Usher Hall Archives - North West End UK

27Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Verdi’s Requiem – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

The Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by the youthful and energetic Santa-Matias Rouvali, accompanied by the massed ranks of the brilliant Edinburgh Festival Chorus, lit up the Usher Hall tonight with a powerful rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem. The argument continues whether this is more of an an opera than an ecclesiastical work, but one thing all can agree on is that it is packed full of drama. The trumpet shall sound, through the places of the dead, and across the land The multiple drum-heralded Dies Irae (one of Verdi’s most recognisable ‘Bangers’) never fails to send a shiver down my spine, and it was a joy to hear it rebounding around the great space that is the Usher Hall, surely the finest classical music venue in Edinburgh. You will rarely see the string section...

6Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

St. Matthew’s Passion – Usher Hall

The second Passion of the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival, following on immediately from the opening night Concert, Osvaldo Gilijov’s extraordinaryLa Pasio Segun San Marcos,a reinterpretation of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion from 2000. However, tonight too is a reworking of Bach’s original masterpiece. The young Felix Mendelssohn transformed Johann Sebastian Bach’s majestic St Matthew Passion for modern orchestra. We hear his (rarely performed) groundbreaking arrangement from Leipzig 1841. Arguably this changed the course of music history, and without it the great Bach revival of the 19th Century might never have happened. There would surely have been an argument to host a third Passion, the original, using baroque instruments, which would sound very different again. A...

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

5Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

The opening of the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival by Nicola Benedetti marks the beginning of an exhilarating 24 day, 160 event celebration of opera, dance, music and theatre in the Scottish Capital. Following last years’ tentative, ‘Where do we go from here?’, we start this year with the more upbeat, ‘Rituals that unite us. And the opening concert tonight could hardly be a better example of the statement. Spaniard, Osvaldo Gilijov’s extraordinary reinterpretation of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion was commissioned in 2000 to mark the composer’s 250th anniversary. Now, almost a quarter of a Century old and having been performed around the globe, it (finally!) has its first Scottish outing. But this is no Solemn biblical narrative, no, this is a shock of rhythm and colour, in mult...

25Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Callum Beattie – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

The prodigal son returns as Musselburgh man Callum Beattie takes to the magnificent stage of the 2200 capacity, Usher Hall tonight to belt out some crowd favourites and experiment with some new material in front of a sell-out audience. The 34-year-old has come a long way from busking the streets and performing around the pubs of Edinburgh. Between songs, he tells us his regular gig fifteen years ago was at the Red Squirrel pub, just a stones throw away from tonight’s rather more salubrious venue. Despite the minor setback of the drummer breaking his arm during rehearsals, the show most certainly went on, and quite a show it was. Opening the set with the pumping title track of his second album, Vandals, has the packed house jumping and my fillings vibrating. Health and safety is out t...

Tannhäuser: Deutsche Oper Berlin – Usher Hall

29Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Tannhäuser: Deutsche Oper Berlin – Usher Hall

Sitting from 6 pm - 10 pm is a big ask for an audience. It’s an even bigger ask for an orchestra and singers. Below me, from my balcony, I could see a sea of white heads. I think it takes maturity to know this will be worth it. The majority down there are probably Munro climbers - folk who know it is worth the trek. Sitting through a Wagner opera (on stage or in concert) is a statement of love. Wagner is bold. He’s brassy. He’s massively dramatic - employing harps and I’m a bit of a lover of those things. I am a novice to Tannhäuser, and it did not disappoint. I was truly impressed with all the performers. Together, they comprised: chorus and orchestra of the Deutch Oper Berlin and musicians from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Sir Donald Runnicles conducted while Jeremy Bines...

National Youth Choir of Scotland – Usher Hall

15Aug

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

National Youth Choir of Scotland – Usher Hall

If you were lucky enough to get to the Usher Hall by 4pm on Sunday, you will have joined a lively run-down (and audience challenge) detailing how and why Scottish National Youth Choir is so exemplary. The choir caters for 0-25-years-old. It is truly outstanding thanks to the skill, playfulness and overall enthusiasm of Artistic Director and Conductor, Christopher Bell who formed the choir in 1996. In 2012, the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) became the first youth company to win a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in the Ensemble category. Bell calls the company’s methods “stealth teaching” and the games-based learning is just up my street. Balls, hula hoops and old-fashioned clapping games get the rhythm and mood started and the children learn without knowing it. “S...

Cecile McLorin Salvant – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cecile McLorin Salvant – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

That was – Emotional! What a voice. The power and attack of Salvant’s vocal is what strikes you the most. Controlled and yet, something else, hard to explain, at first soaring, vast balloon-like and then at other times like a bird; small, fragile, vulnerable. Miami-born, Salvant at the age of 33 is right at the top of her game, full of the confidence that a library of prestigious awards and accolades brings, and jazz flair that has made her a sell-out draw around the world. Her current album Melusine draws on her Haitian and French heritage, and sung partly in French, whilst her previous highly acclaimed 2022 album Ghost Song features interpretations of tracks by Kate Bush and Sting. In a recent interview with The List, she promised that this concert would be, ‘crazy and sponta...

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert: Buddha Passion – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert: Buddha Passion – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

This was – A brilliant, joyful opening of the 2023 International Festival One of the most versatile musicians in the world, Academy-award winning (score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Tan Dun conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus in the Scottish premiere of his own extraordinary Buddha Passion (2018). And what an amazing and joyful spectacle this was, which had the massed ranks of junior and adult choristers laughing and clapping, clinking pebbles together, tinkling Chinese bells and singing alternatively between ancient Sanskrit and Chinese. And before them the spectacle of the National Orchestra in full flow. A very effective subtitling allowed the packed house to appreciate the piece fully. This is a treatise on the joy ...

Scottish Opera: The Verdi Collection – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

13Feb

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Scottish Opera: The Verdi Collection – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Two 30ft tall gilded iconic Columns and Pilasters support the muscular un-curtained proscenium arch framing the gargantuan stage of the Usher Hall, internationally acclaimed music venue. It is angular, strong unfettered and on the tiered stage the orchestra of Scottish opera are arranged, and ready. The orchestra immediately launch into a frenzied overture, La Forza del destino, under the baton of Stuart Stratford, which puts a wide smile on the faces of the nearly full audience. Stuart then, rather breathlessly, addresses the packed audience and introduces a collection of some highlights from the middle years of Giuseppe Verdi, one of opera’s most beloved and recognisable figures. The format of the show is somewhat problematic, without a set, costume changes, lighting effects or pro...