Tag Archives: music

In concert – Sarah Aristidou, Ensemble Intercontemporain / Pierre Bleuse @ BBC Proms: Boulez & Berio: 20th-Century Giants

Posted on by
1

Sarah Aristidou (soprano), Jérôme Comte (clarinet), Lucas Ounissi (trombone), Yann Brécy (IRCAM electronics), Sylvain Cadars (IRCAM sound diffusion), Ensemble Intercontemporain / Pierre Bleuse

Berio Sequenza V (1966)
Boulez Dialogue de l’ombre double (1982-5)
Berio Recital I (for Cathy) (1972)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Wednesday 23 July 2025 (10.15pm)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Photos (c) BBC / Chris Christodoulou

It is a salutary thought that events such as this evening’s later concert were once a ubiquitous feature at the Proms, and it required an anniversary such as the centenaries of both composers heard here to make it possible once again. Not that any of those present would have objected.

The jury might still be out on the precise nature of Luciano Berio’s achievement, but not on the intrinsic value of those works as Sequenza V. One of 14 such pieces that emerged across 44 years, it is arguably the most compact and communicative – not least for its pronounced degree of theatricality. His attire more readily evoked Harpo Marx than Grock the clown, but Lucas Ounissi (above) was fully alive to this music’s extended trombone technique serving a routine humorous though pathos-laden – his exclaimed ‘Why?’ defining the performance as a whole.

Although he eschewed such theatrics, Pierre Boulez was rarely averse to the extra-musical. Inspired by a scene in Paul Claudel’s play Le soulier de satin and the offshoot of work on his major 1980s project Répons, Dialogue de l’ombre double is typical of Boulez’s later thinking with its interplay of live and pre-recorded elements so that the musicians become engaged in a performance with themselves. Here the music proceeds as a continuum between Strophes and Transitions – clarinettist Jérôme Comte as tangible by his presence during the former as he was intangible by his absence during the latter, with all the contrast in perception that this implies. The presence of lighting proved as effective as it was immediate – not least in those framing sections of Sigle initial and Sigle final which act as processional then recessional.

Next to such expressive concreteness, Berio’s Recital I (for Cathy) could feel beholden to its era, but this music-theatre for the composer’s former wife and ongoing collaborator touches on salient aspects of existence as surely as those of performance. As with the more familiar Sinfonia (also revived this season), the plethora of quotations of and allusions to other music – ranging over three centuries from Monteverdi to Berio himself – is absorbed (if not always integrated) into an extended monologue during which the singer evolves from touchy prima-donna to solitary protagonist whose search for meaning in her artistic endeavour has become (and maybe always had been?) elusive. It has to be said that previous Proms hearings, at the Roundhouse then Kensington Town Hall, were better suited to this piece’s relative intimacy than the expanse of the Royal Albert Hall; moreover, for all the eloquence of her assumption, Sarah Aristidou (above) was not wholly suited to a role which requires a singer-actor in the lineage of Cathy Berberian to convey the intensifying emotional meltdown played out during its course.

What could hardly be denied was the alacrity of the instrumental response; the musicians of Ensemble Intercontemporain never less than committed under assured guidance from Pierre Bleuse, who has clearly galvanized this organization in the two seasons since he became its artistic director. Hopefully they will be invited back to the Proms at the earliest opportunity, and not just on the basis of commemorating those composers whose centenaries underscore their significance to a post-war musical culture whose passing has not made less relevant.

You can listen back to this Prom concert on BBC Sounds until Sunday 12 October.

Click on the artist names to read more about Sarah Aristidou, Jérôme Comte, Lucas Ounissi, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, their conductor Pierre Bleuse – and for more on the BBC Proms

Published post no.2,607 – Saturday 26 July 2025

In concert – Sean Shibe, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Anja Bihlmaier @ BBC Proms: Richard Strauss, Mark Simpson ‘ZEBRA’ & Berlioz

Posted on by
Reply

Sean Shibe (guitar), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Anja Bihlmaier

Richard Strauss Tod und Verklärung Op.24 (1888-89)
Simpson ZEBRA (or, 2-3-74: The Divine Invasion of Philip K. Dick) (2025) [BBC commission: World premiere]
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique Op.14 (1829-30)

Royal Albert Hall, London
Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Photos (c) BBC / Mark Allan

The current BBC Proms season features several high-profile premieres, not the least of them being tonight’s from Liverpool-born clarinettist and composer Mark Simpson, remembered at these concerts for his orchestral fanfare sparks launching 2012’s Last Night in no uncertain terms.

