Music, Carol Main

Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela

Edinburgh International Festival

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Festival Bittersweet symphonies Carol Main meets Gustavo Dudamel, the young maestro behind the world renowned Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, which has transformed the lives of many underprivileged young people in its native…

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

17 Jan 2008

CLASSICAL City Halls, Glasgow Fri 18 Jan; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 19 Jan From the familiar tunes of Vivaldi’s pre-Christmas Four Seasons to four saxophones performing a brand new piece of music is quite a leap. Four is also the number of…

Scottish Opera: Cinderella

A fairytale debut at the Fringe

31 Jul 2008

It’s probably safe to say that Scottish Opera is the only name which appears in both the music programme of the International Festival as well as the Fringe. As part of their continuing quest to bring high quality opera to a new audience, the company…

Scottish Opera: Falstaff

8 May 2008

OPERA Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 13, Thu 15, Sat 17, Wed 21 & Sat 24 May; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 18, Sat 21, Thu 26 & Sat 28 Jun Long before any government directives on obesity, Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff knew all about the challenges…

Dunedin Consort – Buxtehude Anniversary Concert

15 Nov 2007

ANNIVERSARY Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 18 Nov Composers’ anniversaries can be neat pegs upon which to hang concert programmes, with the added bonus that audiences hear music that otherwise might not get much of an airing. In the case of Dietrich…

Sally Matthews and Toby Spence

3 Jan 2007

VISITING VOCALISTS As Scotland’s various concert promoters revive themselves in the wake of the festive season, two organisations - totally coincidentally - choose to start the new year with stars from the younger generation of British singers. Tenor…

Royal Scottish National Orchestra: Damnation of Faust

27 Nov 2008

CLASSICAL There aren’t many musical happenings that are too big for Edinburgh Festival Theatre, but the RSNO’s Damnation of Faust is one of them. By far the biggest event of their season, it is huge. With the Usher Hall still closed, and nowhere else…

Artur Pizarro - The Complete Piano Works of Maurice Ravel, Volume Two

13 Nov 2008

Keenly awaited second volume of Ravel’s piano works recorded by the Portugese pianist does not disappoint. There is a graceful clarity to Pizarro’s playing that suits Ravel to perfection. The Sonatine may not be as familiar as the ever-popular and…

Sarah Chang

18 Oct 2007

GUEST PERFORMER Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Wed 24 Oct Glasgow’s International Classical series has some impressive names attached to it this season. Alfred Brendel, Kurt Masur, Ian Bostridge and Antonio Pappano are just a few of those who are in…

Scottish Chamber Orchestra – East Meets West

13 Nov 2008

Samaagam, in case you didn’t know, means coming together. For the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, it is the coming together of musical traditions from east and west. Samaagam, in this instance, is a new concerto by Amjad Ali Khan (pictured), reputed to be…

Scottish Opera - La Traviata

30 Oct 2008

‘Born to die’ seems a bit of an extreme expression to describe a singer, but for Carmen Giannattasio it appears to fit the bill. Star of tragic opera after tragic opera, the Italian soprano says it’s unfortunate, but, ‘I have died so much in the last…

Scottish Opera: Seraglio

15 Nov 2007

OPERA Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 24, Tue 27 & Thu 29 Nov. Seen at Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sat 27 Oct The term Turkish harem usually brings to mind opulent palaces, sumptuous silks and sensual, oriental soft-furnishings. In Seraglio, however…

Caledon

4 Sep 2008

They’ve toured all over the world, but for the first time in a couple of years Scotland’s three tenors, Caledon, are performing back in their home city of Glasgow. Classically trained Alan Beck, Jamie MacDougall and Ivan Sharpe bring a programme of…

Camerata Ritmata

Guitar virtuoso-fronted ensemble experiment in jazz, classical and world

21 Aug 2008

A short bus ride heading eastwards and in no time at all the crowds ease as the coastal community of Musselburgh comes in sight with its handy bus stop just outside the honest toun’s Brunton Hall. Appearing here with special guest singer, Daisy Chute of…

Jerusalem Quartet

Globally renowned Israeli foursome make their EIF debut

21 Aug 2008

Making its Edinburgh International Festival debut, the Jerusalem Quartet is the final string quartet to appear at this year’s impressive Queen’s Hall series. Performing in the wake of the Ysaÿe, Belcea and Pavel Haas quartets, the quartet is, says EIF…

Regal king size

21 Aug 2008

Karol Szymanowski considered himself an outsider which is why he identified with Sicily’s King Roger II and why his opera has become a gay favourite, finds Carol Main The Edinburgh International Festival’s staged opera programme is swinging from one…

Metropolitan Cathedral Organ Concerts

New organ put through its paces

14 Aug 2008

Fringe statistics tend to be fairly staggering, but if all the organ pipes on the Fringe were added together, their total would beat the lot. The new organ at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral alone has almost 4000. Built in French style by Matthew…

Prokofiev - The Symphonies

Russian around with the tireless Valery Gergiev

14 Aug 2008

In one of the most exciting orchestral weekends hosted by the Usher Hall, the London Symphony Orchestra appears with its principal conductor, Valery Gergiev, performing all of Prokofiev’s seven symphonies plus the two violin concertos with soloist…

Scottish Opera: Falstaff

19 Jun 2008

OPERA Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 21, Thu 26, Sat 28 Jun If you go to only one opera this year, you could do a lot worse than choosing Scottish Opera’s current production, Falstaff. Composed when he was approaching 80, this was Verdi’s last…

The Edinburgh Quartet - album review

Classical

1 Nov 2007

Bringing together composers from very different cultures, Frontiers and Bridges’ thread of commonality is their inspirational teacher, Nigel Osborne. Composition Professor at Edinburgh University, Osborne has guided three authoritative and adventurous…

The Barber of Seville

20 Sep 2007

She’s 31, he’s 62. She’s a young Scot at the start of her operatic career, he’s a singer who seems to have been at the top of his for ever. But in Scottish Opera’s new production of The Barber of Seville, it is not as singers that the two come together.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra - Tea and Symphony

16 Oct 2008

CLASSICAL A bit of tea and sympathy goes a long way to lift the spirits, but, with a clever play on words, the BBC SSO start a new series serving up tea with symphony, a pairing that promises to have no less an effect. Doldrumy afternoons in wintry…

New Season Previews

2 Oct 2008

CLASSICAL After the short post-Edinburgh Festival classical music famine, it is back to feast time on the concert and opera scene as all the main companies celebrate the start of their autumn seasons. October alone would surely justify Glasgow its…

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Folk and gypsy influence evident in programme of two concerts

21 Aug 2008

Starting off with a programme inspired by gypsy music and Hungarian folk melodies, the Budapest Festival Orchestra give two full orchestral concerts in the last week of the Festival plus two presented by some of their soloists. Featuring some rather…

Julian Lloyd Webber and the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra String Ensemble

Another unlikely Fringe debutante in the shape of cellist Lloyd Webber

14 Aug 2008

Five firsts at the Fringe for Edinburgh Youth Orchestra which breaks fresh ground this year with its new string ensemble of leading players, both past and present. With cellist Julian Lloyd Webber as director and soloist, its Fringe debut also features…