Matthew Barley

Last updated

Matthew Barley
Born (1965-05-02) 2 May 1965 (age 59)
London, England
GenresClassical, contemporary, improvisation
Occupation(s)Cellist
Instrument(s)Cello
Website matthewbarley.com

Matthew Barley (born 2 May 1965) is an English cellist. [1] He is best known for his performances of core classical music, [2] improvisation, and contemporary music including electronics.

Contents

Early life and education

Matthew Barley was born in London and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and the Moscow Conservatoire. He made his London concerto debut playing the Shostakovich cello concerto in the Barbican Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra, as finalist of the LSO-Shell competition. His first CD, in 2003, was The Silver Swan for Black Box was a compilation of pieces for multitracked cellos, all of which he recorded himself using pioneering techniques of layering voices without an electronic click. His next CD, Reminding, featured Soviet music for cello and piano, and was released on Quartz in September 2005. [3]

Career

In 1997 Barley founded Between the Notes, [4] a performance and education group who work with music and other arts. [5]

In 2007, Barley was the music director and presenter of the BBC2 Classical Star series. [6]

As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed in over 50 countries, including appearances with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with conductors including Marin Alsop, Thomas Dausgaard, Tan Dun, Charles Hazlewood, Markus Stenz, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Ilan Volkov. He has performed at festivals in Lucerne, Schleswig-Holstein, Bonn-Beethovenfest, Hong Kong, Lanaudiere, Abu Dhabi, Krakow, City of London and at some of the world's great concert halls: London's Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Kumho Hall in Korea, Casals Hall in Tokyo, The Rudolfinum in Prague, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. A key aspect of his recitals is mixing repertoire in unusual ways, pairing Bach suites with jazz and improvisation. He is particularly interested in music with electronics, having commissioned works from many composers including Dai Fujikura, Peter Wiegold, DJ Bee, John Metcalfe and Jan Bang. He has given other premieres of pieces written for him by James MacMillan, Thomas Larcher, Detlev Glanert, John Woolrich, and Fraser Trainer.

In 2005, he toured Brett Dean's ballet score One of the Kind (for solo-on-stage-cello and electronics) with the Netherlands Dans Theatre; in 2010 with the Basel Ballet and in 2012 with Lyon Ballet.

Barley has premiered several works including some commissions, by Pascal Dusapin, Thomas Larcher, James MacMillan, Dai Fujikura, Detlev Glanert, Peter Wiegold, Fraser Trainer, [7] Rand Steiger, John Metcalfe, [8] John Woolrich, [9] Dimitri Smirnov, and Deidre Gribben.

Barley's classical collaborations include with Matthias Goerne, The Labeque Sisters, Martin Fröst, Viviane Hagner and Thomas Larcher Non-classical collaborations have included with Avi Avital, Manu Delago, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Jon Lord (Deep Purple), Talvin Singh, Sultan Khan, Nitin Sawhney, Django Bates, [6] and jazz pianists Julian Joseph and Nikki Yeoh. [10]

In 2013, Barley toured the UK to celebrate the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth, [11] [12] performing 100 concerts and workshops throughout the year. [1]

In 2019. he gave the premiere of a concerto by his stepson, jazz bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, fusing jazz and improvisation with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Barley records for Signum Classics in the UK, his latest disc being Tavener's The Protecting Veil.

Personal life

Barley is married to violinist Viktoria Mullova. [13] They have three children: Misha Mullov-Abbado, Katia Mullova-Brind and Nadia Mullova-Barley, and live in London. A major project of Barley and Mullova's called The Peasant Girl has seen over 40 performances worldwide. The programme features Barley's arrangements of gypsy and jazz as well as Bartók and Kodaly and has been recorded for CD and DVD on Onyx Classics.

Selected discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Chamber Orchestra</span> British symphony orchestra

The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra specializes in 18th-century music and was created to perform Baroque Music. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internationally, and holds the distinction of having the most extensive discography of any chamber orchestra and being the most well-traveled orchestra in the world; no other orchestra has played concerts (as of 2013, according to its own publicity) in as many countries as the English Chamber Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tavener</span> English composer (1944–2013)

Sir John Kenneth Tavener was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are The Lamb (1982), The Protecting Veil (1988), and Song for Athene (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna MacGregor</span> Musical artist

Joanna Clare MacGregor is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She was artistic director of the International Summer School & Festival at Dartington Hall from 2015 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Isserlis</span> British cellist (born 1958)

Steven Isserlis is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his diverse repertoire and distinctive sound which is deployed with his use of gut strings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truls Mørk</span> Musical artist

Truls Olaf Otterbech Mørk is a Norwegian cellist.

Viktoria Yurievna Mullova is a Russian-born British violinist. She is best known for her performances and recordings of a number of violin concerti, compositions by J.S. Bach, and her innovative interpretations of popular and jazz compositions by Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, The Beatles, and others.

