Adrian Ainsworth

Saving Grace - Robert Plant’s current group featuring Suzi Dian - in phenomenal form at the Southbank tonight. Love this combination of instruments (lead accordion, cello in for bass) & they’re a proper *band*, Plant always keen to shine the spotlight on his comrades.

He’s brilliant, isn’t he? F & I are going to hear him next Feb (Wigmore Hall) - properly excited.

International anthem: Jo Quail and Friends, Enschede, Netherlands When I first heard cellist-composer Jo Quail perform – back in 2013, in a solo support slot – it was immediately clear that she occupied a genre all her own. A kindred spirit, for sure,…

🖼️🤔👓 My latest piece for ArtMuseLondon looks at the work of @joquailcello.bsky.social, & in particular her recent orchestral concert in Enschede, Netherlands: one of the most purely uplifting experiences of my listening life. More enthusiasm here:

artmuselondon.com/2025/12/08/i...

Thrilled yesterday to discover the amazing @concertorecords.bsky.social - catered perfectly to my Malian kora / Estonian choral / grindcore musical needs! #SpecsAbroad

Evening walk in Amsterdam. #SpecsAbroad

Panoramsterdam! #SpecsAbroad

Airport bus ride a little ‘shaky’.

Glorious @wigmore-hall.org.uk double today hearing a beautiful 'last-minute' lunchtime set from Miah Persson & @josephmiddleton.bsky.social (get well soon Katharina Konradi 💐) then a stunning recital from
@narduswilliams.bsky.social & Elizabeth Kenny this evening. A fantastic day.

The magnificent Mulatu Astatke & his band, setting fire to Sunday evening at the Southbank.

Beautiful concert on Saturday in Christ Church Cathedral by Vix Clamantis, celebrating Pärt’s 90th. Glorious.

“Why, I auteur…”: ‘The Makropulos Case’ (mostly), Royal Ballet & Opera, London The latest in the Royal Opera’s Janáček cycle, this is their first production of ‘The Makropulos Case’ – and mine, too. I was excited to be seeing at last this piece that I’d read about but, …

🖼️🤔👓 Immediately after emerging from the Royal Opera’s ‘Makropulos Case’, I posted that “it managed to both demand focus from its audience & feel like a thrill-ride at the same time”.

Detail-seekers! Read more in my write-up for ArtMuseLondon here…

artmuselondon.com/2025/11/16/w...

Pair of Specs, Blenheim Palace.

Enjoyed ‘The Makropulos Case’ at Royal Ballet & Opera - absolutely ‘A Katie Mitchell Production’ with letterbox vision, slo-mo & radical reinventions - it managed to both demand focus from its audience & feel like a thrill-ride at the same time. Brilliant ensemble & orchestra on 🔥🔥.

Brilliant programme of sea songs this lunchtime @wigmore-hall.org.uk from @jamesnewby.bsky.social & @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - hopefully this might be a future album (🤞) but for now take a listen on BBC Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

A unique set inspired by the society's history & the world premiere of Deborah Pritchard’s powerful 'Song's Eternity'. A joy from start to finish: the profoundly moving, heartfelt performances of the quieter Bridge songs will remain among my enduring concert memories. Privilege to be there. (2/2)

Beautiful recital last night from @carolynsampson.bsky.social @josephmiddleton.bsky.social (& choir) to celebrate 20 years of Concerts at St Andrews, Bedford. (1/2)

Pair of Specs, Bedford-bound to hear @carolynsampson.bsky.social - with trusty piano man @josephmiddleton.bsky.social - play a hometown gig. Looking forward!

Pair of Specs, National Portrait Gallery.

#ENODeadManWalking: shatteringly effective storytelling, committed & complex performances by a remarkable ensemble, & a score of vast atmospheric scope. A genuinely unforgettable - and satisfyingly uncompromising - evening.

Collected a lovely new venue last night, @sohotheatre.bsky.social Walthamstow, to hear Penguin Cafe perform a magnificent set of PCO ‘originals’. Beautiful.

On the left: street food. 😋 On the right: street defibrillator. 😳 Bon appétit!

Slightly unusual for me - ballet in the Linbury - but fascinated by the music, which includes South African composers (Makeba, Shepherd) alongside Shostakovich, Reich, Richter among others. Looking forward!

The brilliant @barbjungr.bsky.social has a new single out: the gorgeous ‘Last Orders Mersey Square’. It dates back to when Barb made the ‘Stockport to Memphis’ album: my intro to her music. I’ve been hooked ever since.

So it’s special. Stream, view & download here:

slinky.to/LastOrdersMe...

Curtain call for a suitably hot-blooded #ENOCarmen this evening! But the closing two-hander is every bit as chilling as I remember.

An ace lunchtime recital today @wigmore-hall.org.uk of @errollynwallen.bsky.social’s songs - alongside Britten & Ives - performed beautifully by Ruby Hughes with the composer herself at the piano. Soulful, inspiring.

Another astonishing gig from The Necks tonight at the Jazz Cafe, Camden. Twice, a monumental composition seems to pulse through them like waves of energy - then gone forever. Stunning.

Collecting a new venue - 1st ever visit to Camden’s Jazz Cafe - to hear one of my favourite bands, The Necks. Selfie-taker less purple in real life.

My fleeting moment of post-haircut tidiness. On seeing this selfie just now, a friend exclaimed “It’s Serious Adrian!” & this is with a coffee halfway up my nose, so am now a bit concerned at what my non-serious pics look like. 😉

Oxford Circus: ‘John Le Carré: Tradecraft’, Weston Library, Oxford John Le Carré insisted that he was a writer first, and sometime spy second – and this excellent exhibition drawn from the author’s archive honours that self-image. It’s easy to emerge from th…

🖼️🤔👓 Navigate a world of secrets and lies, as John Le Carré’s archive goes on display, & this fascinating exhibition nudges the man out of the shadows. More enthusiasm in my write-up of ‘Tradecraft’ (Weston Library, Oxford) for ArtMuseLondon here.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

artmuselondon.com/2025/10/18/o...

Terrific gig from Level 42 at Fairfield Halls tonight: the entire ‘World Machine’ album, plus hits galore. Bliss.