 Concert Review: BBCSO under John Storgårds in Brett Dean and Sibelius (Barbican) Shakespeare was, to the unsuspecting or unknowing mind, the common theme that united the BBC Symphony Orchestra's engaging concert on Friday night at the Barbican. In an interesting piece of programming, Brett Dean's clarinet concerto Ariel's Music was paired with a... more> |
 Concert Review: Kremer joins Pletnev and the RNO in Sibelius & Beethoven (Baden-Baden) It would take the multilingual erudition as a master of musical aesthetics of a Gidon Kremer or a Mikhail Pletnev, turning his visions into magic performances as a virtuoso and conductor, adequately to find words to describe this concert. These two stars, so unwilling to play the role... more> |
 Concert Review: SCO performs MacRae, Hallgrímsson & Strauss (Edinburgh) The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s commitment to commissioning new work created an interesting and unusual programme of Stuart Mac Rae, Haflidi Hallgrímsson and an old favourite, all too rarely performed, Metamorphosen: A Study for 23 Solo Strings by Richard Strauss. All fairly modern works dating from... more> |
 Concert review: LSO/Gergiev Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony (Dublin) The cult of Valery Gergiev returned to Dublin this week, concluding a short tour with the London Symphony Orchestra that also included Paris, Madrid and Barcelona. Breaking from the current Mahler cycle at the Barbican Centre in London, Gergiev conducted another all-Russian programme... more> |
 Concert review: Edita Gruberova in recital (Wigmore Hall) Edita Gruberova is approaching living legend status, having debuted in Bratislava in 1967, but shooting to fame in 1976 when she played Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos under Karl Böhm at the Vienna State Opera. Ever since, she has had a serious claim to be the world's number one coloratura soprano... more> |
 Concert review: Jonathan Nott conducts the Bamberger Symphoniker The genesis of the Bamberg Orchestra is little known. Bamberg is a small town in the hills of Upper Bavaria and does not have any further distinctions other than the one that attaches to the Orchestra. When millions of Germans were driven out of the newly-reformed Czech Republic after the end of the war, many members... more> |
 Concert review: Kent Nagano conducts the Munich State Orchestra in Schumann A couple of years ago, Kent Nagano took over the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, an orchestra steeped in traditions going back almost to Schumann's days and in the course of which it was shaped, honed and moulded by some of the leading maestros of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. more> |
 Concert review: Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque in Dublin Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labèque seem to be all the culture industry desires: young, attractive, incredibly talented, and, as their press release states, as comfortable with Baroque repertoire as they are with 'creative contemporary music'. Their programme at Dublin's National Concert Hall, however, did little to... more> |
 Concert review : Valery Gergiev leads the LSO in Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 (Barbican) These two concerts took Valery Gergiev's Mahler cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra purposefully past the half way mark and showed how the Russian conductor's approach to this music can be both revelatory and disappointing; driven, unsentimental, neurotic, at generally fast speeds... more> |
 Concert review: The Warsaw Philharmonic: Shostakovich and Dvorak (Dublin) A capacity audience greeted Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic at the National Concert Hall. Founded in 1901, the history of the orchestra is not unimpressive, having enjoyed relationships with Grieg, Klemperer, Rachmaninoff and Rubenstein, for example, and the title of National Orchestra... more> |
 Concert review: Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic (Barbican) Without doubt among the hottest tickets in the Barbican's Great Performers series, these two concerts brought together the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev to produce a potent mixture of aristocratic poise and raw passion. It was a heart-felt, impassioned and stunningly well-played account of the Pathétique...more> |
 Concert review: Anne-Sophie Mutter & friends play Beethoven (Baden-Baden) With their delicate winsomeness, Beethoven's String Trios were not meant to be performed in such a splendid concert hall as Baden-Baden's Festspielhaus, but that doesn't mean that the works did not get an immaculate and beautiful airing at this concert. The interaction between Bashmet and Harrell and their... more> |
 Concert Review: Alban Berg Quartet in Haydn, Berg and Schubert (Southbank Centre) The Alban Berg Quartet's decision to disband later this year is going to leave the musical world an impoverished place. That this concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall fell on Valentine's Day was no doubt coincidental but it highlighted the strange romance surrounding this great ensemble... more> |
 Concert review: Christine Schäfer (Wigmore) On paper, the programme presented by Christine Schäfer and Graham Johnson in this Wigmore Hall recital had the potential to be an absolutely fascinating study of femininity as seen through the eyes of Teutonic male poets and composers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I couldn't help feeling, however, that something about... more> |
 Concert review: Dame Felicity Lott at Wigmore Hall Everything about Dame Felicity Lott delineated her star status at this Wigmore Hall recital, from the nobility of her bearing to the finesse of her technical preparation, her easy platform manner and her spectacular gowns. And whilst she has more claim than most to be referred to as a diva, only the positive connotations of that word... more> |
