review08.10

Here, Music Is Allowed to Go Wrong

Festival of Endless Gratitude is less a parade of finished works than a living laboratory where musicians are given the freedom to experiment – and to fail.

By Kristoffer Møllegaard

review05.10

When Music Takes You Down the Rabbit Hole

Sonica Glasgow turned sound into massage, sweets into instruments and Serbian folk song into a psychedelic journey. The festival was most convincing when it dared to go all the way to the edge.

By Mathias Monrad Møller

• review01.10

  Everything Makes Noise. Then Comes Silence

  
  The Oslo-based contemporary music festival Ultima taught me that in a world where everything makes noise, silence can be the most radical expression of all. Perhaps we should send Ed Sheeran to Norway for a study trip?

  By Louise Steiwer
• review30.09

  Into the Unknown

  
  In Žibuoklė Martinaitytė’s first opera, the Arctic becomes a landscape for music that moves slowly but contains immense power.

  By Andrew Mellor
• review20.09

  Samsø Finds a New Sound

  
  On Samsø, Salad Days makes room for sound art, improvisation, noise and experimental music. The festival’s small scale creates a particular openness – but also leaves the project vulnerable, as it depends on the efforts of a few people.

  By Ania Mauruschat

• review31.08

  When Opera Leaves the House

  
  Copenhagen Opera Festival has broadened the reach of opera while making it more experimental under Amy Lane. But when bold projects fail to find their form, the courage to experiment can tip into gimmickry.

  By Andrew Mellor
• review26.08

  The Art of Letting Go

  
  On three new albums by Sofie Birch, Tyondai Braxton, and Gustaf Dicksson & co., electronics come alive, melodies are allowed to lose their way, and experimental music discovers a rare lightness.

  By Nikola Nedeljkovic Gøttsche
• review13.07

  Five Things I Learned About Love in Bergen

  
  The Bergen International Festival promised »endless love«. I listened closely – and found it everywhere from medieval madrigals to pop ballads spanning the centuries.

  By Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

review02.07

Oh, to Lose Yourself in Moers

The German Moers Festival is no longer primarily a jazz festival, but a curated laboratory for free improvisation, sound art, compositional music, and political absurdism. At times it feels forced. Most of the time, it is liberating.

By Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

review28.06

When Music Stopped Explaining Itself

Klang Festival was at its strongest when the works spoke directly to the body rather than to the programme notes. Not everything succeeded, but this year's festival was willing to take risks.

By Agnete Seerup