Colin Currie Group, Kings Place review - dynamism and detail in Steve Reich

All-Reich programme offers intensity and focus, but surprising nuance too

Colin Currie is increasingly coming to be seen as Steve Reich’s representative on Earth. His Colin Currie Group was founded in 2006 for a Proms performance of Reich’s Drumming and has gone from strength to strength, now touring the world with Reich’s music.

Coates, Tenebrae, Short, Kings Place review - effective meeting of cello and choir

★★★★ COATES, TENEBRAE, SHORT, KINGS PLACE Effective meeting of cello and choir

Delightful programme of old and new music is a refreshing Christmas treat

This time of year lots of choirs give lots of Christmas concerts that are more or less the same: traditional repertoire perhaps sprinkled with a few novelties. But Tenebrae’s concert on Saturday at Kings Place broke the mould with some imaginative programming, giving us just enough Christmas but no more, and some quite stunning choral singing.

Labèques, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place review - good-natured Schubert and Mozart delight

★★★★ LABEQUES, AURORA ORCHESTRA, COLLON, KINGS PLACE Good-natured Schubert and Mozart delight

French pianists battle a noisy audience but the music wins out

The Aurora Orchestra at Kings Place last night showcased both the best and worst things about attending live concerts, with the pros outweighing the cons. Early on, extraneous noise made me long for the pure listening experience of a good pair of headphones, but elsewhere the immediacy and physicality of the live experience was genuinely exciting.

Schubert Ensemble, Kings Place review - spot-on introductions, dazzling performances

Metaphysical ants-in-pants from Martinů and exuberant Dvořák

To demonstrate what makes chamber masterpieces tick and then to play them, brilliantly, is a sequence which ought to happen more often. Perhaps too many musicians think their eloquence is confined to their instruments. Not violinist Simon Blendis and pianist William Howard of the Schubert Ensemble.

London Piano Festival, Kings Place review - feasts of fearless fingerwork

★★★★ LONDON PIANO FESTIVAL, KINGS PLACE Feats of fearless fingerwork

A galaxy of great repertoire, world premieres included

What has 12 hands, 18 legs, 176 keys and two page-turners? Party night at the London Piano Festival, of course. The six-pianist, two-piano marathon on Saturday evening was a high point of this delectable four-day event – though far from the only one.

Wosner, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place

Brilliant pianist dazzles, charms and intrigues in a wide-ranging display

For most pianists, playing the Ligeti Piano Concerto would be enough exertion for one night, to be followed by a stiff drink and some down time. Not for the tireless Shai Wosner at Kings Place last night. By the time the Ligeti came along, not only had he already played a Mozart concerto, he then went on to appear in every remaining item in the programme. It was exhausting just to watch – but also exhilarating.

Gerhardt, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place

GERHARDT, AURORA ORCHESTRA, COLLON, KINGS PLACE Heart and soul, song and dance, in vivacious 'Cello Unwrapped' launch

Heart and soul, song and dance, in vivacious 'Cello Unwrapped' launch

What's not to like, or love, would have to be the sensible response to both the opening programme of Kings Place's year-long Cello Unwrapped festival at Kings Place and its life-enhancing execution.

Natalie Clein: 'The cello is part of my being'

'THE CELLO IS PART OF MY BEING' Natalie Clein writes for theartsdesk as Cello Unwrapped opens at Kings Place

The acclaimed musician writes for theartsdesk about her contributions to the year-long Cello Unwrapped season at Kings Place

The cello is so deeply engrained in my fingers, my imagination, it’s part of my being – my life would feel amputated without it. You fall in love with the instrument, the music, and then you embark on the life-long task of trying to get closer to that beguiling musical ideal. That’s the drug, the contract you sign with the devil. Every day I think how lucky I am that I can dive into a score and work at it physically.

The Sixteen, Kings Place

THE SIXTEEN, KINGS PLACE A glorious finish to this year's Choral Pilgrimage

A glorious finish to this year's Choral Pilgrimage

And so it comes to an end. Six months, 33 concerts, and many miles of travelling later, The Sixteen’s annual Choral Pilgrimage is now finished for another year. With so many concerts it’s inevitable that the singers’ relationship to the repertoire evolves and develops; the performances we heard last night will not have been those the audience at St John’s College, Cambridge experienced back in April. So what is the effect of living so intimately with this small handful of works?