| | | Prom 19a: Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra review – tears and roars of delight for new national ensemble | | by Flora Willson Jul 31, 2022 | | Royal Albert Hall, London
Giving only their second ever performance, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra was highly impressive and deeply moving in a programme of Silvestrov, Chopin, Beethoven and Brahms I was still hundreds of metres from the Royal Albert Hall when I spotted the first Ukrainian flag. It was the first of many worn as capes, not to mention the badges, hats and colour-coordinated outfits scattered around the near-capacity auditorium. If this sounds reminiscent of the annual flag-fest on the Last Night of the Proms, think again: this crowd was sombre, even subdued. But that changed as members of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra started to filter on to the stage, met by a battery of applause and an immediate standing ovation. It was an impressive start for an ensemble that didn’t exist a fortnight ago, rapidly assembled from professional Ukrainian musicians in Ukraine and across Europe. One musician I spoke to – a trombonist with the Kyiv National Opera – had travelled straight from Lviv to Warsaw for the orchestra’s first rehearsal under founding conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson. Instantly recognisable in his concert dress outside RAH, he told me this was his first trip to London: “Like a dream come true”. Continue reading... | | | | | Maggie Rogers: Surrender review – giving in to intensity | | by Kate Hutchinson Jul 31, 2022 | | (Polydor)
Urgent, forthright and rocking out, the American’s second studio album is a compelling change of direction The sound of an artist genuinely freeing themselves is never less than riveting. During the pandemic, Maggie Rogers moved in with her parents in Maine after the burnout from touring her debut album, 2019’s folk-R&B confection Heard It in a Past Life, and becoming a Grammy-nominated breakthrough artist. She enrolled at Harvard, reconnected with herself and NYC, and then – that greatest signifier of rebirth – she cut off all her hair. Second album Surrender is just that: a freshly cropped Rogers channelling anthemic 90s rock-chick and giving in to intensity, recorded between her home city, New York, and in the UK with Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Florence Welch). Songs such as That’s Where I Am are clean and punchy like Sheryl and Shania, though Rogers dips this in alt-rock on the excellent Honey and the Placebo-like promise of Want Want. Throughout, she gives an exceptional vocal performance, urgent and belting, especially on Shatter, a turbo-charged, Haim-style ripper. Occasionally this can leave you longing for something less overblown, but this is Rogers 2.0: dancing sweatily in NYC karaoke bars and singing lines such as “sucking nicotine down my throat/ thinking of you giving head” (on new track Horses) and rocking out. Letting rip suits her. Continue reading... | | | | | 'I'm an all-or-nothing person': actor Maisie Richardson-Sellers on risks, rewards and keeping it real | | by Chris Mandle Jul 31, 2022 | | Her first ever role was in Star Wars, but Maisie Richardson-Sellers is also fascinated by more down-to- earth stories about women, queer love and politics Maisie Richardson-Sellers has often taken a leap of faith, and it’s nearly always paid off. Before the 30-year-old made her first ever on-screen appearance, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, no less, and before starring in megawatt franchises like Netflix’s The Kissing Booth and Legends of Tomorrow, she worked odd jobs, including for a London helicopter tour company. She would hand out flyers and take official photos when couples got engaged on the trips. Sometimes, when people failed to show up, she would ask if she could replace them in the helicopter. No use wasting an empty seat. “I’d try my luck and ask for a ride,” the actor says. It was always worth it. Every now and then Richardson-Sellers would be whisked high into the sky, to bear witness to the city she grew up in from dazzling new heights. Richardson-Sellers (who uses both she and they pronouns) is calling from Miami, during a brief period of downtime while filming a “queer psychological thriller” about gaslighting and emotional abuse. She’s currently on screen in the cyberwarfare drama The Undeclared War, written by Peter Kaminsky, who also wrote Wolf Hall. She plays tech analyst Kathy, both tightly wound and smart enough to downplay her own shyness. In conversation, though, she has the quiet confidence of someone who knows they can ace the test, even if they don’t know the questions yet, and her black turtle-neck top and long braided hair gives her the fortified coolness of a gallery curator. Continue reading... | | | | | |
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