 Feature-review: The RTÉ Living Music Festival 2008 devoted to the music of Arvo Pärt This weekend Ireland welcomed Arvo Pärt to its capital in one of the most eagerly anticipated festivals of music in Ireland since Steve Reich's appearance at the Living Music Festival in 2006. Running from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 February this year's festival included 6 concerts in 4 venues across the city... more> |
 Concert review: Wolfgang Holzmair (Wigmore Hall) Wolfgang Holzmair and Imogen Cooper presented an all-Wolf programme at this Wigmore Hall recital that displayed the amazing breadth that exists within the output of a composer who, in a sense, we can be forgiven for thinking of as quite limited. Although it is the case that Wolf is known almost exclusively for his songs... more> |
 Concert review: Kate Royal (Wigmore Hall) Kate Royal's recital at the Wigmore Hall on Saturday night consisted of an immaculately prepared and presented selection of songs by Brahms, Debussy, Poulenc and Strauss. But while Royal's now-famous poise and innate class was brought to the music of all four composers, it was only in the Strauss group where she went beyond this sublime... more> |
 Concert review: COE/Schiff (Dublin) András Schiff made a welcome return to Dublin's National Concert Hall for this concert, performing the dual role of conductor and soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Founded only in 1981, the COE has garnered a formidable reputation. Under Schiff's baton, the orchestra performed a programme of Mendelssohn and Schumann... more> |
 Concert review: Beethoven, Bartok and Dvorak with the LPO and Adam Fischer (RFH) Conductor Adam Fischer is not as well known in the UK as on the continent but hopefully, in the not too distant future, time and circumstance will allow him to perform more frequently here. I was happy during and after this performance of the New World Symphony: can one wish for more? more> |
 Concert review: A Sally Beamish world premiere with the SCO (Edinburgh) The Scottish Chamber Orchestra were on top form as they performed an all-modern programme of Gruber, Beamish, Wilson and Stravinsky. Two of these works took their inspiration from Bach's Brandenburg Concertos: Stravinsky's 'Dumbarton Oaks' and Sally Beamish's Chamber Concerto. more> |
 Concert review: Kremer/LPO/Krivine in Sibelius and Zemlinsky (RFH) In his lifetime Alexander Zemlinsky never quite found the recognition he probably deserved. He lived through the first decade of the twentieth century in the shadow of Gustav Mahler, a man of unparalleled charisma and drive who not only diverted the musical limelight from the already insecure... more> |
 Concert review: Simon Keenlyside (Wigmore Hall) It was very interesting to hear Simon Keenlyside perform Schumann's Dichterliebe so soon after Thomas Hampson's inclusion of the same work on his recent programme in the same hall. Although both men are fine lyric baritones regularly billed on the rosters of the worlds greatest opera houses, their respective interpretations could not have been... more> |
 Concert Review: Röschmann/Bostridge/ Quasthoff Trio: Schubert (Barbican Hall) After Billy Budd in December, Ian Bostridge's 'Homeward Bound' series did indeed take us into more homely surroundings for an evening of Lieder and vocal ensembles by Franz Schubert. In what was something of a stellar line-up, he was joined by Dorothea Röschmann and Thomas Quasthoff... more> |
 Concert review: Thomas Hampson at the Wigmore Hall Thomas Hampson recorded Schumann's Kerner Lieder Op. 35 in December 1989 with Geoffrey Parsons. It was immediately apparent when he started to sing them at this concert, eighteen years later, that his voice has deepened in colour, but lost none of its flexibility. After an absence of five years from London's Wigmore Hall... more> |
 Concert review: LSO/Gergiev - Mahler (Barbican Hall) There was an ecstatic response to Valery Gergiev's performance of Mahler's First Symphony on Sunday. However, it remains unclear that what the audience were responding to was really Mahler's First. Indeed, if one feature characterises Gergiev's latest instalments of his Mahler cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra, it was a refusal... more> |
 Concert review: Cecilia Bartoli (Barbican) There is an irony at the heart of Cecilia Bartoli's current tour and associated CD, inspired by the career of the great Maria Malibran, one of the nineteenth century's very biggest opera stars. Malibran achieved huge fame singing operas in the greatest opera houses of her day, and the fact that it had an intercontinental reach is remarkable. more> |
 Concert review: Holl and Schiff perform Schubert (QEH) It was not easy to prepare for Robert Holl and András Schiff's Schubert Lieder recital given at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 12 December. I am of the opinion that concerts should entertain, inform, educate and give pleasure. Even if the artists perform beautifully communication with the audience should also be considered. more> |
 Concert review: Philharmonia/Muti (RFH) The then 31-year old conductor Riccardo Muti made his debut with the New Philharmonia orchestra on 2 December 1972. The programme included Beethoven's Overture The Consecration of the House, Brahms' Second Piano Concerto and Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The concert resulted in the appointment of Muti as the... more> |
 Concert review: LPO/Alsop - The Rite of Spring(RFH) If energy alone could guarantee the success of a performance, then Marin Alsop's latest concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra would have been one of their most enthralling to date. As it was, however, a number of more subtle issues meant that what was an otherwise thrilling evening stopped just short of being superb. more> |
 Concert review: LPO/Rozhdestvensky in Mahler 3 (RFH) If he hadn't spent most of the evening hardly moving at all, then I probably would have interpreted Rozhdestvensky's motionlessness at the end of his and the LPO's performance of Mahler's Third as a sign that he was simply too moved by his own outright genius. In one of the most moving concert performances I can remember more> |
