Barbara Hannigan, associate artist of the London Symphony Orchestra, delivered an extraordinary double performance at the Barbican, first singing a demanding monodrama and then conducting works by Ligeti and Strauss. The evening showcased her rare versatility as both soprano and conductor.
Hannigan opened with Laura Bowler’s The White Book, a 36-minute monodrama based on Han Kang’s autobiographical reflections on the colour white and the death of her sister. The music, blending orchestra and live electronics, evoked a liminal space between life and death. Hannigan’s gently amplified soprano rose and fell, with electronics by Matthew Fairclough capturing and multiplying her phrases, creating a murmuration effect. Conductor Bar Avni closed the piece in a shimmer of strings, drawing absolute silence from the audience.
Taking the podium, Hannigan demonstrated remarkable physicality and fluidity. She shaped Ligeti’s Lontano with sensual microtonality, making it sound unusually rich. In Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, despite occasional balance issues, she brought intense yearning and passion, from the iconic sunrise to the hushed finale. The double basses delivered a chilling Grave Song, the fugal section was ponderously reverent, and the Dance Song oozed Viennese whipped cream, making the unstable ending all the more disquieting.