Robert Saxton is a British composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Sinfonietta</span> English contemporary chamber orchestra

The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Biss</span> American pianist

Jonathan Biss is an American pianist, teacher, and writer based in Philadelphia. He is the co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Connolly</span> English mezzo-soprano

Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Alldis</span> Musical artist

Dominic Alldis is a jazz pianist, orchestral conductor, and arranger. He is also a business speaker and founder of Music & Management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Singers</span> British professional chamber choir

The BBC Singers is a professional British chamber choir, employed by the BBC. Its origins can be traced to 1924. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British choir, the BBC Singers feature in live concerts, radio transmissions, recordings and education workshops. The choir often performs alongside other BBC Performing Groups, such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and is a regular guest at the BBC Proms. Broadcasts are made from locations around the country: London venues have included St Giles-without-Cripplegate, St John's, Smith Square and St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barjansky Stradivarius</span> Musical instrument

The Barjansky Stradivarius of c.1690 is an antique cello fabricated by the Italian Cremonese luthier Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737).

The Diapason d'Or is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the British Gramophone magazine.

Ross Pople is a New Zealand-born British conductor. He is the principal conductor of the London Festival Orchestra. He has worked with Yehudi Menuhin, Clifford Curzon, David Oistrakh, Kentner, George Malcolm, Sir Adrian Boult, Rudolf Kempe, Benjamin Britten, Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Michael Tippett, Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein, George Benjamin, John Casken, Edwin Roxburgh, Luciano Berio, John Tavener, Malcolm Arnold, Pierre Boulez as well as many other major orchestras, choirs and soloists.

Dave Maric is a British composer and musician.

<i>This England</i> (album) 2012 album by the Oregon Symphony

This England is a classical music album by the Oregon Symphony under the artistic direction of Carlos Kalmar, released by Dutch record label PentaTone Classics in November 2012. The album was recorded at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon, at five performances in February and May 2012. It contains works by three English 20th-century composers: Edward Elgar's Cockaigne , Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5, and "Four Sea Interludes" and "Passacaglia" from Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes. The recording was the orchestra's second under Kalmar's leadership, following Music for a Time of War (2011), which also included works by Britten and Vaughan Williams. This England received positive critical reception but failed to chart.

Mary Wiegold’s Songbook is a collection of songs for soprano and, usually, an ensemble of two clarinets, viola, cello and double bass which were written at the invitation of the soprano Mary Wiegold and the composer John Woolrich. Around two hundred songs were collected, mostly written within a ten year period from the late 1980s.

Thomas Gould is a British violinist and the leader of Britten Sinfonia, as well as former leader of Aurora Orchestra. Gould is best known for his playing of the classical music repertoire although he also plays a six-string electric violin and has performed jazz at Ronnie Scott's. He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Festival Hall in London, as well as Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Arena, Symphony Hall, Birmingham and National Indoor Arena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall Scotting</span> American countertenor

Randall Scotting is an American countertenor performing internationally at opera houses and concert venues. As a young singer, he made his American stage debut performing the role of Nireno in Handel's Giulio Cesare at Opera Colorado. Randall's first leading role in an opera was singing Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in New York as part of the Juilliard Opera Center. The next year he made his European stage debut performing the role of Teseo in Vivaldi's Ercole sul Termodonte at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. In December 2019, Scotting made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden mainstage debut in London performing the role of Apollo in McVicar's production of Britten's Death in Venice In May 2022, Scotting made his Bayerische Staatsoper debut in Munich performing the role of Michael in a production of Haas's micro-tonal opera Thomas. On 2 September 2022, Scotting's debut solo album with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Crown: Heroic Arias for Senesino was released by Signum Classics.

References

  1. 1 2 Giles Masters, "The Week Ahead: Kontakion", The Oxford Culture Review, 28 November 2013.
  2. Igor Toronyi-Lalic, "BBC Proms: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov/ Viktoria Mullova, Matthew Barley" (Classical music reviews, news & interviews), The Arts Desk, 19 August 2011.
  3. "Biography of Matthew Barley". Quartzmusic.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  4. "Between the Notes". Britishcouncil.org.
  5. Christopher Morley, "Odyssey is a great Britten celebration", Birmingham Post, 6 September 2013.
  6. 1 2 Adam Sweeting, "Matthew Barley: addicted to innovation", The Telegraph, 26 June 2008.
  7. [ permanent dead link ]
  8. Andy Gill, "Album: John Metcalfe, Matthew Barley, Constant Filter (Signum Classics)" (review), The Independent, 11 June 2010.
  9. [ dead link ]
  10. Rachelle Thackray (29 January 2001). "Jazz with a jest at The Spitz". The Guardian.
  11. "22 November: Matthew Barley at the Upper Chapel". Classicalsheffield.org.uk. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  12. Rian Evans, "Matthew Barley – review", The Guardian , 29 September 2013.
  13. Ivan Hewett, "Viktoria Mullova at Wigmore Hall, review", The Telegraph, 2 October 2009.
  14. "Tavener: The Protecting Veil". Signumrecords.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  15. "99 WORDS". Signumrecords.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  16. "Around Britten". Signumrecords.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  17. "Face to Face". Face-to-face-album.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  18. William Dart, "Album Review: Victoria Mullova, The Peasant Girl", The New Zealand Herald, 8 October 2011.
  19. "Constant Filter". Signumrecords.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  20. "Dance of the Three Legged Elephants". Signumrecords.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  21. "Reminding | Matthew Barley (cello) and Stephen De Pledge (piano)". Quartzmusic.com/. Retrieved 7 January 2024.