Scary classical music from the movies
Wed 31 Oct 2012
To freak us out a bit on this ‘All hallow’s eve’, we thought we’d hunt down those chilling classical pieces that have sent shivers down our collective spines at the movies… Prepare to be spooked!
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Berlioz’s Romeo & Juliet: Curtain call pics
Thu 12 Apr 2012
Still eeking out the pictures from our Romeo & Juliet project! Here’s a selection from the performance at the Royal Festival Hall. We don’t often photograph our concerts and rehearsals but this was such an unusual and important projct for us we really thought we should. It’ll be a long while before we play this…
Read MoreRomeo & Juliet in rehearsal
Thu 5 Apr 2012
Taken us a while to put these up…but cast your mind back about 2 months and we were playing Berlioz’s huge Romeo & Juliet. Here are some pictures of us in rehearsal with OAE Principal Artist Sir Mark Elder at the Royal Festival Hall, on the morning of our evening performance there ( inbetween the…
Read MoreBerlioz’s Romeo & Juliet: audience reaction
Thu 29 Mar 2012
Last month saw one of the most ambitious projects in the OAE’s history come onto the Royal Festival Hall Stage: Berlioz’s Romeo & Juliet, conducted by Sir Mark Elder and with over 200 performers, Orchestra, soloists and choirs. We caught up with the audience after the London performance to find out what people thought of…
Read MoreRomeo & Juliet: Listen again
Tue 28 Feb 2012
Our performance of Berlioz’s Romeo & Juliet at the Royal Festival Hall was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday and is now available on the BBC iPlayer until next Sunday, 4 March. Enjoy! Listen to Romeo & Juliet on the BBC iPlayer
Read MoreHector & Harriet: love, tragedy and the Bard
Tue 14 Feb 2012
It’s Valentine’s day (well it was when I wrote this….). It can be a rather grim, over-commercialised affair, but in an attempt to redress the balance, I thought it would be worth taking a look at the romantic trials and tribulations of Hector Berlioz, one of the nineteenth century’s great composers. He was a man…
Read MoreFebruary Podcast: Sir Mark Elder, Laurence Cummings and frothy tea…
Thu 9 Feb 2012
It’s time for the latest packed edition of the OAE podcast, this time with added snazzy intro music. In this edition we speak to Sir Mark Elder about Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet, chat with Laurence Cummings about Bach, talk to composer Sally Beamish and writer Melanie Reid about Spinal Chords, a new piece for the…
Read MoreThe Night Shift at Reverb 2012
Thu 13 Oct 2011
We’re very excited to announce that The Night Shift will be returning to the Roundhouse in Camden as part of their 2012 Reverb festival on 24 February 2012. After a sell-out performance at Reverb 2010, The Night Shift returns to the Roundhouse to open this year’s festival with one of our most ambitious projects…
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Enrique Mazzola talks about the upcoming 'French Connections' concert and the prospect of working with the OAE
Wed 3 Nov 2010
Enrique Mazzola can’t stop smiling. In a clutch of impressive debuts coming up this season – including the Oslo and New Japan Philharmonics and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra – the young Italian conductor is particularly thrilled by the prospect of working with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with whom he will make…
Read MoreOur Prom: listen again + reviews
Tue 3 Aug 2010
Well, our Prom on Sunday was a bit of an event. It’s not every day you get the OAE playing Berlioz and Wagner, and also not often that you get over 85 OAE players on stage! Plus, the Royal Albert Hall was packed to the rafters. If you couldn’t be there then you can still…
Read MoreRattle in rehearsal
Tue 3 Aug 2010
Here’s a few pics we took while in rehearsal at the Royal Albert Hall for our BBC Proms performance last Sunday. In the last couple you can see our Melgaard OAE Young Conductor Eduardo Portal on the podium – he probably took over for a bit so that Sir Simon could check the balance further…
Read MoreOn tour with Sir Simon: Paris and the end of the tour
Wed 24 Dec 2008
SO – two weeks, six countries, nine cities, fifteen train journeys, five flights, nine coach journeys, one car journey, seven hotels, twelve concerts, twenty four symphonies, thirteen overtures, six Christmas markets, far too many chocolates, undisclosed quantities of beer and wine…and we’re on our way home. Yesterday in Paris, the day was grey and damp….
Read MoreOn tour with Sir Simon: Germany
Wed 24 Dec 2008
Baden-Baden So, after reading all about the OAE’s last week in Europe it was now my turn to join the tour for the last few days. Once again the orchestra found themselves on a charter plane, this time to Karlsruhe from Stanstead airport. Having the charter plane was a sheer delight with a very smooth…
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