Urioste, Aurora Orchestra, Kings Place online review - superb musicianship in compelling close-up

★★★★★ URIOSTE, AURORA ORCHESTRA Superb musicianship in compelling close-up

Energy, joy and top quality production

The clever programming of the “Unwrapped” series has been transformational for the reputation of Kings Place. Ever since the Bach series in 2013 these year-long sequences of concerts and other events have succeeded in silencing the crustier commentators, and in putting the London arts venue properly on the map.

Hughes, Manchester Collective, Lakeside Arts online review - creating the occasion

★★★★ HUGHES, MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE, LAKESIDE ARTS ONLINE Creating the occasion

From gentle melancholy to burning conviction in a single stream

There’s an atmosphere of tender restraint through most of the programme created by Ruby Hughes and Manchester Collective for Lakeside Arts at the University of Nottingham. It was streamed live yesterday afternoon, and, as is the way with most performances just now, was in an empty hall, with its slightly strange "empty" acoustic affecting the spoken word as the artists introduced their music.

Apartment House, Wigmore Hall online review - introspective music for isolated times

★★★★ APARTMENT HOUSE, WIGMORE HALL Focus on Morton Feldman in serene listening

Serene lockdown listening in three concerts dedicated to Morton Feldman

Another year, another lockdown. Though I have little doubt this was not the way most us of hoped to start 2021, we can at least be grateful that we’re not suffering quite the same drought of live music we experienced back in March. Despite the stringent restrictions, many venues and ensembles are able to offer an array of live and recorded streams, something which wasn’t possible in the UK at the start of the first lockdown.

Fast Food, Fast Music, Spitalfields Festival online - sizzling, scintillating fun and mastery

4am in a Birmingham McDonald's, eating/cooking alongside playing and other wonders

A good idea on paper – commission composers of all ages who happen to be women to write music for one, two or three instruments with the fundamental theme of swiftness and brevity, food element an optional extra – turns out to work brilliantly on screen, even if it was originally destined for a live lunchtime festival event.

Max Richter's Sleep review - refreshing as a good night's rest

★★★★ MAX RICHTER'S SLEEP Refreshing as a good night's rest

Meditative new documentary perfectly captures the composer’s boldest experiment

If there was ever a balm for these confusing times, then it’s Max Richter’s Sleep, a lullaby of a documentary that explores the composer’s eight-hour-plus experimental 2015 composition based on sleep cycles. Richter is a remarkable musician and, alongside his experimental albums, has also been responsible for some of the most moving film scores of recent years, such as Dennis Villeneuve’s Arrival and James Gray’s Ad Astra.

Classical CDs Weekly: Berlioz, Markus Reuter, The Mozartists

CLASSICAL CDS WEEKLY Big Berlioz, Markus Reuter's quartet and stormy Mozartists

A seminal French symphony, a contemporary string quartet and stormy music from the 18th century

 

Berlioz Thierry FischerBerlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Rêverie et caprice, La mort d'Ophélie, Sara la baigneuse Utah Symphony/Thierry Fischer, with Philippe Quint (violin) (Hyperion)

Classical CDs Weekly: Bizet, Gounod, Liszt, Heinz Winbeck

CLASSICAL CDS WEEKLY French elegance, an epic piano sonata and a contemporary symphonic cycle

French elegance, an epic piano sonata and a contemporary symphonic cycle

 

Bizet LeleuxBizet: Carmen Suite No. 1, Symphony No. 1 in C, Gounod: Petite Symphonie Scottish Chamber Orchestra/François Leleux (Linn)