(Translated from French) Ms. Glennie manages to sing these instruments with a touch of great delicacy allowing it to reach a sublime musicality that transcends the materiality of instruments.
Vincent Ho: ‘The Shaman’ | North America Review: Winnipeg Free Press
After an atmospheric opening signalled by delicate finger cymbals, Glennie — as a modern-day shaman — invokes the spirits with rattles, shakers and cymbals during the first movement Ritual that steadily grows in intensity. The powerhouse performer also coaxed with the contemplative Fantasia — Nostalgia that ultimately leads to Interlude: Conjuring the Spirits. Fire Dance is an explosive tour de … Read More
AniMotion Show: Durham | UK Review: The Journal
As dusk fell, a lone bat flitted against the cathedral walls and the bells of another church rode faintly on the air. Then the show, perhaps best described as an audio-visual concert, began. Dame Evelyn, on African marimba, began with a gentle but hauntingly beautiful melody from her position within the far cloister. Beneath a gazebo on the grass, Maria … Read More
John Corigliano: ‘Conjurer’ | Double Review: Recording of the Month at MusicWeb International
The concerto, a set of short cadenzas followed by movements with titles such as Wood,Metal and Skin, mixes two different groups in artful and interesting ways. For instance, in Wood the pitched instruments (xylophone and marimba) are combined and contrasted with unpitched ones (wood block, claves, log drum); the result is music of sinew and strength. That Conjurer comes across with such conviction is due in no … Read More
AniMotion Show: Edinburgh | UK Review: Financial Times
Rud, whose mother was a composer, has a natural affinity with music, evidenced in the fluid execution of her paintings and choice of musical collaborators. The synergy between Rud and percussionist Evelyn Glennie is especially potent. In Vincent Ho’s Nostalgia, Rud imitated the ethereal vibraphone shimmers with squiggly upward brushstrokes that became houses, figures on horseback and otherworldly faces. And in Askell Masson’s Prim, … Read More
James Macmillan: ‘Veni, Veni, Emmanuel’ | UK Review: The Guardian
The Rest Is Noise festival, which has surveyed 20th century music at London’s Southbank Centre throughout the calendar year, has succeeded in fits and starts. This London Philharmonic Orchestra concert under Vladimir Jurowski, however, has to count as one of its more unconditional achievements. It is hard to imagine such a well-prepared concert, devoted entirely to orchestral music from the … Read More
Randolph Peters: ‘Musicophilia’ | North America review: Blouin Artinfo
Dame Evelyn Glennie listens to music with her whole body, just not with her ears. Though technically deaf, the renowned percussionist developed a technique of playing with the vibrations in her instruments and environment, and after graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1985, she pioneered a career as the first full-time solo percussionist in the world. She … Read More
Randolph Peters: ‘Musicophilia’ | North America Review: The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Symphony launched its 2013/14 season — officially its 95th — Saturday at the Orpheum with relaxed confidence and optimism. A ceremonial, celebratory mood was enhanced by an evening free of heavyweight standard repertoire and by a brand-new commission. Start-up concerts come with obligatory add-ons — in this case the national anthem and a protracted spate of speeches, all … Read More
Eric Ewazen: Concerto for Marimba & Strings | UK Review: Cambridge News
There is a stone of white marble on the Cambridge Backs, tucked beneath a tree in King’s College, which bears a short rhyming poem by Xu Zhimo. “Quietly now I leave the Cam,” the poet begins (in Silas Brown’s translation), tendering a farewell to the river, the city, and “the clouded Western sky aflame.” Zhimo’s poem conveys not only the … Read More
Áskell Másson: ‘Konzertstücke’ & Jennifer Higdon: Percussion Concerto | UK Review: Shropshire Star
Music is a gift and the Llangollen Eisteddfod brought three incredibly gifted musicians to the Royal International Pavilion last night. Percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie, the Royal harpist Claire Jones and rising opera star, Noah Stewart brought three different genres to the stage. Dame Evelyn opened the concert when, accompanied by the Eisteddfod’s own orchestra, she showed us her talents as … Read More