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German singer and opera singer
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2024-03-22
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2024-03-07 16:08:29
Royal Festival Hall, LondonTonight’s Tania León premiere and reconceptualised Szymanowski ballet made a heady combination, with no need for technical trickeryKeen to think outside the box, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is presenting a month-long festival exploring the ways humans experience and express themselves though music. On paper, Dance Reimagined was a bright idea: three works with movement at their heart, including a world premiere from LPO composer-in-residence Tania León and Wayne McGregor’s reinvention of a Szymanowski ballet in collaboration with sculptural designer, film-maker and AI developer Ben Cullen Williams.Raíces, Spanish for “origins”, is an exploration of León’s heritage which, she explains, is Spanish, Cuban, Chinese and French: “Like a jambalaya.” Opening with wheezy ethereal strings, the music moved in and out of vistas, some Urban, one a steamy forest bristling with birdsong. Although there were clear echoes of Latin and jazz, the music was shifty, its syncopations frequently catching the […]
2024-02-29 07:43:00
One of the oldest-established festivals in the UK, the Norfolk & Norwich comes round in the merry month of May.
The giant puppet from L’Homme Debout’s Mo and The Red Ribbon which will roam the streets of NorwichOne of the oldest-established festivals in the UK, the Norfolk & Norwich (running for an astonishing 17 days in the merry month of May from Friday 10th to Sunday 26th) offers a cultural package like no other taking in music, drama, literature, circus, outdoor and family events as well as the all-important visual arts. Artists from round the world and across the region will gather in Norwich and, indeed, across the county to present a huge variety of work and events in a programme featuring a host of ‘stories’ providing guided routes through the festival and bringing together shows and events that share common themes. For instance, Lucy McCormick’s Lucy and Friends, an anarchic cry for help, subverts the normal dynamic between audience and performer. Sitting in the Whisper & Shout section of a wide […]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
2024-02-27 22:55:11
Jared Hackworth What barriers bar the uninitiated from classical concerts? Could the BSO maintain its Big Five prestige and remain accessible to new audiences? To investigate, I attended all three of the BSO’s January concerts: a sold-out presentation of León, Ravel, and Stravinsky; a concert production of Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of the Mitsensk District; and a “Casual Friday” concert of Stravinsky. I found dwindling audiences entirely enraptured by the music of one of the world’s best orchestras. Covid had placed performing arts in freefall. Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, said this week that “For most people, the pandemic is over. For arts institutions, we’re still in it,” reporting the need to “withdraw $40 million in additional emergency funds” due to a capacity rate of around “73%.” The New York Philharmonic’s audience is 62% over 55. During the pandemic, these attendance rates plummeted—in 2019, the Pittsburgh Symphony […]
2024-02-14 08:35:00
Lente Verelst and Hull Urban Opera invite you to The End of the World Party
The young Belgian composer Lente Verelst came to attention with her opera, Crocodile, which took ideas from Samuel Beckett and turned them into a short animated film produced by Hull Urban Opera. Originally shown on Sky Arts, the piece is available from Now TV. Now Verelst is back with Hull Urban Opera with her first full length opera, The End of the World Party with a libretto by Russell Plows, artistic director of Hull Urban Opera.Running from 18 to 20 April 2024 at Princes Quay Event Space in Hull, the production is directed by Plows, conducted by Anita Datta and features soprano Madeline Robinson, mezzo Joanna Gamble, countertenor Ralph Thomas Williams, tenor Michael Jones and bass-baritone Neil Balfour. It promises to be an intriguing, interactive piece; playing out in real time, and including local people as performers and storytellers, the opera uses tasks, audience-choice and a “mystery” narrative to explore how we behave under […]
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