Mahler Totenfeier CD
In this live recording from the Royal Festival Hall, we shine our musical torch into the realms of some later repertoire, shedding new light on the music of Mahler.
Read MoreNight Shift vox pops
Wed 20 Apr 2011
After the last Night Shift back in January, where Vladimir Jurowski conducted us in music by Mahler and Liszt, our brave man-with-a-cam, Zen, asked the audience: ‘How was it for you?’ Here’s what people said:
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To Paris with the OAE: a video diary
Thu 31 Mar 2011
Here’s a little video diary from our trip to Paris back in January, when we took a supersized OAE there for a concert of Wagner, Liszt and Mahler with conductor Vladimir Jurowski and mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly. We armed Communications Director William Norris with a video camera, and here are the results:
Read MoreSymphonic Enlightenment – Vox Pops
Tue 1 Mar 2011
We’ve had a bit of a backlog of videos here, so these audience vox pops have been somewhat delayed. But they’re here now. After our Symphonic Enlightenment programme of Wagner, Mahler and Liszt at the Royal Festival Hall back on 21 January we asked audience members what they had made of the performance (with conductor…
Read More2nd installment in our pre-concert talk series
Fri 18 Feb 2011
Back in January before our Mahler/Wagner/Liszt Symphonic Enlightenment concert at the RFH, Robert Philip gave a pre-concert talk discussing what impact the onset of the ‘recording era’ in the early 20th century had in helping us to understand what Mahler’s sound-world might have been like. Take a listen: Pre-concert talk: Robert Philip – 21…
Read MoreVladimir Jurowski on Mahler, Liszt, the OAE and disappearing batons
Fri 28 Jan 2011
Regular readers of this blog or our Facebook Page will know we were due to interview Vladimir Jurowski back in December. Well, that didn’t happen as he wasn’t too well, and about to embark on a big tour. We did however catch up with him last week, when he was with us conducting the Symphonic…
Read MoreSymphonic Enlightenment: First reviews
Mon 24 Jan 2011
We’re back from Paris and a second performance of our Symphonic Enlightenment programme of Wagner, Mahler and Liszt. First reviews from Friday’s performance are now in too – mainly from bloggers and online. Hopefully the Nationals will follow tomorrow. Thanks so much for the comments posted on our blog, You Tube video and also for…
Read MoreSarah Connolly on Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer /Journeyman/ Traveller
Fri 21 Jan 2011
Tonight we play our Symphonic Enlightenment programme at the Royal Festival Hall – a late romantic programme of Wagner, Mahler and Liszt with 90 players on stage. For us, a huge undertaking. Parts of the programme had their first airing on Wednesday at our (Sold out) Night Shift, but tonight will be the first time…
Read MoreFlutes: Conical vs Cylindrical
Mon 17 Jan 2011
In our latest video ahead of our concerts of Mahler, Wagner and Liszt this week we speak to our Principal Flute, Lis Beznosiuk. She talks about which flutes she is using for the concert, a task made difficult by the quite wide period of time (and hence flute-evolution) that the music spans, and also about…
Read MoreNew Night Shift podcast
Fri 14 Jan 2011
Our next Night Shift event is next Wednesday at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, when we’ll be joined by Night Shift regular, conductor Vladimir Jurowski, for a concert of Mahler and Liszt. Support comes from Kitty La Roar and Nick of Time and there’s a DJ set afterwards from Postino. We’ve just released a new podcast…
Read MoreSarah Connolly on Mahler, turbo-thrust breaths and Wagnerian hysteria…
Fri 14 Jan 2011
Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly who sings with us in London and Paris next week, talks to journalist Andrew Mellor about her work with later romantic repertoire such as Mahler and Wagner: You seem to be moving in a new direction with all this Wagner and Mahler… Yes – thank goodness I had a lot of superb…
Read MoreCrooks, Valves and the 'God of Horns'
Thu 13 Jan 2011
Next week at our Symphonic Enlightenment concert at the Royal Festival Hall, the horns of the OAE take centre stage. Martin Lawrence, from our Horn Section, here explains the difference between Natural and Valve horns, talks about how they are used in the music of Liszt and Wagner and how Mahler wants the best of…
Read MoreMahler: Death, warmth, comfort and…vomit?
Fri 7 Jan 2011
In two weeks time we’re getting out of our comfort zone and playing some HUGE (for us) pieces by Mahler, Liszt and Wagner with our Principal Artist Vladimir Jurowski. On the programme are two pieces by Mahler, his Totenfeier, and also the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (with soloist Sarah Connolly). Ahead of the…
Read MoreAsk Vlad!
Wed 1 Dec 2010
Next month, our Principal Artist Vladimir Jurowski returns to us to conduct a boundary pushing (for a period instrument orchestra) Symphonic Enlightenment programme of Mahler, Wagner and Liszt. There’s a performance in the Royal Festival Hall on 21 Jan, a Night Shift at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 19 Jan, and should you live in…
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