The Brighton Festival takes over our favourite seaside city for the whole of May with a brilliant programme of comedy, theatre, dance, art, talks and whatnot, and, of course, lots of music. Our sister publication ThreeWeeks is reviewing it all, and you can check out the ThreeWeeks music team's reviews here in the CMU Daily.
Terence Allbright (Piano): 'Modern British Music'
Bramber Press
Terence Allbright aims to highlight the variety within modern British piano music, and introduce new elements to a genre where novelty has been almost impossible for 200 years, exploiting every facet of his instrument, and introducing several gimmicks - such as augmenting his piano with pegs - to do so. His own work is edgy and suspenseful, yet throughout, his wit, only hinted at in banter, is evident. A highlight was Thorogood's 'Fantasy Variations On A Danish Folksong', where a simple tune is traced from deep sorrow to the peaks of joy, a performance undoubtedly enjoyed by Thorogood himself, present in the audience. Allbright's perfect performance was only slightly marred by an overabundance of background noise, yet throughout Allbright brought humour and novelty to a genre which risks repetition.
Friends' Meeting House, 3 May 5:15pm, £7 (£4), fringe pp14.
tw rating 4/5
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Martha Tilston
For those who don't know Martha Tilston by sight, there is no mistaking the celebrated sound of her voice as it rises above the din. Right from out of the din in fact, as she begins to sing from the audience. The sparse instrumentation is well arranged but ultimately plays second fiddle to Martha's voice, characterised by a unique, trembling vibrato, stressed until it stutters. The economy of her guitar work is enjoyable too, making a welcome change from self-indulgent support act Nathan Bell. The plainly narrated nostalgia of numbers like 'Songs That Make Sophie Fizz' is a little sickly sweet, but her lyrics are otherwise charming and thoughtful. 'Does anybody else get me?' Oh yes, everybody here tonight at least.
Komedia, 7 May, 8:30pm (11:00pm), £10.00 (£8.00) fringe pp. 35 tw rating 4/5
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Andrew Cronshaw and Tigran Aleksanyan
Brighton Festival
After surprising the audience by appearing from the back of the auditorium on one of his many pipes multi-instrumentalist Cronshaw takes to the stage and strums sweet Finnish tunes on his intricate 74-string electrified zither. Armenian Aleksanyan accompanies him with the breathy resonance of his double-reeded duduk. The pair jump around the globe with music for Finnish weddings and recounting Irish drownings, with a wry commentary. Cronshaw's demonstration of the Slovakian shepherd's flute creates a ridiculously priapic profile, but the sound is well-worth the struggle with this 6ft-long monster. Both an exhibition of some of the world's most fascinating looking musical instruments and a concert to show that the sound outshines their mere visual eccentricity, with haunting and inspiring beauty.
Pavilion Theatre, 6 May, 01:00pm (2:00pm), £7.50, festival pp28.
tw rating 3/5
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