Music, Classical

Opera Die Frau Ohne Schatten set for 2011 Edinburgh International Festival

Russia's Mariinsky Theatre and Jonathan Kent bring Strauss opera to EIF

To say Jonathan Kent's EIF opus is 'a bit' epic is like saying Edinburgh gets 'a bit' busy in August. This summer the Brit director joins forces with Russia's Mariinsky to stage the little-seen Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow). A cast…

Amjad Ali Khan to perform set of morning ragas on sarod at EIF 2011

Edinburgh 11am concert accompanied by Ravi Shankar's evening ragas

The sarod may not be as familiar an instrument to western audiences as the sitar made famous by Ravi Shankar, but virtuoso player Amjad Ali Khan is happy to establish its proper context. 'Ravi Shankar's teacher was a sarod player,' says Khan on the line…

Theatre, music and dance highlights from the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Semiramide and King Lear among picks

The Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) has been a benchmark for quality and innovation in the performing arts since its inauguration nearly 65 years ago. This year artistic director Jonathan Mills builds his programme around the multi-faceted…

Music highlights from the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival

Melvyn Tan and Bamberg Symphony Orchestra among picks

Melvyn Tan. The Queen's Hall morning concerts can usually be relied on for a few Festival surprises. Hearing perfectly formed piano music by 18th century Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti alongside Sonatas and Interludes by 20th century American John…

Qatsi trilogy with Philip Glass live score highlight of Edinburgh International Festival

EIF 2011 screening of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi

One of the earliest Edinburgh screenings of Koyaanisqatsi, the first of Godfrey Reggio’s remarkable trilogy of films scored by minimalist composer Philip Glass, was in an old porn cinema opposite what is now the Festival Theatre, then a bingo hall.

Seven Angels opera tackles Paradise Lost

Composer Luke Bedford uses Milton’s epic to explore envorinmental themes

According to Wikipedia, there are over ten thousand individual lines of verse in Milton’s Paradise Lost. That’s a bit much for an opera. So, for his new Seven Angels, leading young British composer Luke Bedford uses Milton’s epic as the starting point…

Edinburgh International Festival 2011 IN festival membership scheme

EIF and The List deal for half-price tickets, events and freebies

Edinburgh International Festival - in association with The List magazine - are offering members of an innovative and exclusive membership scheme a whole host of half-price tickets, event passes and freebies for the 2011 Festival season. Membership to…

Hebrides Ensemble: Kurtag - Kafka Fragments

Work based on Kafka’s diaries and letters with Soprano Elizabeth Watts

One of Britain’s hottest new singing talents, whether in opera or on the concert platform, 31-year-old soprano Elizabeth Watts (pictured) joins leading chamber music group Hebrides Ensemble for Kafka Fragmente by György Kurtág, an extraordinary…

Kronos Quartet's David Harrington on Glasgow concerts – full interview transcript

Ensemble's artistic director on curating a mini-festival

The List: Could you tell me first of all when it was that you decided to put together this programme and how long you’ve been working on it? David Harrington: You know it seems to me we’ve been thinking about this for at least a year, probably more.

Red Note Ensemble's May tour to focus on Salvatore Sciarrino's Infinito Nero

While ecstasy may well mean different things to different people, in the context of Red Note Ensemble’s May tour it is all about Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino and his Infinito Nero. Based on the visions, or ecstasies, of early 17th century…

Kronos Quartet to curate Glasgow mini-festival in May 2011

Highlights include Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Jon Rose and Matmos

Not every new music quartet can count Nine Inch Nails and Nelly Furtado amongst their list of collaborators, nor put live performances with David Bowie and Allen Ginsberg under their achingly-creative belt. The Kronos Quartet, are not your average…

The Okavango Macbeth: Alexander McCall Smith’s 'Shakespeare and baboons' opera

The author/librettist teams up with Tom Cunningham and Robert McFall

Alexander McCall Smith’s inspiration to write an opera based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth isn’t the first. Verdi was certainly there before him, but what makes McCall Smith’s The Okavango Macbeth decidedly different is that the characters are all baboons.