 Concert review: Schubert Symphonies 8 & 9: Philharmonia/Schiff (RFH) This final concert in András Schiff's Schubert series with the Philharmonia seemed very much aimed at those already converted to the composer's music. I'm sure hardened Schubertians would have been able to forgive the fact that the concert went on for twenty five minutes longer than scheduled... more> |
 Concert review: LSO/Davis in Berlioz (Barbican) After the hotchpotch of Billy Budd with Daniel Harding at the weekend, it was good to see the London Symphony Orchestra back on form under their President, Sir Colin Davis, in an all-Berlioz programme. So natural is the relationship between the orchestra and their former Principal Conductor that there is no panic and no histrionics... more> |
 Concert review: Bach's Christmas Oratorio (English Chamber Orchestra) The Choir of the 21st Century is an amateur group but their performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra) would have been difficult to better by any professional ensemble. Indeed, rarely can one hear such clarity of musical and verbal diction, dynamic range, variety... more> |
 Concert review: Das Paradies und die Peri (RFH) Eric Sams once described the text of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri as 'a crassly saccharine sob-story of guilt and redemption.' It's also difficult to see how this work fits into the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's 'Revolution' series. Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, though, it received a performance that did much to... more> |
 Concert review: RSNO plays Shostakovich 6 with Järvi (Edinburgh) At this concert, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performed a lively programme of Grieg, Nielsen and Shostakovich at the Festival Theatre. And although it was comparatively short, the RSNO rose to a top performance under the direction of Kristjan Järvi. Grieg's Lyric Suite got the RSNO off to a flying start. more> |
 Concert review: Denis Matsuev's 'Unknown Rachmaninov' (QEH) This recital by Denis Matsuev seems initially to have been planned as very much the concert of the CD (his 'Unknown Rachmaninov' disc on RCA). Somewhere along the line, though, it was decided that he should be joined by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Liss... more> |
 Concert Review: Giltburg, Philarmonia/ Pletnev (RFH) Under the tight control of Mikhail Pletnev, the Philharmonia dished up a programme of traditional fare for a dank November evening. Starting with Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia, we moved on to Rachmaninov's ever-popular Piano Concerto No.2 with Boris Giltburg a forthright soloist … more> |
 Concert review: LSO/Gergiev - Mahler 6 (Barbican) Although Valery Gergiev is a renowned and much-in-demand conductor, it is typically for his interpretations of Russian repertoire that he’s most famous, aided in no small way through his twenty-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. If there were any doubts concerning his approach to traditional Austro-German... more> |
 Concert Review: Camerata Ireland/Barry Douglas (Dublin) The National Concert Hall in Dublin was a fitting venue for the opening concert in Camerata Ireland's International Series 2007, given the ensemble's reputation as a platform for young Irish musical talent and all-Ireland commitment. A host of celebrated guests attended the evening's performance, including Mary McAleese more> |
 Concert review: Rachlin, Rysanov, Maisky: Bach (Dublin) It is either an exceptionally brave or intensely naïve move to attempt to arrange not only a work by Bach, but a work that looms large in the musical canon and popular consciousness of the last three centuries. Nonetheless, Dmitry Sitovetsky's is, with little exception, a worthy equal of the original keyboard version... more> |
 Concert review: Lang Lang (RFH) Lang Lang's recital at the Royal Festival Hall showed clearly what's made him a pianist of unrivalled celebrity and why he's yet to convince much of the musical fraternity. Technically, his playing is often stunning, however, there is a gulf between his dexterity and his interpretative gifts. Much has been made of the young Chinese... more> |
 Opera review: LPO/Jurowski: Korngold Wunder der Heliane (RFH) The climax of the London Philharmonic's Korngold festival was this performance, the UK premiere, of his grandest, most extravagant and flawed work. At some three hours long, it's scored for vast orchestra, large chorus and soloists; the two main roles, those of the stranger and Heliane are among the most taxing... more> |
 Concert review: ONF/Kurt Masur (Leeds) The year 2007 has seen a full diary for Kurt Masur. In celebration of his eightieth birthday he has undertaken concerts with each of the orchestras of which he has been Music Director within the last thirty years: the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the New York Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, and his current tenure, the Orchestre National de France. more> |
 Concert review: Joshua Bell in recital (Dublin) The fourth concert in The Irish Times Celebrity Series 2007-08 in Dublin's National Concert Hall featured two American artists, Joshua Bell (violin) and Jeremy Denk (piano). Both successful performers in their own right – Denk received an Avery Fischer Career Grant and Bell has recently been awarded the Avery Fischer prize – the evening's recital promised... more> |
 Concert review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra: 'Classic Meets Jazz' (Edinburgh) Admiration for the SCO has once again rocketed with a fine concert of contemporary music. Three out of four of the works performed were marked by a serious exploration into the world of jazz which was tastefully presented despite the unpromising title of the concert, 'Classic meets Jazz'. more> |
 Concert review: LPO/Jurowski - Korngold Violin Concerto (RFH) Both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and their Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski were on top form for this somewhat unfamiliar programme at the Royal Festival Hall. Although I cannot be sure, I suspect that a great many people in the audience might not have heard of Zemlinsky's Sinfonietta. more> |
