Latest One Stop Arts articles by Frances Wilson

Quartet for the End of Time at Queen Elizabeth Hall

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Focusing on two chamber works composed in straitened circumstances during the Second World War, this The Rest is Noise concert featured top performers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Denis Kozhukhin and Jörg Widmann. This was chamber music of the highest order.

A short walk through the history of British Art: Tate Britain's new hang

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The newly re-hung British Art display at Tate Britain marks the first major re-hang of its permanent collection since 2000, with some interesting and unexpected juxtapositions and by-ways along the timeline from c.1500 to the present day.

Preludes and pictures: Alexander Gavrylyuk debuts at Wigmore Hall

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The sparkling virtuosity of Alexander Gavrylyuk was given an unexpected opportunity to make its debut at Wigmore Hall when Cédric Tiberghien withdrew at short notice. The resulting recital – Mozart, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky – was a masterful display of pianism.

The soul of Chopin: Janina Fialkowska at Wigmore Hall

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Just a day before her BBC Music Magazine award win for her Chopin CD, Janina Fialkowska gave an all-Chopin recital at Wigmore Hall. The woman described by Arthur Rubinstein as "a natural born Chopin interpreter" did justice to the plaudits she has received.

A birthday happening for Stephen Montague at St John's Smith Square

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

As concerts go, this was definitely the most unusual, challenging and amusing of musical experiences, as one would expect from one of the most distinctive composers working today: Stephen Montague's 70th birthday happening was an event to remember.

Magical Mitsuko: Bach, Schoenberg and Schumann at the Royal Festival Hall

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Mitsuko Uchida's sellout performance at the Royal Festival Hall spoke for itself on Wednesday night, with absorbing, exquisite performances of works by J.S. Bach, Arnold Schoenberg and Robert Schumann.

Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 at the Courtauld Gallery

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Picasso's creative breakthrough in 1901 Paris is charted in an intelligent and focused exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery. It demonstrates how the artist developed his personal style and artistic identity by taking on and transforming the styles and subjects of major modern artists of the age, including Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec.

A feast of virtuosity: Yevgeny Sudbin at Wigmore Hall

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This lunchtime feast of music saw young Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin at Wigmore Hall for works by Scarlatti, Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin and Saint-Saëns. With subtlety of touch yet fearless virtuosity, this was first-order piano playing.

Thoroughly Modern Manet: Portraying Life at the Royal Academy of Arts

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Royal Academy of Arts' latest blockbuster exhibition features Edouard Manet's realistic portraits, exploring his modern approach to the depiction of his subjects.

Understated bravado: Leon McCawley at Wigmore Hall

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Piano music by masters of the instrument spanning two centuries, from Bach to Rachmaninov, filled the Wigmore Hall last night in Leon McCawley's varied recital. An exquisitely presented programme, this played with a calm, self-possessed stage presence.

Leighton House Museum

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Leighton House is a fine example of a Victorian artist's studio as well as a testament to Frederic, Lord Leighton's private collection of fine and decorative arts. Here you will find the house's opulent two-storey Arab Hall, art collection, and Victorian memorabilia.

Benjamin Grosvenor at Queen Elizabeth Hall

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In-demand pianist Benjamin Grosvenor displays a self-deprecating modesty in interviews, but his talent is obvious. His Queen Elizabeth Hall debut saw him playing works by Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, Granados and Adolf Schulz-Evler.

Distilling the artist's craft: Richard Hamilton at the National Gallery

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Displaying his fascination with new technology and his inspirations both modern and ancient, the late Richard Hamilton has left a beautiful and startling legacy in an exquisitely executed visual study of the fundamentals of the artist’s craft.

At home with Dr Johnson

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Dr Johnson's House and its museum offer a fascinating insight into the life of one of Britain's most witty, charismatic, and much-quoted and studied literary figures.

Fleet fingers and sound showers: Noriko Ogawa at the Wigmore Hall

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It was fitting that critically acclaimed Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa should open her Wigmore Hall lunchtime concert with a work by one of her countrymen: Rain Tree Sketch II by Toru Takemitsu. Also featuring numerous Études by Debussy, this was a performance with obvious humour, warmth and charm.

Pre-Raphaelites: Tate Britain

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This autumn’s blockbuster exhibition, Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde at Tate Britain, is a sumptuous display of much-loved paintings by the core of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It presents a visually dazzling and intellectually coherent survey of the PRB - defining them as artistic revolutionaries who established a new touchstone for modern painting and design.

Proms Chamber Music 8: Overwhelmed by Debussy – Pierre-Laurent Aimard at Cadogan Hall

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In a Proms Chamber Music concert at Cadogan Hall to celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of Debussy’s birth, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard demonstrated not only his tremendous technical facility, but also his artistry and profound understanding of his compatriot’s oeuvre.

Beauty In the Dark: Platinum Consort at Kings Place

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In the spare modern elegance of Hall One at Kings Place, choral octet Platinum Consort, under the direction of their founder and conductor Scott Inglis-Kidger, gave an impressive and impeccably presented performance of works from their recording In the Dark, written for, or inspired by, the Tenebrae tradition.

Apsley House

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Who else but Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and hero of the Peninsular Wars and the Battle of Waterloo, would live at such a grand address as 'Number One, London'? Apsley House offers a wonderful illustrated slice of early nineteenth-century history, and is a must for those with an interest in this period of British military and social history.

Proms Chamber Music 4: Limitless possibilities – Debussy and Ravel at Cadogan Hall

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It’s rare to be at a concert, of any genre, and to experience a very profound sense of involvement on the part of the performers, combined with total commitment to the music, both in terms of fidelity to the written score and integrity of performance. But that is what we enjoyed at the fourth chamber music Prom of the season, in a concert by three young performers (two of whom were making their Proms debut) of music by Debussy and Ravel.Violinist Jennifer Pike was joined by cellist Nicholas Altstaedt and