Skip to main content

Soundscapes at the Barbican: Greg Haines and Ólafur Arnalds

Quite a long-time fan of Ólafur Arnalds, I was pretty excited to get tickets for his 11th March concert at the Barbican Centre with the Britten Sinfonia. Definitely worth the convoluted travel plan (driving to Oxford to get the train - First Great Western seem to think people at the Vale of Evesham/Malvern end of the line don't go out at night...)!

Ólafur Arnalds
Something of a culture clash early on once the sold out crowd had sat down. Greg Haines, last night's support act, came onstage pretty prompt and after a quick hello to the audience, sat down and proceeded to play for 30 minutes straight. He received fabulous applause, but there was a small amount of coughing and fidgeting going on... A great atmosphere with the auditorium completely dark except for Greg's spotlights (cue reminiscences of Frank Horvat and Timber Timbre) - for most of the 30 minutes I was lost in his soundscape. He started with very ambient-minimalist piano sounds and gradually worked up the layers. I so enjoyed being lost in the music that to stop and take a photo would quite have ruined the moment. Definitely on my 'must investigate further' list!


After a very short interval the crowd erupted for Ólafur Arnalds, the Britten Sinfonia, Iskra String Quartet and conductor André de Ridder. Arnalds structured the set in big blocks of sound with only 3 or 4 gaps for talking and more. The assembled musicians pretty much played through his new album For Now I Am Winter, with an encore of 'Lag fyrir ömmu' from Living Room Songs. Part of me thinks there was a track in there from ...And they have escaped the weight of darkness, but if so I don't know which one. As well as musically enthralling, there was a varied light show projected behind the stage based on the movements of singer Arnor Dan Arnason - lots of funky snow...

Almost the final bow..
We listened to For Now I Am Winter for the first time last week and it is a little odd to listen to Ólafur Arnalds tracks with vocals! All of the instrumental tracks performed last night were fantastic, but we are a little undecided on the effectiveness of the vocal tracks. Not to detract from the new album - it is great! 

Overall an excellent evening and a really interesting mix of pop and classical cultures. For anyone who missed this, Ólafur Arnalds has a new London date - 3rd June at St John in Hackney.   
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love, chaos and hope: Gabriela Montero and Scottish Ensemble in Kendal

After a sublime Friday lunchtime concert, Saturday (16th February) got even better. The day started with the February edition of Clitheroe Piano Group, and even more than normal we had an excellent afternoon's music. Quick smart up the M6 to Kendal and a quick meal courtesy of Farmhouse Kitchen (very nice) before we headed to Kendal Leisure Centre. Lakeland Sinfonia seem to have a good set of concerts this season - I tried to book for Jess Gillham in January but sold out - and the February concert, Gabriela Montero and Scottish Ensemble, was definitely a treat. There seem to be a lot of season ticket holders as quite a lot of the audience seemed to know each other; and with a few single ticket holders like us, the hall was pretty full!  Scottish Ensemble are a 12-piece string group, and a quick look at their website shows they are interested in anything strings! Gabriela Montero is renowned for her pianism, improvisations and compositions - certainly one of the draws f...
Post a Comment
Read more