THE
INSTIGATOR
Art & Culture magazine
NEWS
PHOTO / Barbara Hannigan conducts / Photo © Courtesy of Musacchio & Ianniello
BARBARA
HANNIGAN
BARBICAN
LONDON
BARBARA HANNIGAN CONDUCTS
BACH
HAYDN
CLAUDE VIVIER
ALBAN BERG
"Who says women can’t be conductors? Well, men." says Barbara Hannigan.
Much-acclaimed soprano Barbara Hannigan, with unparalleled dramatic sensibility, rolled up her sleeves and picked up the baton.
She was barely 10 when she decided to be a musician, but conducting wasn’t even considered. She spent years focusing on contemporary classical music, working with composers, and exploring the works of the 20th century.
Since then, Hannigan has become one of the most celebrated musicians in the world. Her concerts are constantly sold out, and her performances are breathtaking, whether she wears high heels, evening gowns, gym sportswear or a punk outfit on stage. In any circumstances, she is comfortable in her skin, and she is an enormously powerful woman.
“Being a soprano is, of course, a women-only field. With conducting I was expanding into a field dominated by men. I didn’t even know what sexism meant at the beginning but as time went by, I realised that “female” was now attached to the “conductor” label where it had never been attached to the singer label.”
Barbara Hannigan
Hannigan gave two concerts in March at the Barbican with LSO, the London Symphony Orchestra, reflecting her outstanding artistry as a curator, as well as a conductor, bringing together pieces spanning four centuries from Bach and Haydn to the 20th century with Claude Vivier and a violin concerto by Alban Berg. The latter was performed by violinist, virtuoso Veronika Eberle, and Vivier’s “Lonely Child” by Greek soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou.
For the second concert in March, Hannigan returnes to conduct in Gustav Mahler’s "Fourth Symphony".
Two exquisite evenings, two incredible concerts. If you missed any of them, you may watch the concerts on Marquee TV as they were recorded for future broadcast.
"Bach, Haydn, Berg" Barbara Hannigan / Barbican, London (UK)
March 2023 / September 2023
A FLAMBOYANT DRAMA OF LOVE
Undoubtedly, the most successful and most visited exhibition in the V&A was Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear, which highly inspired the concert on the upper floor of the museum, Handel’s Rinaldo, performed by Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and conductor Olivier Zeffman.
There was an undeniable metamorphosis between the floors and the art forms at the V&A, and there will certainly be an undeniable crossover between the readers as well; music lovers will be reading fashion, and menswear enthusiasts will be discovering operas, maybe for the first time.
Rinaldo is a flamboyant drama of love, witchcraft, and a lot of fearless furies, not to mention the pretty outrageous plot. After several unbelievable turns in the tale, the usual happy ending is delivered. It has a twisted Baroque style, although the opera crowd did not seem to mind it and rather enjoyed all that nonsense.
Zeffman’s direction was splendid, a divine arrangement; Jakub Józef Orliński was a virtuoso!
“Rinaldo” by Handel
Countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński
Conductor Olivier Zeffman
Rafael Court, V&A, London (UK)
2022
JAKUB
JÓZEF
ORLIŃSKI
HANDEL
RINALDO
V&A
LONDON
PHOTO / "Rinaldo" by Handel with countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and conductor Olivier Zeffman / Photo © Courtesy of Zoltan Alexnder
INNERVISIONS
At the Royal Albert Hall, as part of BBC Proms series, a unique concert was staged of Stevie Wonder’s 50th anniversary of “Innervisions” with Grammy Award-winning composer, conductor Jules Buckley, and his full-scale symphony Orchestra, with singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist Cory Henry.
Buckley has already collaborated with the biggest names of the music industry, spanning over 70 albums. He formed his orchestra last year at BBC Proms, for Aretha Franklin Tribute, and currently he is Creative Artist in association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Previous tributes to Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin were also masterminded by him.
The concert at the Royal Albert Hall outdid all expectations. The impact of Stevie Wonder’s 1973 hit album “Innervisions” was a landmark in Wonder’s classic period recording, a transition from romantic ballads into a more musically mature conscious rhythm, that felt still very current to this day.
“Innervisions” is entirely Wonder’s masterpiece, performed most of the instruments on the album himself. Cory Henry’s guest singers on-stage included the brilliant Vula’s gospel Chorale, with Vula Malinga who was previously the Music Director for Quincy Jones orchestral project, Lianne La Havas, Laura Mvula and Grammy nominated singer, songwriter Sheléa Melody Mcdonald, who only a few weeks back gave a breathtaking performance at Quincy Jones 90th Birthday Tribute in Hollywood.
