Kronos Quartet is in London this weekend for what promises to be a whirlwind of events at the Barbican. The venue opens its doors to the public for Open Weekend, celebrating the launch of the Cultural Olympiad unfolding between now and the city's hosting of the summer Olympic games in 2012. Events include film screenings, open rehearsals, dance workshops, and architectural tours of the cultural center's facilities. The weekend also coincides with Ramadan Nights, the Barbican's annual festival of Muslim music.

A featured event of both celebrations is tonight's Kronos Quartet concert with the man who has been called Azerbaijan's greatest singer, Alim Qasimov, and his ensemble, including his daughter, Fergana. The Times (UK)'s David Hutcheon previews the concert in an article on the singer he calls "the living legend you’ve never heard of." Hutcheon describes a recent intimate performance by Qasimov father and daughter this way:

His voice soars and, as his daughter joins in, the mood is transformed: they are no longer simply singing but communicating with another world.

The effect is devastating, the half dozen people watching seized by the power of the ancient poetry, but none of us is surprised. "I wouldn’t say Alim Qasimov is the greatest singer alive," David Harrington, of the Kronos Quartet, had said a few days earlier, “but he is up there in the top five of all time."

Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. For more on tonight's concert and the weekend's events at the Barbican, visit barbican.co.uk.