Conductor Valery Gergiev, composer Rodion Shchedrin and the Mariinsky Opera itself – these names have long been brands of quality and style in Russian theatre culture. The title of their latest production at the Barbican – The Left-Hander – is perhaps unfamiliar to many, but its fantastical plot is undoubtedly topical for Russia’s relationship with…
| 12/11/2014
Last Thursday marked Vit Kristan’s second appearance at Soho’s Spice of Life music bar, and the first since the release of his debut album earlier this year. The exciting young Czech pianist, accompanied by veteran double-bassist Jaromir Honzak and Roman Vicha on drums, plays a bewildering range of genres, veering from post-bop and straight-ahead to…
| 25/09/2014
Since its formation in 1994, the Czech band Eggnoise has defied classification with its frenetic genre-hopping. With the ability to evoke Radiohead, Donald Byrd and Simon & Garfunkel over the course of a single record, the band’s first three albums What a World (2003), Albumen (2007) and Yolk (2010) are characterised by relentless musical experimentation…
| 08/08/2014
Dash Arts continue to delight their audiences with musical talents from Eastern Europe as part of their latest regional focus. Last week they hit some sensitive strings by bringing to London a musical quartet from the very heart of the European crisis. The Ukrainian band Dakha Brakha is an eclectic musical phenomenon that seeks to…
| 06/08/2014
Radik Tyulyush is a world-renowned throat singer. If the concept of throat singing sounds unfamiliar to you, then you are in for a great musical discovery, all the way from the depths of Inner Asia. Here, in the small Republic of Tuva near Mongolia, every other person knows about the unusual skill. Last week the…
| 20/07/2014
One thing certain about Limbo is that the Czech band’s name is totally apt. Straddling the border between musical forms and inspirations, the group defies easy classification in terms of musical genre. “None of our music is written down,” explains bassist Taras Vološčuk, “It’s improvised music; at first we wanted to play more free jazz,…
| 21/06/2014
I am at the very chic 606 Club in Chelsea, where jazz singer Claudia Campagnol is due to perform as part of the club’s Musician XChange programme, whose aim is to expose top class acts from around the world to a British jazz audience. Originally from Hungary, Campagnol moved to Sweden with her family when…
| 13/06/2014
“New album released by Signum Classics as part of Panufnik Centenary 2014. : Original Release Date: 5 May 2014 Label: Signum Records A unique programme of works by father and daughter. Sir Andrzej Panufnik was a leading Polish composer of the 20th Century, and his daughter Roxanna has made a name for herself in her…
| 02/05/2014