On one level, ZEBRA (or, 2-3-74: The Divine Invasion of Philip K. Dick) is a straightforward three-movement concerto following the customary formal trajectory. No work that draws its inspiration from one of Sci-Fi’s most distinctive authors could be deemed predictable and so it proved with this musical representation of an epiphany which, experienced in his mid-40s, pervaded his thinking until his untimely death. Whether or not possessing divine overtones, it duly provided an imaginative context for the present work as it unfolds from a combative and even assaultive opening movement, through a mostly ruminative yet sometimes restive elegy, into a finale whose rapidly accruing energy surges towards an apotheosis of theatrical overkill – the ‘Zebra’ of the title as demonstrative as it remained elusive a presence during Dick’s life.

Music whose virtuosity summoned an orchestral response to match – the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra responding with alacrity to Simpson’s often febrile textures and translucent sonorities under the assured guidance of Anja Bihlmaier. Ultimately, of course, this was Sean Shibe’s show – his magnetic presence and mastery of electric guitar making it a notable addition to a genre still lacking in worthwhile contributions. His encore of a dreamily disembodied soundscape might even have been paying oblique homage to the great, happily not so late Robert Fripp.

On another level, Simpson’s concerto chimed ideally with the likely concept of this concert. One that commenced with an unexceptionally fine account of Richard Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung, Bihlmaier characterizing its more inward episodes with affecting poignancy as compensated for a lack of implacability in its early stages or a slightly underwhelming affirmation toward its close. Rarely in doubt was the direction in which this composer’s metaphysical musings were headed, even if the outcome was a performance no more than the sum of its best parts.

Berlioz pursued a rather less elevated ‘death and transfiguration’ in his Symphonie fantastique, but an approach with which Bihlmaier seemed more fully in accord. The lengthy introduction of Rêveries – Passions was eloquently delineated, and if the main portion of this movement (without exposition repeat) was overly self-contained, it elided naturally into Un bal with its ingratiating waltz offset by passages of despondency and elation. The highlight was a Scène aux champs which unfolded seamlessly from its plangent cor anglais solo, through mounting agitation, near catastrophe then uneasy resignation, to its mesmeric ending made more so by undulating timpani chords. After this, Marche au supplice (with first-half repeat) built with ominous tread to a climax almost graphic in its depiction of the ‘hero’ condemned to death.

An outburst of applause suggested many had not anticipated the orgy to come, but Bihlmaier responded with a Songe d’une nuit du Sabbat that, if lacking the ultimate drama, set the seal on an engaging performance with the BBC Philharmonic at something like its collective best.

You can listen back to this Prom concert on BBC Sounds until Sunday 12 October.

Click on the artist names to read more about Sean Shibe, Anja Bihlmaier, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and composer Mark Simpson – and for more on the BBC Proms

Published post no.2,605 – Thursday 24 July 2025

In concert – Sheku Kanneh-Mason, CBSO / Kazuki Yamada: Elgar Cello Concerto & Tchaikovsky Symphony no.5

Posted on by
1

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Kazuki Yamada

Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor Op.85 (1919)
Tchaikovsky Symphony no.5 in E minor Op.64 (1888)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Thursday 19 June 2025 2:15pm

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Picture of Sheku Kanneh-Mason (c) Andrew Fox

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Season of Joy’ ended (at least at its home base) this afternoon with this concert in E minor, featuring major works by two composers whose wresting triumph from out of adversity was by no means always their strongest suit.

