Music

Writer: RADIOHOLE Director: RADIOHOLE Reviewer: Carrie Lee O’Dell  The performance collective RADIOHOLE serves a full meal onstage in their new work Now Serving: A Guide to Aesthetic Etiquette in Four Courses. Reminiscent of both Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party and Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros’s 2003 play Omnium Gatherum, this “irreverent exploration of the American Dinner Party featuring Haute Vaginal Cuisine” ...

Choreographer and Director: Gregory Maqoma Reviewer: Maryam Philpott There are pieces of classical music that live in the public consciousness, their orchestral strains forever linked with a particular moment in time, so that whenever you hear them these associations spring instantly to mind; Dvořák’s Symphony Number 9 and Hovis, the thundering intensity of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto Number 2 and a ...

Rod Stewart is heading out on the road in 2019 with a summer stadium and winter arena tour – his biggest UK tour to date. Rod Stewart Live in Concert will see the international rock star play 22 headline shows at football stadiums, outdoor venues and arenas across England and Scotland in support of the release of his 30th studio ...

Reviewer: Maryam Philpott Tribute acts devoted to a favourite popstar or band are fairly standard but less common is a tribute show dedicated to a particular album. Josh Turner’s latest concert, performed for only the second time at the Shepherd Bush Empire, is a homage to Paul Simon’s Graceland album written in 1986 when the artist visited apartheid South Africa ...

Soloists: Victoria Joyce (soprano), Louise Crane (mezzo-soprano), Joseph Shovelton (tenor), Jeremy Peaker (baritone), Richard Woodall (bass) Orchestra: Orchestra of Opera North Conductor: Anthony Kraus The Kirklees Concert Season with the Orchestra of Opera North is anything but an orthodox series of symphony concerts. The opener, admittedly, was a conventional Beethoven and Schubert programme, but soon there is the challenging one-act opera by Bartok, ...

Director/Creator/Choreographer: Lauren Hlubny  Composer: Thomas Giles  Book: Alexis Roblan  Reviewer: Adrienne Sowers  It seems the state of the world of late is foisting outrage fatigue among humans across the globe.  With the twenty-four-seven news cycle, covering everything from environmental devastation to political unrest to local and national tragedies, there is always something out there to break our hearts or ignite ...

Orchestra: Orchestra of Opera North Conductor: Ruth Reinhardt Soloist: Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano) Reviewer: Ron Simpson The first concert of the Orchestra of Opera North’s Kirklees season was titled The Emperor. No wonder – Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, his Piano Concerto No. 5, dominated the evening. The customary arrangement of overture (or other shortish work), concerto and symphony was wisely abandoned in ...

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů Director: Christopher Alden Conductor: Garry Walker Reviewer: Dawn Smallwood Martinů’s The Greek Passion, a new production, marks the opening of Opera North’s autumn season.  Based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ text, it was written over 60 years ago and its score, albeit heavily revised, made its debut in Switzerland in 1961.  However, due to the themes’ relevance, Aleš Březina’s ...