Liverpool
Maxwell Davies Ninth Symphony, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, LiverpoolMonday, 11 June 2012
The new Ninth Symphony, from the pen of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, is something of a paradox. It was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Helskinki Philharmonic Orchestra and is dedicated to the Queen on the occasion of her... Read more... |
Help! Are you a John or a Paul?Sunday, 06 May 2012
One day soon Beatles scholars and Professors of Fabology will emerge from their caverns and their ashrams to inform us that it was 50 years ago today. On 5 October 1962 “Love Me Do” was released and, to recycle a phrase often appended to lesser... Read more... |
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2012-13 seasonTuesday, 01 May 2012Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko commences his seventh season, exploring the music of Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes. The soloists roll call includes Simon Trpčeski, Tasmin Little, Tine Thing Helseth, Daniel Müller-Schott. Liverpool... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Liverpool: The Sea OdysseyMonday, 23 April 2012
There is something surreal about emerging from an underground station in Liverpool and being confronted by an enormous giant lumbering its way up the street. Even coming up the escalator it is possible to hear the band accompanying this gigantic... Read more... |
Lindberg, Cowen, RLPO, Philharmonic Hall, LiverpoolFriday, 02 March 2012
There’s always a bit of a buzz around a premiere, even one which may seem slightly off-the-wall. Jan Sandström’s Echoes of Eternity is a concerto for two solo trombones – unusual in itself, given that there are precious few concerti for just one... Read more... |
A new opera about sex traffickingWednesday, 15 February 2012
The oldest profession is at the heart of one of the most popular operas in the canon. But the price put on a woman's sexuality will not be quite so glamorously portrayed in a new opera as it is in La Traviata. Ensemble 10/10, the contemporary music... Read more... |
CD: Ringo Starr - Ringo 2012Sunday, 29 January 2012
If The Wombles had made this it would likely raise a smile despite its lame, lazy nostalgic guitar pop. It even goes as far as to include a feeble version of seminal skiffle song "Rock Island Line". The harsh words it deserves, however, are tempered... Read more... |
CD: Rebecca Ferguson - HeavenWednesday, 07 December 2011
At last, seasonal talent-show spin-offs are showing signs of real talent. Hot on the heels of the appealing, if insubstantial, Olly Murs album, comes Rebecca Ferguson’s debut. And, if Murs’ release wasn’t too bad, people are saying that Ferguson’s... Read more... |
Backbeat, Duke of York's TheatreTuesday, 11 October 2011
It’s obviously a coincidence. Backbeat, the story of The Beatles’ Hamburg days, their ill-fated bassist and John Lennon's art-school mate Stuart Sutcliffe hits the West End the same week that Martin Scorsese's George Harrison documentary Living in... Read more... |
DVD: George Harrison - Living in the Material WorldFriday, 07 October 2011
Martin Scorsese’s mammoth, authorised survey of the life of George Harrison is a strange old thing. Deeply moving, poetic, full of love, wit and warmth, it's also at times oddly assembled and, at a shade over three and a half hours, runs wide but... Read more... |
Magritte: The Pleasure Principle, Tate LiverpoolThursday, 28 July 2011
Dalí may have the edge on Magritte for instant recognition and popularity, but how easily the Belgian beats the Spaniard as the more interesting Surrealist. Armed with his small repertoire of images – the nude, the shrouded head, the bowler hat, the... Read more... |
DVD: No SurrenderFriday, 22 July 2011
1985 was an annus mirabilis for harsh Liverpool comedies, both of them. Letter to Brezhnev, about two Liver birds wooed by Soviet sailors, was the quintessential grassroots production of the British Film Renaissance. No Surrender, Alan Bleasdale’s... Read more... |
