EXAUDI: Cruel ecstasy

EXAUDI, directed by James Weeks, probe the brutal extremities of Gesualdo’s passions, along with music by Christopher Fox and Patrick Hegarty.

The Brodsky Quartet

An enchanting programme of Schubert, Shostakovich and Ravel.

The Clerks: Three heads, One tale

The Clerks bring a fascinating story of how an unknown English composer revolutionised church music, illustrated with effortlessly beautiful and expressive singing

either end of the SCALE 2: Stimmung

The Ives Ensemble and Forum Neue Vokalmusik go from the quantum to the cosmological in the second concert of MUSICON’s “either end of the SCALE” series. The strange beauty of Stockhausen’s “Stimmung” left me entranced, and gave me an excuse to reference Tolkien in a review.

Autumn 2016 concerts

A run-down of some of the concerts taking place in Durham over the next few months, including one of the world’s greatest early music groups, baroque opera, Messiah, Royal Northern Sinfonia at Ushaw, and a world premiere performed by Orchestra North East.

The Clerks: The Secret Life of J.S. Bach

In a dazzlingly inventive and entertaining programme, The Clerks, with organist William Whitehead, explore episodes from the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, telling stories from his youth, putting us into the shoes of his earliest musical colleagues, and filling in some blanks in his own notebook.

Concert previews – Winter 2015

The listings are gradually coming in for the next few months, and based on what I have so far, this winter’s concerts are dominated by early music treats courtesy of Musicon and a particularly rich choice of organ recitals at Ushaw College, Hatfied College and Durham Cathedral. Durham’s local musicians have lots going on too, with music spanning 500 years from John Sheppard to John Dankworth and so far the students have told me about Mozart and Bach.

Musicon: The Clerks – Tales from Babel

You don’t normally get handed an electronic gadget and a questionnaire when you settle down in your seat for a concert, nor do you get a data presentation straight after the interval. Last night’s Musicon event by The Clerks was concert, drama and scientific experiment all rolled into one gloriously entertaining whole.