Identity, displacement and homesickness: Raymond Yiu's new violin concerto inspired by the experiences of Chinese violinist and composer, Ma Sicong
Updated: 2024-01-31 08:37:00
: , : , Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 31 January 2024 Identity , displacement and homesickness : Raymond Yiu's new violin concerto inspired by the experiences of Chinese violinist and composer , Ma Sicong Labels : preview Ma Sicong performing for Chinese soldiers at the front during the Korean War When I interviewed composer Raymond Yiu , back in 2021 see my interview we touched on his new Violin Concerto which is inspired by the Chinese violinist and composer , Ma Sicong 1912-1987 whose music was banned for 20 years after he escaped to America and wrote about his experiences in China and so was branded a . traitor Raymond Yiu's Violin Concerto will be premiered on 20 March 2024 at
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 31 January 2024 Jedem Krieger sein eigen Heim : Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen and its original political inspiration Labels : preview Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen German news photograph from 1926 of the anti-war demonstration that inspired Kurt Weill Bertolt Brecht's powerful piece Kurt Weill's piece for unaccompanied four-part male voice ensemble , Zu Potsdam under den Eichen was premiered in Berlin in 1929. Using a text by Brecht , the piece was part of their Berliner Requiem premiered on Radio Frankfurt in May 1929 but the piece had an independent life , being performed in November 1929 in Berlin by the Schubertchor ,
: , : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 31 January 2024 A crate of flowers , which experts assure me are very choice and of admirable rarity : Ensemble Hesperi's crowdfunder for their disc themed on Telemann's love of gardening Labels : preview Peterstrasse in Hamburg reconstructed in the 1960s and the location for Telemann's house Photo via the Telemann Museum In 1754, Handel wrote a letter to Telemann who since 1721 had been music director in Hamburg In it Handel talks about sending Telemann a crate of flowers , which experts assure me are very choice and of admirable rarity and earlier in the letter he makes reference to Telemann's passion for exotic . flowers It is a chatty , genial
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 30 January 2024 The one and the other : NI Opera in new production of The Juniper Tree written jointly by Philip Glass and Robert Moran Labels : Northern Ireland In 1985, Philip Glass collaborated with fellow composer Robert Moran on The Juniper Tree a chamber opera based on a tale by Brothers Grimm . The two composers collaborated almost equally , alternating scenes and sharing the responsibility for writing the transitions . The result is an intriguing hybrid , which comes after Glass' great trilogy of early operas Einstein on the Beach Satygraha , and Akhnaten yet before better known chamber operas Northern Ireland Opera NI Opera is presenting a new
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 30 January 2024 Back with vengeance : Nina Stemme in Richard Strauss' Elektra at Covent Garden Labels : Covent Garden opera review Strauss : Elektra Nina Stemme , Sara Jakubiak Royal Opera Photo : ROH Tristram Kenton Strauss : Elektra Nina Stemme , Sara Jakubiak , Karita Mattila , Charles Workman , Lukasz Golinski , director : Christof Loy , conductor : Antonio Pappano Royal Opera House Reviewed 26 January 2024 Nina Stemme back on form with a coruscating performance in the title role in a new production that showcases the vividly dramatic performances from the entire cast supported by the orchestra on top form I have been lucky with my Elektras over the
: , : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 29 January 2024 Stanford , Holst and an RVW premiere : the 17th English Music Festival at Dorchester Abbey Labels : preview Caricature of Stanford by Spy in Vanity Fair from 1905, three years after the Clarinet Concerto The seventeenth English Music Festival returns to Dorchester Abbey , Oxfordshire from Friday 24 May until Monday 27 May 2024. The festival's opening concert features Martin Yates conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra in a programme which includes Stanford's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Michael Collins , Doreen Carwithen's Cotswold Suite Holst's early Cotswold Symphony and the premiere of a new suite from the music RVW wrote for
: , : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 29 January 2024 What happens when a conductor best known for his operatic work , conducts Mendelssohn's Elijah : Sir Antonio Pappano the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican with Gerald Finley Labels : Barbican concert review LSO Mendelssohn : Elijah Sarah Connolly , Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha , Antonio Pappano , Gerald Finley , Allan Clayton , London Symphony Chorus , London Symphony Orchestra Barbican Hall Photo : Mark Allan Mendelssohn : Elijah Gerald Finley , Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha , Sarah Connolly , Allan Clayton , Guildhall Voices , London Symphony Chorus , London Symphony Orchestra , Sir Antonio Pappano Barbican Hall Reviewed 28
