Sonic Experimentations in South Ken at the Proms Tonight’s Proms concert featured a tantalising double bill featuring Pierre Boulez’s Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974-5) and the rarely performed original version of Gustav Mahler’s epic student cantata in three parts, written in 1880, Das klagende Lied (The Song of Lamentation). But first up for this Proms concert was […]
BBC Proms 2025 – Mahler and More
While I wouldn’t echo Maureen Lipman’s character in Educating Rita and claim I’d die without Mahler, the chance to immerse myself in his music is always a welcome one. This made a recent programme, Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, preceded by a BBC commission and world premiere from rising British composer Tom Coult, a particularly compelling prospect
Piaf Revisited, Christine Bovill
The iconic French singer, Edith Piaf, never performed in the United Kingdom. However, if she had, Wilton’s Music Hall would have been a fitting venue. Within these peeling walls, Scottish singer Christine Bovill channels the ego of The Little Sparrow to great effect.
The Sixteen’s Choral Pilgrimage at St. John’s Cambridge – Review
Pilgrim’s Progress The BBC’s hamfisted attempt at cultural vandalism with its attempt to bring about the demise of the BBC Singers has put the British classical choral world in a state of turmoil. So, it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate the work of The Sixteen, a sixteen-piece choir that is now a British choral […]