Harrison Birtwistle
The hecklers
Keith Burstein recalls a key moment in the battle for emancipation from the ivory tower of atonalism
Without borders
Community music-making is the unifying jewel in the British crown, says James MacMillan
![English National Opera's triumphant new production of Harrison Birtwistle's The Mask of Orpheus, directed by Daniel Kramer. [Photo: Alistair Muir]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Opera_Exhibitions.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
A triumph: ENO’s Mask of Orpheus reviewed
ENO’s Mask of Orpheus is a triumph. It’s also unintelligible. Even David Pountney, who produced the original ENO staging in…
Rattle’s recapitulation: LSO/Simon Rattle at Barbican reviewed
A pregnant silence, a peaty belch from the tuba, and the scrape of brass on brass as gears lock into…
Beauty and the beast
I was going to start with a little moan. About the shouty marketing, the digital diarrhoea, the sycophantic drivel, which,…
The London ear
It’s easy to tag the city’s terrain by writer. But what, wonders Philip Clark, might a map of its music look like?
Between Kafka and Crossroads
We opera critics love gazing into crystal balls. We’re particularly good at discovering Ed Milibands and backing them to the…
Diary
I am living in rustic seclusion while writing a book. Our only cultural outing of the week was to Newbury…
Chorus of approval
One of the growth areas of contemporary music is in setting sacred texts. It might be thought that I had…
