Latest One Stop Arts articles by Paul Kilbey

Not an outrageous start to Nico Muhly's A Scream and an Outrage weekend at the Barbican

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

The first session in Nico Muhly's A Scream and an Outrage weekend at the Barbican saw the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and conductor Jayce Ogren perform works by Muhly, David Lang, and Paola Prestini. A very uneven concert, it was not outrageous.

Eight extraordinary string players meet: The Arditti and JACK Quartets combine at Wigmore Hall

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Two specialist new music quartets, the Arditti and JACK Quartets, joined forces at Wigmore Hall on Monday for four pieces all new to London. The music came first in this concert, in both the pieces for one quartet and those for both combined.

International Contemporary Ensemble at Kings Place

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

US contemporary music group International Contemporary Ensemble came to Kings Place for a recital curated by composer Dai Fujikura mostly featuring works from New York City. It was a well played concert, but I'd like the opportunity to hear more from these talented players.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner at 70 with the LSO and Stravinsky

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

In a 70th birthday concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner brought two contrasting neoclassical works by Stravinsky to the Barbican Hall: Apollon Musagète and Oedipus Rex. It's hard to imagine finer performances of either piece.

Ringing true: John Tilbury performs Beckett on a piano

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Pianist John Tilbury performed an instrumental version of Samuel Beckett's late novella Worstward Ho in Dalston's Cafe OTO on Tuesday night. Beckett's impenetrable text was given a sincere and very personal interpretation in a performance at once thrilling and bizarre.

Première of Michel van der Aa's Sunken Garden at the Barbican

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Michel van der Aa and David Mitchell's new 3D occult mystery opera Sunken Garden, an ENO–Barbican co-production, is a trippy, perplexing experience, brilliant on occasions. This may not quite be the future of opera, but it's still probably your only chance for a while to see a vertical pond.

Brahms meets Schoenberg: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in London for The Rest is Noise

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A rare London performance from the esteemed Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra saw them in a concert of works by Schoenberg and Brahms, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and featuring Yefim Bronfman as soloist. While the programming was questionable, the performance was superb.

BCMG's Into the Little Hill on George Benjamin Day at Wigmore Hall

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

On Wigmore Hall's "George Benjamin Day", Birmingham Contemporary Music Group presented his first opera Into the Little Hill alongside works by Francesco Antonioni and David Sawer, with the featured composer conducting. The first ever contemporary opera at Wigmore Hall has set a very high standard.

Gergiev and the LSO in Brahms and Szymanowski choral works

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The final programme in Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra's series pairing Johannes Brahms with Karol Szymanowski, this concert coupled the former's German Requiem with the latter's Stabat Mater: a different but intriguing pairing.

Kurtág's Kafka Fragments staged at the Linbury Studio Theatre

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

György Kurtág's absorbing composition Kafka Fragments sets a number of short phrases by the writer to music for soprano and violin. Though brilliantly performed by Claire Booth and Peter Manning, Netia Jones' staging at the Royal Opera House Linbury Studio was not a necessary addition.

David Matthews' 70th birthday celebration with the Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

David Matthews' 70th birthday was celebrated at Wigmore Hall by the Nash Ensemble and last-minute substitute soprano Gillian Keith. The concert also featured works by Julian Anderson and James Francis Brown.

The Gospel according to Peter Sellars: The LA Phil bring a European première to the Barbican

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's second concert in their Barbican residency was the European première of John Adams and Peter Sellars' The Gospel According to the Other Mary. Gustavo Dudamel conducted a superb cast. Musically this was very strong, but dramatically it seemed flawed.

Wandering around Cage: Margaret Leng Tan plays Four Walls in the Barbican Art Gallery

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Part of the Barbican's Dancing Around Duchamp season, this performance from Cage authority Margaret Leng Tan took place within their Bride and the Bachelors exhibition. Four Walls is a hugely striking Cage composition, though its connection to the exhibition was remote.

Donizetti re-done: The Siege of Calais with English Touring Opera in Hackney

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Gaetano Donizett's The Siege of Calais is not among his best-known works, and English Touring Opera are currently presenting the first ever professional British production. They began their tour at Hackney Empire last week, in impressive style.

Serially fascinating: Karim Said plays Schoenberg at The Rest is Noise

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This Rest is Noise recital offered the rare chance to hear some early serialist music performed in public, and Karim Said's rendition of these pieces by Schoenberg, Eisler and Webern was exemplary. While this music can be rather opaque, it can still tell brilliant, vivid stories.

Baltic music and Bach: Alina Ibragimova and Britten Sinfonia at the Barbican

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Britten Sinfonia were joined at the Barbican by violinist Alina Ibragimova, Britten Sinfonia Voices and choirmaster Eamonn Dougan for a programme which spanned music from the 12th century to the 21st. Some remarkable Bach playing was the highlight.

Bach stays wrapped up: The Art of Fugue with Fretwork

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Bach's final, unfinished work, The Art of Fugue, was beautifully realised by viol consort Fretwork at Kings Place, part of the Bach Unwrapped festival. But a very straight concert presentation meant that the work stayed rather mysterious.

Wagner done proud in Fulham: Siegfried from Fulham Opera

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

You have to sit on a pretty uncomfortable chair and listen to a load of opera singers warbling about dwarves and gold and stuff. But somehow – and I’m still not entirely sure why – Fulham Opera's Siegfried is a completely brilliant evening’s entertainment, which absolutely does Wagner proud.

The Magic Flute gets metatheatrical with the Merry Opera Company

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Merry Opera Company's Magic Flute at the Riverside Studios featured a new translation and production masterminded by Kit Hesketh-Harvey. But an overly complicated dramatic conceit stood in the way of this classic comedy.

Turnage, Harding and Hardenberger with the London Symphony Orchestra

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Mark-Anthony Turnage's short residency with the London Symphony Orchestra began on Tuesday with his trumpet concerto played by the legendary Håkan Hardenberger, in between works by Sibelius and Beethoven. Daniel Harding was the impressive conductor.