James MacMillan
Classical music: Fiona Maddocks’s 10 best concerts and operas of 2023
Two tragic new operas, Mussorgsky with bells on and rousing community endeavours inspired and moved, while ENO hit highs despite a year of turmoil
Fiona Maddocks
24, Dec, 2023 @1:00 PM
The week in classical: Cumnock Tryst; LSO: A Dance to the Music of Time
James MacMillan’s inspiring four-day festival brings together top-class professionals and local performers, while Antonio Pappano gives the Barbican a tantalising taster
Fiona Maddocks
14, Oct, 2023 @11:30 AM
SCO/Emelyanychev/Benedetti review – MacMillan’s violin concerto discomfits and intrigues
James MacMillan’s evocative Second Violin Concerto was premiered by Nicola Benedetti and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a committed and accomplished performance
Rowena Smith
30, Sep, 2022 @3:49 PM
The week in classical: Proms 2 & 5; Attila; Thomas Kelly – review
Star violist Lawrence Power and John Wilson’s orchestra dazzle at the Proms. Elsewhere, fireworks on the stage and podium in early Verdi, and a young pianist astonishes
Fiona Maddocks
23, Jul, 2022 @11:30 AM
The week in classical: James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio; LPO/Jurowski
James MacMillan embraces history – and the listener – with his Christmas Oratorio. And Alina Ibragimova astounds in fearless Shostakovich
Fiona Maddocks
11, Dec, 2021 @12:30 PM
Scottish Chamber Orchestra/MacMillan review – Capperauld’s dance of death has style but lacks substance
Jay Capperauld’s macabre new work – Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death – is full of orchestral colour but felt unresolved. The premiere was preceded by serene performances of Wagner and Ives
Rowena Smith
12, Nov, 2021 @1:44 PM
The Sixteen/Britten Sinfonia review – MacMillan's mysticism misses its mark
There was impeccable singing and playing, but James MacMillan’s substantial new works disappointed
Erica Jeal
16, Oct, 2019 @10:01 AM
The best classical music works of the 21st century
Over the coming week, the Guardian will select the greatest culture since 2000, carefully compiled by critics and editors. We begin with a countdown of defining classical music compositions, from X-rated opera to high-tech string quartets
Andrew Clements, Fiona Maddocks. John Lewis, Kate Molleson, Tom Service, Erica Jeal and Tim Ashley
12, Sep, 2019 @4:20 PM
SCO/Christophers review – premiere of James MacMillan's ecstatic Fifth Symphony
The latest symphony from the pre-eminent Scottish composer, a meditation on the Holy Spirit featuring a striking 20-voice motet, received a rapturous response
Rowena Smith
20, Aug, 2019 @8:54 AM
LSO/Noseda/Bostridge review – musical forces fire up James MacMillan war premiere
The National Youth Brass Band added poignancy to MacMillan’s new oratorio, set to words by Charles Hamilton Sorley, who died in the first world war
Erica Jeal
05, Nov, 2018 @3:36 PM
The week in classical: the Cumnock Tryst; RSNO/ Søndergård review – all-star Scots
Brass band, international stars and local singers joined forces to magnificent effect at James MacMillan’s fifth Ayrshire festival
Fiona Maddocks
13, Oct, 2018 @1:00 PM
BBC Proms 20, 21 & 23 review – MacMillan, Handel and plenty of Brexit
James MacMillan’s dark new requiem vied with Euro-gloom and Handel’s frogs in a stormy week at the Proms
Stephen Pritchard
06, Aug, 2017 @7:00 AM
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