Solo recital / Wigmore Hall
“A short first half brought a selection of four wildly varied works played without a break, ranging from Elliott Carter’s Figment V, a playful set of variations for marimba written in 2009, to Toshio Hosokawa’s beguiling and atmospheric Reminiscence from 2002. As far as one could see, Currie played this virtuoso half-hour of music on instruments from tom-toms to south Asian temple blocks from memory...
...Currie’s virtuosity energised all and the young audience was hugely enthusiastic.”
Financial Times, April 2014
“The glory of the evening was the world premiere of a piece for marimba by Rolf Wallin, Realismos Mágicos (11 short stories)... Eyes of a Blue Dog drew forth crystals of sound-cluster, flashing from the beaters as they twirled tight and close. A tiny, fleeting heat-haze of harmony of Miss Forbes’s Summer of Happiness; repeated notes reverberating full fathom five for The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World; and a thrumming, poised for lift-off, for a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. This marvellous new edition to the repertoire had been preceded by the world premiere of a new version of Joseph Pereira’s Word of Mouth. Four dry drums and four resonant skins set hands and beaters fluttering, nerves tingling, as the simplest material was endlessly varied and transformed...
… Rolling tremolados gave an effect of aural marbling, with Currie’s dexterity and control of dynamic fluctuation as awe-inspiring as the piece itself.”
Times, April 2014