 Concert review: Janina Fialkowska plays Chopin's piano works (QEH) The third of the eight concerts that comprise the South Bank's International Piano Series 2007/08 was witnessed by a near-full audience this week at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The exceptional Polish-Canadian pianist, Janina Fialkowska, was the soloist in a recital of Mendelssohn, Schubert and Chopin. more> |
 Concert review: Itzhak Perlman (Barbican) Itzhak Perlman was greeted by unusually huge applause while - aided by two crutches - he slowly walked across the stage to start his Barbican recital. Judging by the warm reception, the violinist could have done no wrong for his devoted audience. In the event, Perlman and pianist Bruno Canino did not disappoint. more> |
 Concert review: Bavarian Radio SO/Jansons (RFH) London can count itself extremely lucky to have had three visits by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons in as many months. While their concerts at the Proms were special events, this appearance at the Royal Festival Hall was simply breathtaking. In a programme covering both ends of the ... more> |
 Concert review: Halle/Elder (Manchester) While the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen were coming to the conclusion of their high-profile complete Sibelius symphony cycle at the Barbican, the Hallé's alternative (and by no means less distinguished) celebration of the 50th anniversary of the composer's death was beginning nder Mark Elder. more> |
 Concert review: Sibelius Unbound (3&4) LAPO/Salonen (Barbican) As Esa-Pekka Salonen's Sibelius cycle with the Los Angeles Philharmonic developed, I couldn't escape the feeling that something so alluring on paper had failed to deliver quite all that it promised. It also occurred to me that Sibelius's symphonies are really not that well suited to the completist treatment... more> |
 Concert review: OAE/Jurowski (RFH) There can be few more famously incomplete works in classical music than Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony. For almost a hundred and fifty years since its first performance, music lovers have been happy enough to make do with the two movements that Schubert did finish and it seems strange to me that Anton Safronov, a composer, should have... more> |
 Concert review: RSNO/Remmereit (Edinburgh) British cellist Natalie Clein has returned to the British classical music scene with a sophisticated and polished performance of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra also performed Arvo Pärt's Festina Lente and Sibelius' Second Symphony. Clein is best known to the British public for her performance of the... more> |
 Concert review: Sibelius Unbound (1&2) LAPO/Salonen (Barbican) It seems astonishing that Esa-Pekka Salonen is only now conducting his first full Sibelius cycle and it's definitely something of a coup for the Barbican to have bagged him and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for four concerts juxtaposing works of Salonen himself, Steven Stucky and Kaija Saariho... more> |
 ORR/John Eliot Gardiner: Brahms (RFH) This was the second of two concerts which mark the beginning of a two year long Brahms project by John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. The aim of the venture, Gardiner explains in the programme, is to demonstrate the influences that shaped Brahms' style and through understanding those influences acheive a greater... more> |
 Concert review: LPO/Elder (RFH) When Mark Elder became Music Director of the Hallé in 2000, he decided to reach back to the orchestra's Elgar connections. Subsequently, with successful Elgar recordings under his belt, Elder was eminently well chosen to lead the London Philharmonic Orchestra's tribute to Elgar. The concert included both well-known and rarely-heard compositions. more> |
 LPO/Simone Young - Strauss' Four Last Songs Mahler's on the menu for several of London's big orchestras this season. As well as the highly publicised cycle with Gergiev and the LSO, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is tackling a handful of the works over the next few months. This mini-series got off to an auspicious start with a dramatic, driven performance of the 'Resurrection'... more> |
 Quatuor Mosaiques (QEH) Although rightly renowned for their recordings of Haydn, that master of musical humour, the Quatuor Mosaďques chose an unapologetically cerebral and serious programme for their appearance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Starting with three 'Contrapuncti' from Bach's Art of Fugue, they moved on to Mendelssohn's astonishing Quartet Op. 80. more> |
 LPO/Jarvi - Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto/Mahler's First Before this concert, I was not familiar with the pianist Alexander Markovich. Judging from his illustrious biography though, I felt entitled to expect something rather more from his playing of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. The famous opening was full-toned and despatched with a certain steely bravura but the rest of his performance failed... more> |
 Gabrieli Consort's Missa Solemnis (Barbican) Some wit once described Verdi's Requiem as 'the best opera he never wrote' and hearing Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort and Players perform Beethoven's great Missa Solemnis made me wonder whether this bon mot couldn't be applied to this work instead. It's a piece that sounds like no other in the composer's output and one that can... more> |
 Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Brahms/Dvorak The principal players from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra united forces for a rare chamber music concert at the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh. Their performance of Dvorák's Quintet and Brahms' Sextet showed off the very best of SCO talent and confirmed their reputation as both capable chamber musicians and high-class orchestral players. more> |