Stevie Wonder’s “Innervision” with Cory Henry and the Jules Buckley Orchestra / Royal Albert Hall, London (UK)
21 August 2023
STEVIE WONDER
CORY HENRY
JULES BUCKLEY ORCHESTRA
BBC PROMS Nº48
ROYAL ALBERT HALL
LONDON
PHOTO / "Innervisions" of Stevie Wonder with Cory Henry and the Jules Buckley Orchestra / Photo © Courtesy of Cory Henry
PHOTO / "Casablanca" by Xander Pratt / Photo - Video © Courtesy of Xander Pratt
XANDER
PRATT
CASABLANCA
CASABLANCA
In collaboration with the Moroccan agency In One Entertainment, artist, singer Xander Pratt recently launched his new single Casablanca, and his fashion collection, Majestic Kingdom.
After exhibiting his work in his native country Ghana, he settled in Morocco in 2020, collaborated with 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Marrakesh, and later moved to Casablanca.
Pratt was inspired by the whirlwind of the city, its heritage, energy and colours to offer a sound that takes us throughout a journey, through our moments of celebration. He drew his inspiration from his fascination with time, architecture, alternative cultures, modernity, psychology, and magic, and transformed his ideas into reality.
For his video Casablanca his choice naturally fell on the church Sacré-Cœur since it symbolises the secular tolerance of Morocco. We dive into the city by special effects, and in the foreground, the famous Cadillac appears which, many times, transported the late Mohammed V during his official tours.
"Casablanca" Xander Pratt / Casablanca (Morocco)
2023
GABRIELLE
APLIN
RICHARD QUINN SHOW
LONDON
RICHARD QUINN SHOW
English singer-songwriter, the fabulous Gabrielle Aplin was invited by designer Richard Quinn to lend her voice to Quinn's stunning Fall Winter 2023/2024 show during London Fashion Week.
In a full-length jet-beaded dress, she played her songs alongside some Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, and Kate Bush songs with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Bach Choir.
Gabrielle ApLin / Richard Quinn Show, London (UK)
19 February 2023
PHOTO / Gabrielle Aplin / Photo - Video © Courtesy of Gabrielle Aplin
PHOTO / "Cut Me" by Moses Sumney / Photo - Video © Courtesy of Moses Sumney
MOSES
SUMNEY
CUT ME
USA
THE PERFECT CUT
Saville Row star Moses Sumney proves you don’t need splashy colours to make an impact, in his case, in fact, it’s the very lack of colour that is so striking. “Wearing all black has taught me discipline,” says the North Carolina-based Ghanaian American art-pop musician.
Everything Sumney does is glamorous and theatrical. “It’s thinking about what’s going to move,” he says. “I appreciate that it, as a wearer, forces me to be a bit more disciplined and knowledgeable, but also, for the viewer, it creates a distinction.”
Sumney gravitates toward draped looks and cuts that emphasize texture, fabric, and silhouette. Last year, he walked for Riccardo Tisci’s Fall 2022 collection, and attended the prestigious CFDA Awards with designer Willy Chavarria, suited in a piece that augmented head-to-toe black with subtle elements of religious iconography echoing Sumney’s background as the son of two Christian pastors.
“Now I know really what it means for something to be silk,” he says jokingly.
CUT ME
The musician opens up old wounds on a single from his latest LP.
Moses Sumney has long been fixated on the detachment that comes with personal or political isolation. To that end, Sumney has called his upcoming album “Græ” a “conceptual patchwork about grayness,” exploring statelessness, the shades of meaning in between, the feeling of being displaced from absolutes.
The fourth single from the album, called “Cut Me,” lingers in the masochism of constantly learning things the hard way. The weight of the message is made nearly imperceptible by Sumney’s graceful touch. His surgical falsetto makes precise incisions in the air. He sings of hurt as both motivating and life-affirming, of a need for some kind of friction to create a spark in his soul.
“Well, if there’s no pain, is there any progress?”
"Cut Me" Moses Sumney / (USA)
2023
PHOTO / VIDEO © Courtesy of Glyndebourne Festival
GLYNDEBOURNE
FESTIVAL
2026
OPERA FESTIVAL
21 May – 30 August 2026
GLYNDEBOURNE
GLYNDEBOURNE FESTIVAL
Fashions and attitudes may have changed since 30’s, but the opportunity to look gorgeous never goes out of style. Founder John Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay opened the first Glyndebourne Festival in 1934, and encouraged the wearing of formal dress to show respect to the singers and musicians.
Today the world-renowned auditorium and standards of excellence are testament to Christie’s original ethos: 'Not just the best we can do, but the best that can be done anywhere'.
Early years of the Glyndebourne Festival revolved almost entirely around Mozart’s extensive repertoire of operatic works before gradually expanding to include works by other composers such as Benjamin Britten, Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini and many others.
Originally the theatre seated only 300. It was enlarged and improved many times in subsequent years to hold larger audiences. By 1977, it held 850 people. By the 1990s, it was clear that Glyndebourne needed an even larger auditorium, so in 1994 a new opera house was built to seat 1,200, opening with a performance of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. With the digital age and innovations, Glyndebourne now offers online streaming to reach the latest generation and new audiences.
As of today, Glyndebourne reaches around 150,000 people a year with over 120 live opera performances.
Glyndebourne Festival / Glyndebourne (UK)
21 May - 30 August 2026