Matthew Barley

Time to rethink Swarovski

Matthew Barley — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:52:34 +0000

I’ve have always seen the Swarovski shops in airports and just thought - ‘oh, yeah, fancy shmancy coloured glass jewellery’…but, oh wow, there’s a lot more to it.

At the weekend I played in a couple of concerts at Thomas Larcher’s festival, Musik am Riesen (Music in the Giant) in a town called Wattens in Austria where I was seriously re-educated about Swarovski. It’s genius! There is the fairytale story of a young Daniel Swarovski who travels from his native Bohemia in 1895 to start a small business cutting crystals, not out of glass, but with a unique and secret compound that reflects and refracts light and colour like no other substance, and over the course of a century and five generations, it turns into a huge global brand, employing 30,000 people. But there is also, more interesting for me, the fact that this company is still really crazy about beauty and creativity. They have built a ‘Giant’, whose head lies above ground, and through whose body you walk to see a mind-blowing exhibition underground including installations by Brian Eno and Alexander McQueen and many other talented individuals.

They invest millions (literally), and countless hours/weeks/months building new technology to make breathtaking things with crystals. It was such a joy. I can’t recall having come across that marriage of successful business and commitment to art and imagination before, and I left feeling so inspired.

The concerts were great, and hospitality second to none, but how wonderful for an artist to leave a place feeling that he’s been given a gift of art.

Live the Dream

Rio de Janeiro…to Bristol

Matthew Barley — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:45:52 +0000

The transition was easier than you would imagine….having had a holiday in Brazil, in Rio and also a visit to the rainforest (well, sort of holiday - I borrowed a cello, and we found musicians and did a lot of playing of Jobim, Nascimento, Chico Buarque etc - wow, heaven), I returned to London only to leave for Bristol the following day to rehearse the Rococo Variations with the Bristol Ensemble. I can’t say I distinguished myself greatly in rehearsal, as I was so out of form for that kind of repertoire, but many hours practice later I was ready for the concert on the following day. I love playing in the Colston Hall - even though it’s a little shabby it’s so comfortable to play in, and the concert was really buzzy - I really love that band, such a good spirit. Maybe the most enjoyable bit was the encore where I asked the cellos and basses to hold a deep growly pedal for me, and I improvised around two tunes I’d learnt in the rainforest. It was so wonderful to close my eyes and just go back to the Brazil vibe…it’s all pretty intoxicating out there…planning a return trip already.

Bristol Ensemble

Matthew Barley — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:12 +0000

This group have been a new discovery for me. We played the Elgar concerto tonight and it was the first time I had worked with them, but they have been going quite a few years now. Straightaway in rehearsals I noticed that they have a laid back approach, not in the sense of not caring, but in the sense that they make music for the right reasons: it has to be enjoyable, and this will communicate to an audience. It’s one of the most satisfying Elgar’s I’ve done, as we really tried to blow the cobwebs off it. It’s one of those pieces that gets encrusted with traditions that when you look at the score you can’t quite believe what is now accepted - it was great to examine it carefully and have such a responsive orchestra (and conductor, Jon James) to put it together with. Looking forward to Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with them on May 3rd.

A Sensational School!

Matthew Barley — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:11:53 +0000

Last night I joined hundreds of students on the stage of the Anvil in Basingstoke for a gala concert celebrating London 2012, put on by King Edward VI School in Southampton. I have been their musician in residence for that past few months, and it was an incredible honour to perform with them - the highlight was the piece that we devised together, much of it in a tricky 7/4 meter, all performed from memory with fantastic rhythmic drive, dynamic range and exuberant energy! It was exactly the kind of night that keeps me involved in education: it’s as exciting as playing a concerto, to see the expressions on young faces, taut with concentration, achieving to the best of their abilities and thrilled to be learning new things - it’s deeply fulfilling. I remember Leonard Bernstein saying in his last few years alive that he wanted to devote all his remaining time to education - he had the bug too.

A Busy Week

Matthew Barley — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 23:32:11 +0000

Extremely busy in fact…I’m doing two concertos at the weekend: Tunde Jegede’s brand new “Invocation” for cello, dancer and orchestra premieres at Derby Assembly Halls on Saturday night with Sinfonia Viva (we will have premiered the chamber version in the same hall on Thursday), and then on Sunday it’s the 2nd performance of Fraser Trainer’s “Duke’s Cut” for cello and orchestra with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Richard Davies. This weekend is Music Nation, a part of the Cultural Olympiad for London 2012, hence all the activity. I shall be tweeting through the week giving updates on how it’s going which you can see by clicking here or typing www.twitter.com/#1matthewmbarley

Sweden - Vinterfest

Matthew Barley — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:05:38 +0000

Having a wonderfully wintry time in Sweden at Martin Frost’s Vinterfest. Not only is he one of the world’s really great clarinettists, but he organises a great festival. The them this year is flames, and the paths to the concert venues have been lined with burning torches and candles that look so dramatic in the snow - and the main church in the town of Mora last was covered in huge projected flames. This lunchtime I had the intense pleasure of playing the Schumann with Giovanni Guzzo, Goran Frost and Julien Quentin - I’d never played the piece before and it is just incredible - it’s rare that every movement of a piece works totally perfectly, and it must rank as one of the top ten chamber compositions of all time. This evening I have some duets to play with talented bandoneonist Per Arve Glorvigen, and tomorrow’s concert will be Ravel Trio - another masterpiece. Well, I’m starving, and I need to brave a blizzard and get to dinner!

A friend said on Facebook…

Matthew Barley — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:48:11 +0000

…”nice spirit, i like the Barley touch!!! between an intimate chamber concert, a gipsy pub and a cosy jam session! oh yeaaah” (About the Peasant Girl in Paris)

I really liked that, because it couldn’t be more what I am aiming for in my concerts! Thanks Gabriel!

Amsterdam Concertgebouw

Matthew Barley — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:59:29 +0000

A highly varied programme tonight in the small hall of Amsterdam’s fabulous Concertgebouw. From Bach, Brahms and Debussy, through Tsintsadze, Gershwin and De Falla, to Metcalfe and improvisations with electronics and video. It will be such a pleasure to play in that sumptious acoustic - tonight is the first time playing with v talented Latvian pianist Reinis Zarins.

Live on the internet tonight

Matthew Barley — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:50:27 +0000

If you click here at 7pm (8pm French time) tonight, you will be able to watch our Peasant Girl performance with Viktoria Mullova, live from the Louvre Auditorium in Paris.

New Year

Matthew Barley — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:51:36 +0000

Looking ahead at the diary it looks busy, exciting, challenging…

One of the highlights will be the Music Nation weekend that starts the lead up to the Cultural Olympiad. On Saturday 3rd March I will be premiering Tunde Jegede’s new concerto with Sinfonia Viva in Derby, and the following day playing Fraser Trainer’s concerto, The Duke’s Cut, with the BBC Phil in Manchester. Both of the pieces will feature improvisation in them, which is a wonderful experience with an orchestra behind you. Two new concertos in two days will stretch me, to say the least.

Also really looking forward to being Associate Artist with the Spitalfields Festival in June. I’ve always admired the festival for their imaginative approach, and the way they manage to somehow get the grit of the East End in their programming!

There are many more Peasant Girl concerts this year, including one in the White Nights of St Petersburg which is going to be absolutely fantastic - I haven’t been there during the summer for over 20 years.

I’m hoping to do some writing/recording this year of my own material, as well as recording Britten in Canterbury Cathedral for release in the Britten Centenary year, 2013, when I’m planning a huge tour of the UK. I’ll be posting some news of that soon.

But for now, Happy New Year to all!!!