 Kremerata Baltica/Gidon Kremer: Barbican Hall We witnessed art and - up to a point - music teaching at its best at the concert given by Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica. Ten years ago Latvian violinist Kremer founded his ensemble for several reasons, one being his aim to pass on his knowledge to young musicians from the three Baltic countries. more> |
 LPO/Simone Young - Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony Mahler's on the menu for several of London's big orchestras this season. As well as the highly publicised cycle with Gergiev and the LSO, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is tackling a handful of the works over the next few months. This mini-series got off to an auspicious start with a dramatic, driven performance of the 'Resurrection'... more> |
 Wagner Rarities (ROH) As part of the whole array of events organised around the Royal Opera House's Ring Cycle, this concert of 'Wagner Rarities' has to have been one of the most enlightening. Wagner's artistic development was by no means an easy road and the three fragmentary excerpts performed at this concert showed some of the directions he considered... more> |
 Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Barbican) Billed as 'a Russian journey', Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Barbican concert took us from the divine to the sublime and we were only saved from the ridiculous by the sheer quality of the Russian baritone's singing. He was accompanied variously by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of Choral Art Choir, Moscow and the Style of 5 Folk Ensemble. more> |
 LSO/Davis: Pure Mozart 80th Birthday Concert Mozart is one of the composers most closely associated with Sir Colin Davis, so it was highly appropriate that the main work on the schedule for his eightieth birthday concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra was the Requiem, K.626.The piece seems to get right to the heart of the question of our humanity - life and death. more> |
 Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Riccardo Muti Giving the programmes over the two evenings a certain symmetry, the second concert kicked off with a work which Serge Koussevitsky called 'the best symphony since Tchaikovsky's Sixth'. Based on material from The Fiery Angel, Prokofiev's Third is described by Philip Huscher in his programme note as containing 'some of the noisiest and most searing music'. more> |
 LSO/Davis: Pure Beethoven 80th Birthday Concert This concert, consisting as it did of two of Beethoven's best-loved and oft-performed works, posed one major question: how does one keep these works that have become part of the musical furniture fresh and exciting? This question was answered in contrasting ways by Evgeny Kissin and Sir Colin Davis. more> |
 London Philharmonic/Jurowski The 75th Anniversary season of the London Philharmonic Orchestra was opened in style last night by Vladimir Jurowski, leading his first concert as the LPO's new Principal Conductor. Jurowski is, of course, no stranger to the orchestra, having been Principal Guest Conductor since 2003 and Music Director of Glyndebourne... more> |
 Edinburgh Festival: A Celebration of Poulenc Under the baton of Stéphane Denčve, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra gave an enthusiastic celebration of three of Francis Poulenc's best works.Starting the programme was his Stabat mater (1951). A memorial piece for Poulenc's friend, artist Christian Bérard, the work is a choral masterpiece... more> |
 Prom 71: Boston Symphony/Levine (2) Elliott Carter's Three Illusions for Orchestra was the obvious choice for the opening of the second of James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra's second Prom concert, having been commissioned by Levine in 2002 for his inaugural season with the Boston SO. The orchestra too has a personal history with Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra... more> |
 Prom 69: Leipzig Gewandhaus/Chailly After the Vienna Philharmonic's unorthodox second concert, Riccardo Chailly and his Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester were on far more familiar territory in their programming: Overture, Concerto, Symphony; Beethoven and Brahms. It was also encouraging to hear what a completely different sound this orchestra made to the Viennese... more> |
 Prom 70: Boston Symphony/Levine (1) Berlioz's music was often misunderstood during his lifetime, and La damnation de Faust was amongst his most roundly rejected works. However, this excellent performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine revealed it to be a stylish and intensely personal masterpiece. Levine's technically immaculate and inspiring... more> |
 Prom 68: Vienna Philharmonic/Barenboim (2) After their first appearance at this year's Proms, featuring Schubert and Bruckner, the Vienna Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim left behind the 'world of comfort' of Imperial Vienna for an excursion to the farther reaches of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, it was as though on this tour to Hungary (Bartòk, Kodaly and Ligeti)... more> |
 Prom 66: Vienna Philharmonic/Barenboim (1) There is an apparent tradition of the last week of the BBC Proms to feature the some of the big names in orchestras, and this concert was no exception, showcasing the talents of what I consider to be the finest orchestra in the world, the Vienna Philharmonic. Appearing for two concerts with Daniel Barenboim, this first performance was an appropriately... more> |
 Edinburgh Festival: Optical Identity (T'ang Quartet) Dubbed as an enhanced musical experience for audiences, Optical Identity combined contemporary music and graphic lighting with the aim of creating a visual presentation of music. The Singaporean T'ang Quartet performed multi cultural contemporary music including works by the veteran composer Kevin Volans... more> |
 Proms 64 and 65: San Francisco Symphony/Tilson Thomas The programming for the San Francisco Symphony's two appearances at the Proms, under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, seemed carefully planned to showcase both the orchestra's virtues and Tilson Thomas's clean, no-nonsense approach. Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony and Mahler's Seventh are... more>> |
