BBCSO/Stasevska review – Caroline Shaw’s cosmic visions meet Barber’s lyrical brilliance

Barbican, London The Golden Record and the vastness of space inspire a fascinating but underdeveloped new work, alongside a richly rewarding performance from Randall Goosby As it hurtles away from Earth – 16bn miles and counting – the Golden Record on board the Voyager spacecraft continues to fascinate us. Caroline Shaw ’s The Listeners – written for San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque in 2019 and here receiving its London premiere from the BBCSO as part of Shaw’s Barbican residency – features one of its tracks: spoken greetings in 55 languages.

Heard via record player, these resonate through the hall while Shaw’s music forms haltingly underneath, from a pulsing keyboard note to briefly sweeping choral phrases. At times, the music almost eclipses the speech – which somehow emphasises its wonder. Later, Carl Sagan’s “pale blue dot” speech is heard, this time unadorned, via cassette player. Using a wordless choir to express wonderment is a cliche that Shaw skirts deftly, her harmonies avoiding sentimentality even though they often feel simple. Lasting 35 minutes and styled like a miniature classical oratorio, The Listeners starts and ends with movements that grow from a wordless lullaby, sung here…