Thomas Adès, London Symphony Orchestra, Barbican Hall | reviews, news & interviews
Thomas Adès, London Symphony Orchestra, Barbican Hall
Thomas Adès, London Symphony Orchestra, Barbican Hall
Gerald Barry's one-act opera, La plus forte, is one of the most significant for a decade
Sunday, 06 June 2010
Barbara Hannigan (above left, Adès, right, conducting the US premiere in Miami, 2008) is 'mesmerising as the garrulous Madame X'
If the second half of the 20th century saw opera throttled by existential crises, and left composers wondering whether the only future for the art form was for it to be hung out to dry, or to become an arcane intellectualised annex for the musical games then in vogue, Gerald Barry's one-act opera, La plus forte (2006) - receiving its UK premiere in a concert performance last night - marks the end of hostilities. So effortlessly does Barry seem to rise above the tangled, stagnant realities of recent operatic and musical convention, and return and restore the art form to the business of psychological entrapment, that it's hard not to see his small, 20-minute work as one of the most significant operas of the past decade.
If the second half of the 20th century saw opera throttled by existential crises, and left composers wondering whether the only future for the art form was for it to be hung out to dry, or to become an arcane intellectualised annex for the musical games then in vogue, Gerald Barry's one-act opera, La plus forte (2006) - receiving its UK premiere in a concert performance last night - marks the end of hostilities. So effortlessly does Barry seem to rise above the tangled, stagnant realities of recent operatic and musical convention, and return and restore the art form to the business of psychological entrapment, that it's hard not to see his small, 20-minute work as one of the most significant operas of the past decade.
Share this article
Add comment
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
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
Sansara, Manchester Collective, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - sense of a unique experience
Three world premieres all respond to Feldman’s 'Rothko Chapel'
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
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
Sabine Devieilhe, Mathieu Pordoy, Wigmore Hall review - enchantment in Mozart and Strauss
Leading French soprano shines beyond diva excess
Comments
...
...
...