 Prom 62: Bavarian Radio Symphony/Jansons (2) It was difficult to understand the criteria for the selection of the repertoire for this Prom given by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons. Honegger's Third Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth don't seem to share much on the surface (other than the fact that both composers had German blood)and Jansons did little to make... more> |
 Edinburgh Festival: San Francisco Symphony/ Tilson Thomas What better way for the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra to open a concert than with a performance of one of America's most famous fanfares, Aaron Copland's Fanfare for a Common Man? As if calling the audience to attention, the opening statements stand strong for the rights of the ordinary citizen as the piece calls... more> |
 Prom 60: Bavarian Radio Symphony/Jansons In the first of two appearances at this year's BBC Proms, Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony performed a repeat of their programme from the Edinburgh Festival earlier this week, Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and Sibelius's Symphony No 2 in D major. Jansons also conducted the same programme here at the Proms twelve years ago... more> |
 Prom 59: LSO/Gergiev Considering Valery Gergiev's immense stature and partnership with no less than three major orchestras - Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Principal Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and, most recently, the London Symphony Orchestra, it was no surprise that this Prom was completely sold out. Conducting an all-Russian programme with the LSO more> |
 Prom 58: An Evening with Michael Ball It was during the most nauseating rendition imaginable of the duet 'Au fond du temple saint' from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers that I felt 'An Evening with Michael Ball' had turned into the worst Prom concert I have ever had the misfortune to attend. In teaming up with tenor Alfie Boe, Ball evidently felt... more> |
 Prom 56: BBCSO/Belohlavek The big foreign orchestras are queuing up as the Proms gets into its final fortnight, so it's good to hear that the BBC Symphony Orchestra, 'the backbone of the BBC Proms', doesn't give away much in terms of professionalism and virtuosity. Granted, the orchestra might lack the last ounce of tonal allure and shine, but in this Prom, they were in their element. more> |
 Prom 55: RCO/Haitink (2) Bernard Haitink's second Prom with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra offered two lesser-known works by Debussy, sandwiched by famous bleeding chunks from operas by Wagner, one of the largest influences on his compositional technique. And although I had occasional doubts about aspects of... more> |
 Prom 53: RCO/Haitink (1) Perhaps the most impressive part of Bernard Haitink's conducting of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at this Prom was his concentration in distracting circumstances. During the third movement, the fire alarm appeared to go off in the arena foyers and red lights started flashing inside the auditorium itself... more> |
 Prom 51: Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado's Prom with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra was amongst the most highly anticipated concerts of the season. Playing Mahler's Third Symphony to a packed audience, this prestigious ensemble - which consists of leading orchestral and chamber musicians from around the world... more> |
 Prom 50: BBCSO/John Adams As Artist-in-Association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Adams assumed the role of conductor in this Prom that presented the World Premiere of his latest orchestral work, Doctor Atomic Symphony. the concert juxtaposed contemporary and twentieth-century American music with the traditional European format... more> |
 Prom 49: Philharmonia/Dohnányi The programme for the Philharmonia's Prom was the ideal showcase for the high level of technical refinement they can achieve under their outgoing Principal Conductor, Christoph von Dohnányi. There is never a dull moment with this team onstage, because Dohnányi probes every score he conducts with the most enlightening results. more> |
 Prom 48: Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/Gustavo Dudamel There has been a lot of publicity surrounding Gustavo Dudamel of late. One can scarcely read an article about him that does not proclaim his precocious talent, championed by Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. But nothing could have prepared the Proms audience for the drama... more> |
 Edinburgh Festival: COE/Adčs (1) The Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the baton of Thomas Adčs created a magnificent performance on the fourth night of the Edinburgh International Festival. Opening the programme was Beethoven's Namensfeier Overture (Op. 115), one of the composer's best but least performed overtures. more> |
 Edinburgh Festival: COE/Adčs (2) The Chamber Orchestra of Europe's latest concert was an action packed affair. Four main works constituted the main body of the programme but squeezed into this marathon performance was a short overture by Jean-Philippe Rameau entitled Les Indes galantes ('The Elegant Indies'). more> |
 Prom 43: Bergen Philharmonic/Litton The programming for the Bergen Philharmonic's Prom debut under Music Director Andrew Litton seemed like a carefully planned piece of musical diplomacy, juxtaposing works by the figurehead of Norwegian music, Edvard Grieg, with a quintessentially English work, Walton's First Symphony. more> |
 Prom 40: Frankfurt Radio Symphony/Jarvi This visit by the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under their principal conductor, Paavo Järvi, concentrated on the nineteenth-century Austro-German tradition, with a dash of twentieth-century colour in the form of Schoenberg's imaginative orchestration of Brahms' G minor Piano Quartet. more> |
