London Guardian, April 25, 2009: Difference between revisions

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
(adjust category sort)
(Set existing page in new three column format with hyperlinks etc)
Line 1: Line 1:
Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet
{{Bibliography header}}
Barbican, London
{{Bibliography index}}
{{The Guardian index}}
{{Bibliography article header}}
<center><h3> Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet </h3></center>
<center> Barbican, London </center>
----
<center> Ian Gittins </center>
<center> **** </center>
----
{{Bibliography text}}


4 / 5
Elvis Costello recently marvelled that his 1993 collaboration with the [[Brodsky Quartet]], [[The Juliet Letters]], ever saw the light of day, let alone got a rerelease 13 years later. A conceptual piece for string quartet and voice imagining a series of letters sent to Juliet Capulet, the project was largely ignored by rock fans and scorned by classical critics.


Ian Gittins
The fiercely eclectic Costello has continued to collaborate with the quartet, however. This rewarding evening of Juliet Letters material, freshly written pieces and adroitly selected tracks from Costello's voluminous back catalogue shows exactly why he has persevered.
The Guardian, Saturday 25 April 2009
   
Elvis Costello recently marvelled that his 1993 collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet, The Juliet Letters, ever saw the light of day, let alone got a rerelease 13 years later. A conceptual piece for string quartet and voice imagining a series of letters sent to Juliet Capulet, the project was largely ignored by rock fans and scorned by classical critics.


The fiercely eclectic Costello has continued to collaborate with the quartet, however. This rewarding evening of Juliet Letters material, freshly written pieces and adroitly selected tracks from Costello's voluminous back catalogue shows exactly why he has persevered.
The former angry young punk and the classical quartet are united by consummate musicianship. Costello's famously adenoidal, strangled vocal is pitch-perfect on the Beatles-esque [[I Almost Had A Weakness| I Almost Had a Weakness]] and his own 1983 hit [[Pills And Soap|Pills and Soap]], while sensitive playing by the Brodsky Quartet turns the Irish traditional air [[Raglan Road]] from a sparse lament into a melancholy jig.
 
The revisits to The Juliet Letters prove fertile, with pizzicato strings rendering [[Romeo's Seance]] gorgeously puckish. They are surpassed, though, by an elegiac reading of his anti-Falklands war song, [[Shipbuilding]], where mordant strings capture the exquisite melancholy. The Quartet attack The Juliet Letters' [[Jacksons, Monk And Rowe| Jacksons, Monk & Rowe]] with the brio of Costello's old band, [[The Attractions|the Attractions]]; they close the evening with the brittle [[Sulphur To Sugarcane|Sulphur to Sugarcane]], from his upcoming country-leaning album, and then the valedictory Juliet letter, [[The Birds Will Still Be Singing]]. Few rock artists could carry off such a maverick evening without appearing a preening dilettante, but Costello remains among their number.
{{cx}}
<span style="font-size:240%; line-height:1.3em">****</span>
 
{{Bibliography notes header}}
 
{{Bibliography notes}}
'''The Guardian, April 25, 2009'''
----
Ian Gittings reports on [[Concert 2009-04-23 London| Concert on April 23, 2009]], <br> Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, Barbican, London, England.
 
{{Bibliography no images}}
 
{{Bibliography notes footer}}
 
{{Bibliography footer}}
 
==External links==
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Guardian.co.uk]
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian Wikipedia: The Guardian]


The former angry young punk and the classical quartet are united by consummate musicianship. Costello's famously adenoidal, strangled vocal is pitch-perfect on the Beatles-esque I Almost Had a Weakness and his own 1983 hit Pills and Soap, while sensitive playing by the Brodsky Quartet turns the Irish traditional air Raglan Road from a sparse lament into a melancholy jig.


The revisits to The Juliet Letters prove fertile, with pizzicato strings rendering Romeo's Seance gorgeously puckish. They are surpassed, though, by an elegiac reading of his anti-Falklands war song, Shipbuilding, where mordant strings capture the exquisite melancholy. The Quartet attack The Juliet Letters' Jacksons, Monk & Rowe with the brio of Costello's old band, the Attractions; they close the evening with the brittle Sulphur to Sugarcane, from his upcoming country-leaning album, and then the valedictory Juliet letter, The Birds Will Still Be Singing. Few rock artists could carry off such a maverick evening without appearing a preening dilettante, but Costello remains among their number.


[[Category:Bibliography|Guardian 2009-04-25]]
[[Category:Bibliography|Guardian 2009-04-25]]

Revision as of 22:33, 14 May 2013

  ... Bibliography ...  
72 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83
84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Template:The Guardian index

—
-

Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet

Barbican, London
Ian Gittins
****

Elvis Costello recently marvelled that his 1993 collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet, The Juliet Letters, ever saw the light of day, let alone got a rerelease 13 years later. A conceptual piece for string quartet and voice imagining a series of letters sent to Juliet Capulet, the project was largely ignored by rock fans and scorned by classical critics.

The fiercely eclectic Costello has continued to collaborate with the quartet, however. This rewarding evening of Juliet Letters material, freshly written pieces and adroitly selected tracks from Costello's voluminous back catalogue shows exactly why he has persevered.

The former angry young punk and the classical quartet are united by consummate musicianship. Costello's famously adenoidal, strangled vocal is pitch-perfect on the Beatles-esque I Almost Had a Weakness and his own 1983 hit Pills and Soap, while sensitive playing by the Brodsky Quartet turns the Irish traditional air Raglan Road from a sparse lament into a melancholy jig.

The revisits to The Juliet Letters prove fertile, with pizzicato strings rendering Romeo's Seance gorgeously puckish. They are surpassed, though, by an elegiac reading of his anti-Falklands war song, Shipbuilding, where mordant strings capture the exquisite melancholy. The Quartet attack The Juliet Letters' Jacksons, Monk & Rowe with the brio of Costello's old band, the Attractions; they close the evening with the brittle Sulphur to Sugarcane, from his upcoming country-leaning album, and then the valedictory Juliet letter, The Birds Will Still Be Singing. Few rock artists could carry off such a maverick evening without appearing a preening dilettante, but Costello remains among their number.

****

-

The Guardian, April 25, 2009

Ian Gittings reports on Concert on April 23, 2009,
Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet, Barbican, London, England.

-


Back to top

External links

Retrieved from "http://elviscostello.info//wiki/index.php?title=London_Guardian,_April_25,_2009&oldid=17230881"