Christmas Carnival - Concert for children combines percussion with the orchestra

Children’s Classic Concerts strike balance between music and mirth

Faced with the sound and power of a full orchestra, it’s hard not to be impressed, whatever your age or musical persuasion. When you’re hovering between 4 and 14, however, you sometimes need a little spice in your sonata to stay occupied. For years…

Portrait of The Composer - Chopin in Glasgow

Chopin retrospective includes recital of pieces from composer's 1848 tour of Scotland

As part of Svend Brown’s remarkable vision in his first season as artistic director of Glasgow’s Concert Halls, the Portrait of the Composer series is one that stands out. Throwing fresh light on the work and lives of some of Europe’s greatest…

NYOS Futures - Vanishing Boundaries brings new scores and visual arts together

Work from Katrina Burton, Ken Dempster, Stephen Davismoon and Stephen Kilpatrick

In introducing young musicians and their audiences to music of the late 20th and early 21st century, the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s exemplary futures initiative takes another step into the world of contemporary artistic expression this…

Faust screened with new score by Alex Smoke

1926 silent film's new score performed by The Scottish Ensemble

At 85 years old, director FW Murnau’s Faust remains one of the most visually arresting films in the history of world cinema. Murnau’s last German production divided contemporary audiences and lost a lot of studio money with its retelling of the…

Paragon ensemble mark 30th anniversary by showcasing recent collaborations

Glasgow-based group's birthday features Heather Corbett and a Bhangra remix.

Happy Birthday to Paragon! For the past thirty years, the Glasgow-based ensemble has been making music, much of it commissioned from Scottish based composers, and encouraging people from all walks of life to enjoy it. For their special 30th birthday…

Scottish Opera and the RSAMD stage production of The Cunning Little Vixen

Janácek’s opera filled with perpetual themes of life, death and love

Building on collaborative achievements of the past few years, Scottish Opera and the RSAMD now turn to Janácek’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen. Set in a forest, its characters are both animal and human. Inspired by a comic strip from a newspaper, it’s…

Artisan Piano Trio's Edinburgh concert targets post-work slot

Young, imaginative and ambitious trio present first season of concerts, Cascades

Bringing an exciting new dimension to Scottish chamber music, the Artisan Piano Trio are young, imaginative and ambitious. Formed by cellist Clea Friend, with SCO violinist Aisling O’Dea and much in demand freelance pianist Simon Smith, they are now…

Magnus Lindberg's Graffiti performed by RSNO

Finnish composer's orchestral study of Pompeii graffiti

With funding for culture in Italy facing the same challenges as ministerial budgets across Europe, the future of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which needs constant support for excavation and preservation, is uncertain. Numerous stray dogs reputedly…

Philip Glass' opera In the Penal Colony tours UK

Disturbing chamber opera adaptation of Kafka

In its second year of celebrating the best in contemporary music and dance as the seasons change, the Traverse Theatre welcomes a return joint visit from Music Theatre Wales and Scottish Opera to open the 2010 Autumn Festival. With a new production of…

Scottish Opera: The Marriage of Figaro

Sir Thomas Allen moves from performing to directing

Poacher turned gamekeeper isn’t overly common in the world of opera, but one internationally famous singer who has successfully moved from performing to directing is Sir Thomas Allen. Bringing the same team who produced a hugely enjoyable Barber of…

Glasgow's Minimal festival lines up work by Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Ingram Marshall

Festival of minimalism features performances of Eno's Apollo and by Michael Nyman and David McAlmont

Minimalism’s hypnotic pulses and repetitions are heard in everything from krautrock and prog to post-rock and techno. But unlike the ear-splitting, brain-freezing intensity of progenitors such as La Monte Young and Charlemagne Palestine, it was the more…

Usher Hall marks reopening with Houston Symphony Orchestra performing Holst’s Planets Suite

Improvements to Edinburgh venue make it among 'world’s best concert halls'

When some plaster fell from the ceiling of Scotland’s grande dame of concert halls over 14 years ago, who’d have known it was the start of major redevelopment which has just reached completion and is celebrated in style on 10.10.10? Tackled in two…

2010 Le Weekend bows out with Faust, Murcof and Tarwater

Pioneering Stirling experimental music festival also hosts Ben Frost, Bill Wells and John Butcher

Since its inception in 1997, Le Weekend has brought a remarkable range of beautiful and challenging music to Scotland. ‘The idea of an experimental music festival, and also the idea of a festival in Stirling, was quite unique,’ says Alastair Campbell…