikepeel.net Regional arts provision is a curious thing , with different countries opting for radically different models . In Germany , most decent sized cities have a theatre that produces a mix of spoken drama , dance and opera , this is the main access to music theatre for most people . In the UK , since the 19th century , opera has been presented by touring companies , tours often being achieved by having the orchestra supplemented by local musicians a model now
: Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Thursday , 21 November 2024 National Centre for Early Music launches the 2025 Young Composers Award in association with BBC Radio 3, working with The Brook Street Band Labels : preview NCEM Young Composers Award 2024 winners Ryan Collins and Charlotte Robertson with Ex Corde Each year Young Composers Award is presented by the National Centre for Early Music in association with BBC Radio 3 and for the 2025 award , young composers will be working with the baroque instrumental group The Brook Street Band . Composers are invited to create a short work for two violins , cello and harpsichord one of the most popular chamber music groupings of the late 17th and early
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 20 November 2024 If you go down to the woods : a gender-fluid witch an oppressive religious sect in this gripping performance of Jack Furness' intriguing take on Hänsel und Gretel from Royal Academy Opera Labels : opera review RAM Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel Zahid Siddiqui Witch Royal Academy Opera Photo : Craig Fuller Humperdinck : Hänsel und Gretel Clover Kayne , Erin O'Rourke , Alex Bower-Brown , Zixin Tang , Zahid Siddiqui , director : Jack Furness , conductor : Johann Stuckenbruck , Royal Academy Opera Susie Sainsbury Theatre , Royal Academy of Music Reviewed 19 November 2024 A thought-provoking take on the traditional tale made all the
: , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 20 November 2024 Daniel Kidane day at Wigmore Hall , from a new piano trio to music written for Manchester Camerata and a harpsichord concerto for Mahan Esfahani Labels : preview Wigmore Hall Daniel Kidane Photo : Kaupo Kikkas Wigmore Hall is devoting Saturday 30 November 2024 to composer Daniel Kidane . Born in Britain of Russian and Eritrean parentage , Kidane was talented young and sang in the children's chorus of the English National Opera . He studied composition at the Royal Northern College of Music , going on to continue his studies the St . Petersburg Conservatoire under Sergei . Slonimsky Wigmore Hall's day begins with a morning concert
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 20 November 2024 Wolf Hall : The Mirror and The Light Labels : preview We are all mesmerised by the return of Wolf Hall : The Mirror and The Light to our TV screens , even though we know how it ends Part of the atmosphere of the series is created by the score , written by Debbie Wiseman read my 2023 interview with her and this is released on Silva Screen Records on 13 December 2024 T o celebrate , there is an event at Rough Trade East I know , a very Tudor sort of venue on 13 December when Debbie Wiseman will be signing discs and there will be live performance of some of the music by the Locrian Ensemble , conducted by Debbie Wiseman . And there
: , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 19 November 2024 Soprano Barbara Frittoli , pianist Caroline Dowdle actor James Garnon in public masterclass at Marchmont House with Samling Artist Programme Labels : North East preview Scotland Samling Masterclass at Marchmont House Photo : Mark Pinder On Saturday 30 November 2024, Italian soprano Barbara Frittoli , pianist Caroline Dowdle and actor James Garnon will guide eight rising stars from the Samling Artist Programme through a lively mixture of song and opera in a public masterclass at Marchmont House a Palladian house in Berwickshire , Scotland This masterclass comes at the end of the Samling Artist Programme , an intensive weeklong
: Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 19 November 2024 Share the Stage sees Royal Northern Sinfonia Chorus perform Tippett's A Child of Our Time with local amateur musicians from across the North East Labels : North East preview People's Requiem Royal Northern Sinfonia , the Glasshouse , 2021 On Sunday 24 November 2024, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Chorus will be sharing the stage with local amateur musicians from across the North East to perform Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead . Conducted by Dinis Sousa , the performance will also feature soloists soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha , mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly ,
: Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Tuesday , 19 November 2024 Sinfonia Smith Square's Christmas Festival Labels : preview SJSS Sinfonia Smith Square's Christmas Festival It's had a bit of a name change , but the Christmas Festival is returning to Smith Square this December for a programme of seasonal specials and favourites , with concerts from 9 to 23 December 2024 at Smith Square Hall formerly St John's Smith Square Anna Lapwood and the choirs of Pembroke College begin things on 9 December with A Pembroke Christmas featuring music by John Rutter , David Bednall , and Kristina Arakelyan , plus Britten's A Ceremony of Carols and Patricia Van Ness’ The Nine Orders of the Angels : Archangelus Then
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Monday , 18 November 2024 Au cimetièrère de Montmartre : baritone Julien Van Mellaerts pianist Alphonse Cemin in an imaginative trawl through the denizens of a Paris cemetery Labels : concert review Wigmore Hall Cimetière de Montmartre in Paris Photo : Wikipedia Au cimetièrère de Montmartre : Schumann , Berlioz , Lili Boulanger , Poulenc , Yvette Guibert , Charles Trenet Julien Van Mellaerts , Alphonse Cemin Wigmore Hall Reviewed 17 November 2024 An imaginative trawl through the denizens of a Paris cemetery links together Heine , Berlioz , Boulanger and Poulenc in an engaging recital Baritone Julien Van Mellaerts now lives in Paris , and not far from his home.jpg)
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Sunday , 17 November 2024 New World Symphony Veterans Day Concert : A World War II Journey with Lidiya Yankovskaya and Emily Magee Labels : concert review Letter from Florida New World Symphony Veterans Day Concert : A World War II Journey Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall Photo : Alex Markow , courtesy of New World Symphony New World Symphony Veterans Day Concert : A World War II Journey conductor : Lidiya Yankovskaya , Emily Magee soprano British historian James Holland host New World Symphony New World Center , Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall , Miami Beach , Florida Reviewed by Robert J Carreras , 11 November 2024 In what we hope will be the
: Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Saturday , 16 November 2024 Glorious performances from Rhian Lois and Thomas Atkins lift ENO's new production of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love Labels : ENO opera review Donizetti : The Elixir of Love Brandon Cedel , Bridget Lappin English National Opera , 2024 Photo : Marc Brenner Donizetti : The Elixir of Love L'elisir d'amore Brandon Cedel , Rhian Lois , Thomas Atkins , Dan D'Souza , director : Harry Fehr , conductor : Teresa Riveiro Böhm English National Opera at the London Coliseum Reviewed 15 November 2024 Reset to the England of the 1940s , Fehr's production misses some of the warmth of Donizetti's comedy but the evening was redeemed by glorious
: : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Friday , 15 November 2024 Life enhancing : the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Bach's Brandenburg Concertos Labels : concert review OAE South Bank Centre Bach : Brandenburg Concertos Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Queen Elizbeth Hall Reviewed 13 November 2024 The Brandenburg Concertos complete , vivid , vibrant and sometimes a little raw , the sheer energy , enthusiasm and technical nous really carrying you away Bach almost certainly never intended his Brandenburg Concertos to be performed en masse all six at once . In fact , we have no record at all of any performances of the concertos in this form during Bach's lifetime , his presentation%20Hogan%20Media%20-%20Shutterstock%20(2).jpg)
: , , , , , Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Thursday , 14 November 2024 Bushra El-Turk , Gavin Higgins , Laurence Osborn , Errollyn Wallen , Roxanna Panufnik , Gavin Bryars more honoured at 2024 Ivors Classical Awards Labels : music news Roxanna Panufnik , Gavin Bryars , Errollyn Wallen at the Ivors Classicxal Awards , BFI Southbank , London Photo : Hogan Media Shutterstock On Tuesday 12 November , The Ivors Academy honoured eleven composers with Ivor Novello Awards at the Ivors Classical Awards . Special awards were presented to Errollyn Wallen , nbsp Roxanna Panufnik and Gavin Bryars , five composers won awards for the first time , nbsp Gavin Bryars , Bushra El-Turk , Cassandra Miller ,
: , : Pages Robert's Link Tree About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive Wednesday , 13 November 2024 By some strange piece of magic , it works : Dancing Queen from Asya Fateyeva Lautten Compagney Berlin mixes Rameau with the songs of ABBA Labels : record review Dancing Queen : Rameau meets ABBA Asya Faeyeva , Lautten Compagney Berlin Deustsche Harmonia Mundi Reviewed 12 November 2024 An unlikely marriage of saxophone , period instrument ensemble , Rameau and the songs of supergroup ABBA turns in gold in this entrancing and intriguing disc In 2023, whilst in Dresden for the Dresden Music Festival's production of Wagner's Das , Rheingold I caught a concert by saxophone player Asya Fateyeva and the period instrument ensemble Lautten