 Prom 39: Götterdämmerung To end their four-year Ring Cycle, the Proms engaged their home orchestra, the BBC Symphony, and one of their regular conductors, the Scottish Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, Donald Runnicles. Compared with the earlier instalments, this was a rather ordinary affair... more> |
 Prom 38: EYO/Davis There are few more inspiring sights than an orchestra consisting of young players being led by a conductor of great stature. This was especially the case at this Prom with the European Youth Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis because the orchestra's one hundred and forty musicians... more> |
 Prom 22: Les musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble/Minkowski Another concert of French music at the Proms, this time mixing the well-known - Berlioz's Les nuits d'été - with some rarely explored parts of the repertory, in the form of incidental music by Fauré and Bizet. Marc Minkowski and his... more> |
 Prom 26: BBCSSO/Volkov Although Kurtag's 1994 work Stele marked his first return to writing for symphony orchestra since his student days, he was obviously in no way intimidated by the forces available to him. Written at Claudio Abbado's request for the Berlin Philharmonic, the instrumentation included an impressive array of... more> |
 Prom 19: Halle/Elder 'Music is Life, and, like it, Inextinguishable'. Thus proclaims the foreword to the score of Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, 'The Inextinguishable', which was the feature of the Hallé's Prom at Royal Albert Hall. Written during the First World War, and a personally unstable period of Nielsen's life... more> |
 Prom 15: Macbeth The first of his three completed Shakespeare operas, Macbeth was a work of which Verdi was particularly proud. He believed he had created a new fusion of music and drama, and even when writing deliberately banal music for the witches, the composer sought for new, individually characterised sounds. more> |
 Prom 14: The Seasons Roger Norrington, who since 1998 has been chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, has been moving away from the period instrument bands with which he became synonymous in the eighties and nineties. However, from this performance of The Seasons... more> |
 Prom 13: BBCSO/Robertson Brett Dean is a composer who is not afraid to make to make sociological and political comment through his music, and the European premiere of this BBC co-commission, Vexations and Devotions, is not any different. Described by Dean as a 'sociological cantata', the work... more> |
 Prom 7: Kurt Masur at 80 Recently described by Norman Lebrecht as the 'doyen of the German conducting tradition', Kurt Masur took the podium at the Royal Albert Hall to conduct repertoire that undoubtedly earned him such a distinction, most notably Bruckner's imposing Symphony No. 7. more> |
 Prom 4: Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome/Pappano Antonio Pappano's Prom concert with his Rome orchestra, the Academy of Santa Cecilia, juxtaposed works by two fellow Italians who both took revolutionary attitudes to the musical conventions of their day. Rossini, the founder of a new style of Italian opera in the... more> |
 Prom 1: BBCSO/Belohlavek It seemed rather ironic that the most disappointing incident during last year's BBC Proms centred on a work whose text exudes unremitting joyous ecstasy. Not only was the cancellation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - to be performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra... more> |
 Jette Parker Young Artists' Summer Concert The subtitle for this year's Jette Parker Young Artists' Summer Concert was 'A Journey Round the World', in token of the imaginatively chosen combination of extracts from operas that are set in seven countries (and one on board ship). But it's also salutary to note that the artists... more> |
 Philharmonia/Von Dohnanyi Commissioned by the John Feeney Charitable Trust for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and recorded by the CBSO with Sir Simon Rattle in 1997, Asyla by Thomas Adčs is hardly a novelty. Nevertheless, it is likely that the majority of the audience at this concert... more> |
 Philharmonia/Mackerras This was my first visit to the renovated Royal Festival Hall and the first three pages of the programme notes for the evening dealt with the refurbishment. So, while music making on the highest level was part of the performance, let me start with the refurbishment...more> |
 LPO/Alsop The title of this Signature concert may have been Rites, but, as conductor Marin Alsop pointed out, it was also a concert concerned with innovation, featuring three composers who changed the way in which we perceive music: Philip Glass, Edgard Varčse and Igor Stravinsky. more> |
 LSO/Gergiev Whilst Valery Gergiev's partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra has thus far divided critics, this concert edged closer to fulfilling hopes of an illustrious collaboration. Even the initially confusing combination of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Debussy came together in an evening characterised by flowing lyricism. more> |
 Schiff Bartok Festival Bartók enthusiasts, especially lovers of high quality solo and chamber music performances, had a memorable time during the Bartók mini-festival (5, 7 and 10 June) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. This series of three concerts was the brainchild of the great Hungarian musician András Schiff... more> |
 Elgar in his Kingdom: Concert 2 For the second of their two concerts celebrating the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth, the Hallé and Mark Elder presented the composer's third and final oratorio, The Kingdom. Originally conceived as part of a trilogy with the better-known The Apostles and The Last Judgement... more> |
 Charities Philharmonia/Young The players of the Charities Philharmonia, formed in 2006, are young, gifted and dedicated. It was no mean feat to deliver a demanding orchestral programme in such sweltering heat as they were faced with on this day. Yet not only did they deliver the music, they also provided... more> |