It is all too prevalent these days to talk of Elgar’s Cello Concerto as being the ‘end of an era’ statement, so credit to Sheku Kanneh-Mason for leavening any overt fatalism with a lyrical intensity which paid dividends in the musing restiveness of the first movement – its indelible opening gesture rendered with an understated defiance that set the course for what followed. Nor was the Scherzo’s glancing irony at all undersold, its tensile energy seamlessly absorbing the mock nobility of its secondary theme on the way to a conclusion of throwaway deftness.

Others may have summoned greater fervency from the Adagio, yet Kanneh-Mason’s unforced poise in this ‘song without words’ was its own justification and an ideal entrée into the more complex finale. Especially impressive was his methodical while never calculated building of tension towards a climax of tangible emotional intensity, capped with the terse stoicism of its coda. Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO were unfailingly responsive in support. Kanneh-Mason returned with the 18th (Sarabande) of Mieczysław Weinberg’s 24 Preludes (1969) as a sombre encore.

If to imply that by being his most ‘classical’ such piece, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony may also be his most predictable, Yamada evidently had other ideas. Certainly, there was nothing passive about the first movement’s scene-setting Andante, Oliver Janes palpably ominous in its ruminative clarinet theme. A smattering of over-emphases in phrasing just occasionally impeded the Allegro’s rhythmic flow but was outweighed by the gripping spontaneity of the whole. Even finer was the Andante cantabile, as undulating lower strings launched french horn player Elspeth Dutch’s eloquent take on its ineffable main melody. The eventual climax was curtailed by a brutal intrusion of the ‘fate’ motto, before the music subsided into its calmly regretful close. Whether or not Tchaikovsky’s greatest slow movement, Yamada’s reading made it seem so.

Interesting this conductor made an attacca to the ensuing Valse, which proved effective even if one between the first two movements would have been even more so. Whatever its laissez-faire elegance, this cannily structured movement is more than a mere interlude – not least for the way the motto steals in at its close. Yamada ensured it connected directly into the Finale’s slow introduction, its fervency reined-in so as not to pre-empt the energy of the main Allegro as it surged toward one of the most theatrical ‘grand pauses’ in music. Taking this confidently in its stride, the CBSO was equally in control of an apotheosis whose grandiloquence never risked overkill. The charge of insincerity that its composer found hard to refute might never have gone away, yet heard as an inevitable outcome, this was pretty convincing all the same.

It found the CBSO in formidable shape as it embarks on a two-week tour of Japan under its music director. A handful of UK concerts (including an annual appearance at the Proms) then precedes next season which begins with more Elgar in the guise of The Dream of Gerontius.

For details on the 2025-26 season, Orchestral music that’s right up your street!, head to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra website. Click on the names to read more about soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and conductor Kazuki Yamada

Published post no.2,571 – Saturday 21 June 2025

Switched On – Death In Vegas – Death Mask (Drone)

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Nine years have passed since Richard Fearless released a Death In Vegas album. That’s an awful lot of life – and a good deal of it has been packed into the nine tracks making up Death Mask.

For it is an autobiographical album, with explicit references to his nearest and dearest, yet all the while staying true to its musical function, ranging from drones to danceable beats. Fearless was keen to leave his output unpolished, a refreshing approach for an electronic music producer – so that means ‘dirty circuitry and rough-hewn textures at the fore’. These are helped by the inclusion of natural feedback and white noise from his Thameside Metal Box studio, a musical instrument every bit as important as the keyboards and electronics that output the music.

What’s the music like?

Very dark…and yet, ultimately, empowering.

As its title implies, Death Mask isn’t an album to shy away from thoughts about the end of life – but nor is it going to sit there and mope. For when Fearless drops some of the massive beats here there is a barely restrained euphoria that kicks in, a feeling that we’re dancing for our very existence.

That certainly happens on the epic Roseville, which goes for broke, but also on the warmer Your Love. Hazel is a multilayered track, a whirlwind rhythm section contrasted by a fuzzy drone, an uncannily effective portrayal of the emotions at play in the funeral of a close friend – in this case, Richard’s own father.

The studio makes its presence felt in the remarkable While My Machines Gently Weep, the rhythm section positively primal and the distortion turned up to the max.

