Some brief words on Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea at Bauer and Hieber:
They’re not terribly well-advertised, but the occasional recitals held at Bauer and Hieber (what used to be Schott’s) are well worth looking out for. The basement recital room is tiny, but there’s always a chance of catching a rarity or two.
I turned up a little late, so missed the beginning of James Weeks’s piece. This was a double shame, as what I did hear sounded ravishing. In unfolding an extremely sparse series of rocking intervals between the two instruments it recalled Feldman but – and this seems like an odd thing to say about Feldman’s music – with somehow less stodge.
Read more here.
And something slightly more substantial on Vladimir Martynov’s Vita Nuova at the Festival Hall on Wednesday:
Vladimir Martynov belongs to a generation of post-Soviet composers (a group that includes Alexander Knaifel and Valentin Silvestrov) that feels unburdened by, or at least ambivalent towards, historical responsibility. The results can seem breathtakingly nonchalant to Western European sensibilities, but they can also be imaginative and fresh.
Read more here.
The Rambler 