LSO/Hannigan review – intensely fluent soprano switches into full command as conductor

2026-03-06 - 16:23

Barbican, London Barbara Hannigan began the evening singing an intense monodrama based on Han Kang’s The White Book, then led the orchestra through unsparing Ligeti and Strauss It takes a certain something to sing a visceral 36-minute monodrama and then conduct a double bill of Ligeti and Richard Strauss, but LSO associate artist Barbara Hannigan is no ordinary musician. That each made an indelible impression is a testament to her exceptional talent and versatility. Laura Bowler’s The White Book sets five chapters for voice, orchestra and live electronics from Han Kang’s autobiographical meditation of the same name. Kang’s texts are reflections on the colour white, inspired by the death of her sister who lived for just a few hours after a premature birth. The music seems to exist on the borderland between life and death, floating somewhere between Earth, sea and sky. Vast chords roll like waves, only to trail off in a delicate spray of percussion. Misty strings hang in the air like a cloud of breath on a winter’s day or motes of dust in a shaft of sunlight. Continue reading...