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Sunday 28 January 2024 From Classical to Romantic : I chat to Michael Sanderling about the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Le Piano Symphonique festival Labels : interview Switzerland Wagner : Götterdämmerung suite Michael Sanderling , Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Le Piano Symphonique , Lucerne 2024 Photo : Philipp Schmidli Michael Sanderling is the current chief conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra responsible not only for the orchestra's regular season at KKL Lucerne but for conducting the orchestra in concerts at the orchestra's Le Piano Symphonique festival . see my interview with the festival's intendant , Numa Bischof Ullman This year , the orchestra was
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Saturday 27 January 2024 A winter week focusing on the piano yet hosted by an orchestra : intendant Numa Bischof Ullmann introduces Lucerne's Le Piano Symphonique looks forward to the 2025 festival Labels : interview Switzerland Pianists Yoav Levanon and Martha Argerich , and intendant Numa Bischof Ullmann backstage at the 2024 Le Piano Symphonique in Lucerne Photo : Luzerner Sinfonieorchester Philipp Schmidli Lucerne's Le Piano Symphonique festival has just completed its fourth season , and having focused on Brahms , Saint-Saens and Schumann , the 2024 festival focused on the twin icons of Liszt and Schubert . The festival is based at KKL Kultur- und
: Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 26 January 2024 Dame Evelyn Glennie and the City Lit Percussion Orchestra Labels : music news RAM Dame Evelyn Glennie at the City Lit Percussion Orchestra's workshop Photo : Frances Marshall Solo percussionist and alumna of the Royal Academy of Music , Dame Evelyn Glennie has become Patron of the City Lit Percussion Orchestra CLPO The Percussion Orchestra is part of City Lit s Centre for Learning Disability Education in partnership with the Royal Academy of Music . nbsp Students with an ear for instruments can learn to play percussion and compose music as a group . nbsp To mark the occasion , Dame Evelyn visited a workshop at City Lit , where she is also a
: : . Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 26 January 2024 ChoralFest 2024 : Dartington Trust announces new-look Summer school at Dartington Hall under Gavin Carr and Mark Stone . Labels : music news preview Dartington Hall and estate Having thrown the music world into a degree of confusion last Autumn by announcing a complete re-think , the Dartington Trust has announced plans for this year's Summer school at Dartington Hall . Baritone Mark Stone is the Dartington Trust's new creative director and this Summer will be Dartington ChoralFest 2024, led by course director Gavin Carr , a noted choral conductor and chorus master of the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus . nbsp The programme from 3-11 August
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Thursday 25 January 2024 From the Tweed to the Tees : Samling Institute extends its work in state secondary schools with a network of Samling Singing Schools Labels : music education Samling Joan Rodgers CBE at Samling Academy coaching 15 year-old soprano Ava , who successfully auditioned for the programme after a Samling Futures visit to her school Photo : Mark Pinder Since 1996, the Samling Institute has been transforming the lives of early-career singers and pianists through coaching programmes , performance opportunities and ongoing support . Based in the North East of England , Samling also helps young people who live or study in the region to find and
: Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Wednesday 24 January 2024 NMC Recordings celebrates 35 years of supporting composers Labels : music news NMC preview Imogen Holst and Colin Matthews in 1984 2024 sees NMC celebrating its 35th birthday with a release schedule that continues to do what the label was founded to , supporting composers . 2024 will see new debut albums from Freya Waley-Cohen , Tom Coult , Lisa Illean , and Richard Baker , partnership projects with National Youth Choir and Philharmonia , and new collaboration with Drake Music Scotland , the Disabled Artist Network and Tŷ . Cerdd NMC will also be recording a new album of Imogen Holst's previously unreleased works , performed by the BBC
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 23 January 2024 Bliss International Song Series 2024 : Schumann Schubert in Pembroke College's newly refurbished chamber hall Joseph Middleton Sarah Connolly at Pembroke College's Bliss International Song Series in 2023 Photo : Sally March Pembroke College , Cambridge's Bliss International Song Series , artistic director Joseph Middleton , relaunched last year in the college's newly refurbished 200-seater chamber hall a former United Reformed Church complete with new Steinway previously the song series had been in the Old Library The series is named for composer Sir Arthur Bliss who studied at the college . So far this season , the series has seen
