Usher Hall Archives - North West End UK

23Aug

By Saira KunjuvalappilNo Comments

Scotland

Bernstein and Stravinsky – Usher Hall

The Edinburgh International Festival welcomed the return of conductor Karina Canellakis, who lit up Usher Hall with her energetic presence on the podium. Following her stunning debut at the closing concert of the 2023 Festival, her comeback was highly anticipated – and she more than lived up to expectations. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus director James Grossmith created an evening of music that was both dazzling and deeply emotional. The 95-minute piece, performed with one interval, started with the vulnerability of the violin voice, expanding incrementally out to the full forces of the orchestra before the chorus entered. The uncomplicated layering of massed choral voices over instruments gave an intimacy merged with something divine. The performance con...

Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony – Usher Hall

17Aug

By Saira KunjuvalappilNo Comments

Scotland

Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony – Usher Hall

As part of the London Symphony Orchestra residency with the Edinburgh International Festival, A Sea Symphony drew a sold-out crowd to the Usher Hall. This landmark performance brought together the orchestra led by Sir Antonio Pappano with sonic leviathan Edinburgh Festival Chorus, for a night of sweeping musical ambition and deeply human emotional resonance. The two hours and five minutes including one interval performances commenced with an eight-minute glorious Nocturne that set an atmosphere of restrained anticipation. This was followed by a ten-minute violin solo from Vilde Frang, whose music instantly won over the hearts of the audience. She put out stunning technical accuracy coupled with warmth to secure a three-minute ovation—an initial highlight which promised much more magic a...

12Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Bizet’s Carmen Suite – Usher Hall

Strings, percussion, and a little mountain magic, but no conductor, and sometimes I notice. The NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra from Wrocław brings a conductor-free evening to the Usher Hall tonight, led from the violin by their artistic director Alexander Sitkovetsky. No figure in tails waving a baton tonight, just Sitkovetsky steering the ship from within. Apparently, that’s perfectly normal in the chamber-orchestra world, but for those of us used to the “point and wag” approach, it takes a moment to adjust. The first half gives us Grażyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra, brisk, crisp, and with some feisty edges, followed by Strauss’s Metamorphosen, a more reflective and sombre piece that seems to hang in the air. Both benefit from the precision and democratic energy t...

10Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Bach and Bartok – Usher Hall

The Edinburgh International Festival treats me to a musical triptych tonight at the Usher Hall, a concert in three sharply contrasting acts, delivered with precision and flair by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Fischer, now in his mid-70’s and one of Europe’s most admired conductors, has the air of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing and, perhaps, is savouring these final years at the helm. Co-founder of the orchestra back in 1983 with Zoltán Kocsis, he’s built a reputation not only for musical excellence but also for a willingness to experiment, from autism-friendly “Cocoa Concerts” to informal beanbag performances. There’s an ease and playfulness in his direction, the sort of confidence that comes from a career well cemented in the history books, but still curious...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

LPO: Holst The Planets – Usher Hall

Edinburgh’s stately Usher Hall, hosts a stirring evening with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner. The programme offers up some delicious delights, a Rachmaninoff favourite and Holst’s undisputed masterpiece.The concert opens though with Judith Weir’s Forest, a brief, fairytale‑tinged overture. But it’s the second work - Rachmaninoff’s 24‑variation Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - featuring pianist Beatrice Rana, that deeply moves me. From her first notes, Rana brings thoughtful nuance to each variation—gracefully shifting between melancholy and exuberance, tenderness and tempest. Key moments, like the haunting counterpoint of Variation XVIII and the sweeping climax at XIX, resonate with crystalline control and deep emotional weight. Her playing is both virtuosic and vu...

NYO2: Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony – Usher Hall

4Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

NYO2: Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony – Usher Hall

Edinburgh’s Usher Hall tonight hosts the European debut of NYO2—Carnegie Hall’s amazing youth orchestra for 14–17-year-olds. Led by the energetic conductor Rafael Payare, they perform a bold and exciting programme, including Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. The evening begins though with an unexpected treat, Jimmy López’s Perú Negro (2012), a dazzling tribute to Afro-Peruvian musical traditions. It’s rhythmically electric and full of colour, the highlight of the night for me. The percussion drives it with so much energy, and the whole orchestra plays with real joy and confidence. It’s a perfect way to start. Visually, the stage looks fantastic. The orchestra wears red and black, with cellist Alisa ...

Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple – Usher Hall

3Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple – Usher Hall

With its hushed reverence and cosmic scale, John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple opens this year’s Edinburgh International Festival not with a bang, but with an invocation. Across eight immersive hours in the Usher Hall, Tavener’s vast and luminous work offers something rare: not simply music, but a spiritual experience—at once intimate and immense, ancient and disarmingly modern.First performed in 2003 as an all-night vigil in London’s Temple Church, The Veil has never been heard in its entirety in Scotland—until now. It is a demanding work, not only for the 250-strong ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, but for the audience as well. Beginning at 2:30 p.m. and ending at 10:15pm, this performance asked for attention, stillness, and patience. It gave, in return, something deeply movi...

Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners – Usher Hall

18Mar

By Dylan MooneyNo Comments

Scotland

Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners – Usher Hall

Perfectly timed for St Patrick’s Day, ‘Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners’ stopped off at the Usher Hall on their 2025 UK Tour. As the name suggests, this concert-style show tells the story of Ireland’s famous folk group, the Dubliners, with songs such as ‘The Irish Rover’, ‘Tell Me Ma’ and ‘Dirty Old Town’. The show was created with O’Donoghue’s pub where the original group used to perform. The performance is made up of a talented group of musicians who bring the Dubliners’ greatest hits to life while also serving as narrators, teaching the lively audience how the group started out 50 years ago. The stage makes use of three different locations - a traditional Irish pub, a recording studio set and a section at the front left clear for the performers to come closer to the a...

Scottish Opera: The Strauss Collection – Usher Hall

9Mar

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Scottish Opera: The Strauss Collection – Usher Hall

Delivering once again a powerful and meticulous performance, Scottish Opera presented a collection of Richard Strauss’ finest works at the Usher Hall. Led by musical director Stuart Stratford, we were taken on a journey filled with melodrama and sly wit that still translates to the modern-day audience. To begin the concert we were presented with the Prologue of Ariadne auf Naxos - a surprisingly self-referential piece where we see an opera take place within the opera - very meta (mise en abyme if you’re fancy). Helena Dix takes the role of Prima Donna by storm with sass and self-assurance, reminding us that opera is not all doom and gloom. Hanna Hipp and Rhian Lois made for a dynamic duo, both with a stunning clarity to their voices. The contrasting roles H...

Pretty Vacant: The Story of Punk and New Wave – Usher Hall

29Jan

By Nazaret RaneaNo Comments

Scotland

Pretty Vacant: The Story of Punk and New Wave – Usher Hall

Punk was never about perfection, and Pretty Vacant – The Story of Punk and New Wave definitely stuck to that ethos. Hitting the stage at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on the 28th of January, the show set out to celebrate one of the most rebellious, game-changing movements in music history. And while the music absolutely delivered, the rest of the production felt a little basic—fun, but not quite as explosive as it could have been. The best thing about the night was, hands down, the setlist. From The Sex Pistols and The Clash to Blondie and The Ramones, the show was packed with classics. Hearing God Save the Queen and London Calling live—well, as live as a tribute show gets—still gave me chills. And when they launched into Blondie’s Heart of Glass, it was a perfect shift into the smoother, more...