Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Widmann, Berio | reviews, news & interviews
Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Widmann, Berio
Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Widmann, Berio
Heart-attack music, a wordless elegy and some beguiling noise
Friday, 03 June 2011
Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices: Audibly having fun on 'Berio and Friends'Klaus Holsting
This week we’ve some pioneering, trailblazing Mahler with a dramatic twist, courtesy of a conductor who mentored Leonard Bernstein. Elsewhere, there are some disconcerting, dark sounds from a youthful German composer, and a supremely entertaining disc of highly theatrical vocal works courtesy of Paul Hillier’s immaculately drilled Theatre of Voices. Turn on, tune in and drop out while listening to Cathy Berberian’s cartoon-inspired Stripsody, and consider the very question of what constitutes music.
This week we’ve some pioneering, trailblazing Mahler with a dramatic twist, courtesy of a conductor who mentored Leonard Bernstein. Elsewhere, there are some disconcerting, dark sounds from a youthful German composer, and a supremely entertaining disc of highly theatrical vocal works courtesy of Paul Hillier’s immaculately drilled Theatre of Voices. Turn on, tune in and drop out while listening to Cathy Berberian’s cartoon-inspired Stripsody, and consider the very question of what constitutes music.
Share this article
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Classical music
Coote, LSO, Tilson Thomas, Barbican review - the triumph of life
A great, ailing conductor rises to Mahler's mightiest challenge
Britten Sinfonia, The Marian Consort, Milton Court review - a journey around turbulent spirit Gesualdo
Contemporary homages among the works in this celebration of the Renaissance 'badass'
Classical CDs: Coffee, peppercorns and puppets
A prolific conductor's centenary celebrated, plus Hungarian ballet music and baroque keyboard concertos
Gomyo, National Symphony Orchestra, Kuokman, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - painful brilliance around a heart of darkness
A violinist for all facets of a towering Shostakovich masterpiece
Sansara, Manchester Collective, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - sense of a unique experience
Three world premieres all respond to Feldman’s 'Rothko Chapel'
Remembering conductor Andrew Davis (1944-2024)
Fellow conductors, singers, instrumentalists and administrators recall a true Mensch
Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - meeting a musical communicator
Drama and emotional power from a new principal conductor
Guildhall School Gold Medal 2024, Barbican review - quirky-wonderful programme ending in an award
Ginastera spolights the harp, Nino Rota the double bass in dazzling performances
Queyras, Philharmonia, Suzuki, RFH review - Romantic journeys
Japan's Bach maestro flourishes in fresh fields
Classical CDs: Swans, hamlets and bossa nova
A promising young pianist's debut disc, plus Finnish mythology and a trio of neglected British composers
Christian Pierre La Marca, Yaman Okur, St Martin-in-The-Fields review - engagingly subversive pairing falls short
A collaboration between a cellist and a breakdancer doesn't achieve lift off
Ridout, Włoszczowska, Crawford, Lai, Posner, Wigmore Hall review - electrifying teamwork
High-voltage Mozart and Schoenberg, blended Brahms, in a fascinating programme
Add comment