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 23 January 2024 Homage to Liszt : Benjamin Grosvenor on astonishing form in Liszt and Brett Dean in Lucerne Labels : concert review Switzerland Brett Dean : Faustian Pact Benjamin Grosvenor Le Piano Symphonique at Lukaskirche , Lucerne Photo : Philipp Schmidli für das Luzerner Sinfonieorchester Brett Dean : Faustian Pact , Hommage à Liszt first performance Liszt : Sonata in B minor Chopin : Sonata No . 3 Benjamin Grosvenor Le Piano Symphonique at Lukaskirche , Lucerne Reviewed 19 January 2024 Benjamin Grosvenor combines astonishing virtuosity alongside intimacy and sheer power in Liszt's sonata and Brett Dean's new piece inspired by Grosvenor's
: Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Tuesday 23 January 2024 Choral singers wanted for 24-Hour Mozart Requiem in aid of Pimlico Musical Foundation Labels : preview Choral singers invited to take part in a 24-Hour Drop-In performance of Mozart’s Requiem raising money for local music education charity , Pimlico Musical Foundation . This continuous singathon will start at St . Gabriel's Church , Pimlico at 16:00 on Thursday 22 February 2024 with whoever is there . nbsp The singers will then work their way through the choruses and solos until they get to the end , at which point the piece will start over again . This will be repeated non-stop for 24 hours until they finish at 15:59 on Friday 23 February
: , , . Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 22 January 2024 UK-based arts writer , Tony Cooper , offers a preview of Northern Opera Group’s 8th Annual Leeds Opera Festival which includes a brand-new opera on Sherlock Holmes . Labels : by Tony Cooper Leeds preview Running from 17 August to 8 September 2024, the 8th Annual Leeds Opera Festival , programmed by Northern Opera Group , offers audiences a blend of world premières alongside exciting collaborations designed for the whole community . The festival’s renowned for combining new productions of rare operas peppered by a wide programme of talks , panel discussions , workshops and other events across the late August Bank Holiday weekend . nbsp
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Monday 22 January 2024 Let the dialogue flow : Benjamin Bernheim leads a wonderfully memorable account of Massenet's Werther in Zurich Labels : opera review Switzerland Massenet : Werther Benjamin Bernheim , Valeriy Murga Zurich Opera Photo : Toni Suter Massenet : Werther Benjamin Bernheim , Rihab Chaieb , Sandra Hamaoui , Audun Iversen , nbsp Valeriy Murga , director : nbsp Tatjana Gürbaca Nina Russi , conductor : nbsp Giedrė Šlekytė Zurich Opera Reviewed 19 January 2024 One of those performances created by people who understood what is needed in Massenet's opera with one of the most finely sung accounts of the title role that I have ever heard . Pure magic
: Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Sunday 21 January 2024 From large-scale Liszt and Wagner to intimate Schumann and Schubert at Lucerne's Le Piano Symphonique Labels : concert review Switzerland Liszt : Piano Concerto No . 2 Yoav Levanon , Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Le Piano Symphonique , Lucerne Photo : Philipp Schmidli Liszt : Piano Concerto No . 2, Wagner , arr . Michael Sanderling : Götterdämmerung Suite Schumann : Symphonic Etudes Op 13, Schubert : Allegro in A minor , D947 Yoav Levanon , Lucerne Symphony Orchestra , Michael Sanderling , Elisabeth Leonskaja , David Fray Le Piano Symphonique at KKL , Lucerne Reviewed 18 January 2024 From Lisztian bombast to Wagnerian sorcery with the Lucerne
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 19 January 2024 An evening of bold adventurous programming : wind brass from Southbank Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia combine under Nicholas Daniel at St John's Smith Square Labels : concert review guest review Percy Grainger in the uniform of a US Army bandsman , 1917 Copland , Mozart , Lindberg , Stravinsky , Alberga , Grainger Southbank Sinfonia , Britten Sinfonia , Nicholas Daniel St John's Smith Square Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders , 18 January 2024 An enormously successful collaboration between two leading chamber orchestras Combining the wind , brass and percussion players from two fantastic orchestras together into one ensemble , this was an
: : Pages Live reviews archive CD reviews archive Interviews archive About Us Contact Us Twitter : RobertHugill Robert's Link Tree Friday 19 January 2024 Made in Switzerland : tenor Daniel Behle pianist Oliver Schnyder combine musicality intelligence in their recital for Lucerne's Le Piano Symphonique Labels : concert review Switzerland View of Lucerne watercolour by Felix Mendelssohn 1847 Public domain , via Wikimedia Commons Made in Switzerland Mendelssohn , Schubert , Schubert Liszt , Liszt , Wagner , R . Strauss Daniel Behle , Oliver Schnyder Le Piano Symphonique at Lukaskirche , Lucerne Reviewed 18 January 2024 A wonderfully imaginative programme centred on music created in Switzerland in finely communicative and musical performances , combining bravura and technical skill with sheer