Pop Artist
Not many classical musicians write works based on the life of a Playboy model or pop superstar. Donald Macleod explores Turnage’s love of mainstream culture.
Not many classical musicians write works based on the life of Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith or pop superstar Beyoncé. Donald Macleod explores Turnage’s love of mainstream culture.
Mark-Anthony Turnage is a man with a reputation for shaking up the world of British classical music - a composer with a distinctive and rebellious creative voice. His work vividly fuses influences of jazz, soul and contemporary pop with music that remains boldly and defiantly avant-garde. It’s music that packs a punch, yet whose visceral impact accompanies a deep lyricism and emotion. Over four decades, Turnage’s work has tackled social commentary: domestic violence, drug abuse, and the refugee crisis. But he’s also a composer with a subversive streak, with an opera exploring the life of former Playboy model Anna-Nicole Smith, and orchestral pieces inspired by his beloved Arsenal football club and pop superstar Beyoncé.
Turnage’s opera “Anna Nicole”, based on the tragic life of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, inspired more column inches in the mainstream press than perhaps any opera in living memory - a subversive, sometimes lurid blend of the satirical and elegiac. Whilst some voices fulminated at its subject matter, many others praised the way it blended the contemporary and the sadly timeless: the story of a woman looked down upon and thwarted by society. Donald Macleod talks to the composer about the opera’s fascinating and sometimes controversial genesis and reception, as well other works inspired by Beyoncé and Led Zeppelin.
Hammered Out
BBC Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson, conductor
From The Wreckage
Hakan Hardenberger, flugelhorn; trumpet; piccolo trumpet
London Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Harding, conductor
Anna Nicole, Act 1 (excerpt)
Eva-Maria Westbroek, soprano (Anna Nicole)
Gerald Finley, baritone (Stern, Anna Nicole’s lawyer)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Texan Tenebrae
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Marin Alsop, conductor
Twisted Blues With Twisted Ballad (Reflections on “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin)
Piatti Quartet
Last on
Music Played
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Beyoncé
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
- Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).
- MUSIC WORLD MUSIC.
- 1.
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Mark‐Anthony Turnage
Hammered Out
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: David Robertson.![]()
Mark‐Anthony Turnage
From The Wreckage
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Harding. Conductor: Håkan Hardenberger.![]()
Mark‐Anthony Turnage
Anna Nicole, Act 1 (excerpt)
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Choir: Royal Opera House Chorus. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. Singer: Eva-Maria Westbroek.![]()
Mark‐Anthony Turnage
Texan Tenebrae
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Marin Alsop.- LPO LPO 0066.
- LPO.
- 3.
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Mark‐Anthony Turnage
Twisted Blues With Twisted Ballad (Reflections on "Stairway To Heaven")
Ensemble: Piatti Quartet.- CHAMPS HILL : CHRCD-145.
- CHAMPS HILL.
- 14.
Broadcast
- Thu 9 Dec 202112:00BBC Radio 3
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