Influences on Fearless’s work here range far and wide, with healthy nods to dub and techno. He credits Ramleh, Terrence Dixon, Jamal Moss, Mika Vanio and TM 404 explicitly as inspirations – though a name not mentioned but surely in his mind is that of Andrew Weatherall.

Does it all work?

It does – though Death Mask is certainly not for every mood. It’s a heavy-set album at times, but for every bit of darkness there are shards of dazzling light.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. Richard Fearless has taken Death In Vegas on quite the journey since it began in the mid-90s, but this is arguably the album that has the greatest substance. Power and grace, rolled into one.

For fans of… Andrew Weatherall, Trentemøller, Luke Slater, Black Dog, Cabaret Voltaire

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,568 – Thursday 19 June 2025

In concert – Stephen Waarts, CBSO / Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla: Brahms Violin Concerto & Weinberg Symphony no.5

Posted on by
Reply

Stephen Waarts (violin), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

Brahms Violin Concerto in D major Op.77 (1878)
Weinberg Symphony no.5 in F minor Op.76 (1962)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Wednesday 11 June 2025

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Picture of Stephen Waarts (c) Maarten Kools

Seriously disrupted as it was by the pandemic and attendant lockdowns, the period of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla as music director of the City of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (2016-22) was a successful one, especially in terms of bringing unfamiliar music to the orchestra’s repertoire.

Not least that by Mieczysław Weinberg, his Fifth Symphony tonight receiving only its second UK hearing, almost 63 years after Kiril Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic had given it at the Royal Festival Hall while on tour. Weinberg was unable to attend and the performance attracted minimal comment, but the Fifth is arguably the greatest among his purely orchestral symphonies – a work whose size and scope had merely been hinted at by its predecessors. Six decades on and those qualities confirming its significance then still ensure its relevance today.

The influence of Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony, written over a quarter century earlier but premiered just months before, has often been noted but whereas this piece is inclusive to the point of overkill, Weinberg’s Fifth has a formal rigour and expressive focus as could only be that of full maturity. Not least in the moderately-paced opening Allegro, its content deriving from the pithy motifs on lower strings and trumpet heard against oscillating chords on upper strings at the outset, and which builds to a febrile culmination before retreating into agitated uncertainty. MGT has its measure as surely as that of the ensuing Adagio, its threnodic string writing palpably sustained prior to a heartfelt climax; either side of which, woodwind comes into its own in a slow movement comparable to that of Shostakovich’s own Fifth Symphony.

Playing without a pause, the latter two movements consolidate the overall design accordingly. Thus, the scherzo-like Allegro alternates furtive anticipation and barbed anger with a dextrous virtuosity that found the CBSO at its collective best – subsiding into a finale whose Andantino marking rather belies the purposefulness with which it elaborates on earlier ideas as it builds towards a searingly emotional apex. Once again, however, the music winds down into a coda whose rhythmic pulsing underpins resigned solo gestures at the close of this eventful journey.

Whether or not Brahms’s Violin Concerto was an ideal coupling, it certainly received a most impressive reading by Stephen Waarts (above). Winner of the 2014 Yehudi Menuhin International and 2015 Queen Elizabeth competitions, this was his debut with the CBSO but there was no lack of rapport – not least an imposing first movement whose technical challenges were assuredly negotiated and with a rendering of the Joachim cadenza that integrated it seamlessly into the overall design. Waarts’ interplay with woodwind in the Adagio was never less than felicitous, then the finale pivoted deftly between panache and insouciance on its way to a decisive close. MGT was as perceptive an accompanist as always, with an encore of the opening ‘L’Aurore’ movement from Eugène Ysaÿe’s Fifth Solo Sonata an appropriate entrée into the second half.

Ultimately, though, this concert was about MGT’s continued advocacy of Weinberg as of her association with the CBSO. Good news that the Fifth Symphony has been recorded for future release by Deutsche Grammophon, so enabling this fine performance to be savoured at length.

For details on the 2025-26 season, Orchestral music that’s right up your street!, head to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra website. Click on the names to read more about soloist Stephen Waarts and conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, or composer Mieczysław Weinberg

Published post no.2,564 – Saturday 14 June 2025