 Elgar in his Kingdom: Concert 1 Exactly 150 years ago to the day, Sir Edward Elgar was born in Worcestershire. The anniversary of arguably Britain's greatest composer is being celebrated by almost every orchestra in the UK. But if the first concert was anything to go by, I doubt any of them will match the Hallé Orchestra's festive weekend. more> |
 English Chamber Orchestra/Davis Sir Colin Davis' relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra goes back a long way - he led their first tour and recording over forty-five years ago and was at the helm for their magnificent anniversary concert in 2005 - and his rapport with the ensemble is considerable. more> |
 Jordi Savall Many famous performers are marketed as great artists, but in truth, the latter are in the minority. So it was both a privilege as well as utmost joy to be present at Jordi Savall's viola da gamba concert. Savall has an extraordinary technical command of his instrument and he is a profound musician with humility. more> |
 Petra Lang Although it was only an hour in length, German mezzo-soprano Petra Lang's lunchtime recital at the Wigmore Hall was so invigorating from first to last that it felt like a truly complete experience. Juxtaposing the eight songs of Robert Schumann's cycle Frauenliebe und -leben with Lieder by Richard Strauss... more> |
 Nash Ensemble/Felicity Lott So many concerts of chamber music are dominated by music from the German tradition that it might be easy to forget the contribution of the French to the development of chamber works. On that level, at least, this enthusiastically-performed recital by the Nash Ensemble was tremendously interesting and thought-provoking. more> |
 Alban Berg Quartet As seen at their second concert in the Queen Elizabeth Hall during the International Chamber Music Season 2006-07, the Alban Berg Quartet has a very strong fan base in London and deservedly so. All four members of this quartet are particularly disciplined in terms of physical manifestation... more> |
 Handel: Solomon The much-awaited performance of Handel's Solomon at this year's Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music was preceded by bad luck. For personal reasons soprano Veronica Cangemi withdrew, thus Joanna Lunn and Ann Murray stepped in at short notice; and presumably not long before the performance conductor Ivor Bolton became indisposed. more> |
 Oedipus Rex: LSO/Gergiev If one needed absolute evidence that the collaboration between the London Symphony Orchestra and its new Principal Conductor Valery Gergiev is a thing of greatness, this concert was more than sufficient proof of the suitability of the match. more> |
 Rossini: Salon Songs The South Bank Centre was rather brave to choose such unusual fare for a Monday night: Rossini's salon songs were hardly likely to pack in the masses, and indeed even the relatively small Queen Elizabeth Hall was half-empty for the occasion. Nevertheless, this latest instalment in the Song on the South Bank Series had much to recommend it... more> |
 Anthony Michaels-Moore Baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore presented an imaginative programme of songs and arias by Schubert, Ireland, Massenet, Vaughan Williams, Tosti and Verdi and performed them all with equal measures of emotional commitment and textual insight. Nobody could accuse him of giving himself an easy ride... more> |
 Murray Perahia Murray Perahia's solo piano recital was sold out well in advance and the queue for return tickets before the concert was long. In the event Peraiha did not disappoint the nearly 2000-seat capacity audience, as he delivered perfection. Although the large modern Steinway piano (with the lid wide open) was evident for all to see... more> |
 London Mozart Players/Kovacevich Pianist-conductor Stephen Kovacevich is presenting a nine-programme Beethoven cycle, spread over fourteen months, with the excellent London Mozart Players. This concert was the second programme in the cycle. As per the pre-concert publicity, the concert should have started... more> |
 St Matthew Passion In spite of outstanding central performances by Rufus Müller (Evangelist) and Peter Harvey (Christus) as well as excellent contributions by chorus and orchestra, a muddled concept and rotten bad luck resulted - at least for me - in a less than satisfactory event. I hasten to add that, judging by the final applause, many of the audience were content. more> |
 Robert Holl/Andras Schiff: Schubert Perfection is rare to come by in the concert hall, but Robert Holl and András Schiff achieved just that in their recital of Schubert songs. It is a great loss that this concert was not recorded. The 11 songs performed range from the year 1816 to 1828, that is from Schubert's... more> |
 Sarah Connolly/Bryn Terfel Few concerts overcome adversity quite to the extent that this one managed to. Originally billed as an evening of duets and arias from operas and operettas starring American singers Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham, first Hampson withdrew for personal reasons then Graham dropped out only a couple of days beforehand, due to ill health. more> |
 Charities Philharmonia/Young Though the players in the Charities Philharmonia are only in their twenties, their performance of Shostakovich's great Symphony No. 7 (also known as "Leningrad") was a triumph by any standard. Many of the orchestra are seasoned young professionals... more> |
Classical concert reviews
Concert Review: Gergiev leads the LSO in Mahler's 'Resurrection' Symphony (Barbican) Valery Gergiev's Mahler cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra seems now to be taking shape and this thrilling account of the 'Resurrection' Symphony, heard on the second of two consecutive evening performances, bore many of the hallmarks that have distinguished the series so far: dramatic, driven and occasionally impatient. With the LSO on splendid form, producing a brilliant, bright sound that pushed the Barbican's close acoustic to its... more>