Classical Reviews
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Berlioz, Mythos Accordion DuoSaturday, 20 April 2013
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Classical CDs Weekly: Rachmaninov, Strauss, Sir John BarbirolliSaturday, 13 April 2013
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City of London Sinfonia, Layton, Southwark CathedralFriday, 12 April 2013
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Vienna Philharmonic, Tilson Thomas, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 10 April 2013
When Schoenberg made his steroidal orchestration of Brahms’s G minor Piano Quartet he saw and heard what many don’t - that Brahms was more of a radical than the music world was ready to acknowledge, that he was not the conservative in the shadow of Wagner that commentators at the time felt the need to brand him. Read more... |
George Benjamin, CBSO Centre, BirminghamMonday, 08 April 2013
“A book,” says the Boy-Illuminator in George Benjamin’s latest opera Written on Skin, “needs long days of light.” He speaks for Benjamin himself, a composer who, for all his fabulous musical mind and ear, has never found composition easy and has often struggled to produce work of any kind that satisfies his own meticulous standards. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Goossens, Mackintosh, StravinskySaturday, 06 April 2013
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Karita Mattila, Ville Matvejeff, Wigmore HallFriday, 05 April 2013
At first it all felt too much. In addition to the garish red arum lilies either side of the platform, an overwhelming scent of eau de Cologne from a neighbour and the always hard-to-fight Wigmore Hall torpor were our diva's pink and purple attire, her flashing jewels, and above all that opulent voice, which even in recitals is more accustomed to bigger spaces and still seemed at times to be channelling her demented Salome from The Rest is Noise festival's opening night. Read more... |
Bach Marathon, Royal Albert Hall/ Nick van Bloss, Institut FrancaisTuesday, 02 April 2013
Bach for breakfast, lunch and supper. That in essence was what yesterday's Bach Marathon was about. You can do that with Bach - have him flowing from the taps. Nothing new in this for those of us who experienced the Bach Christmas a few years back on Radio Three, when every note was piped over the airwaves for breakfast, lunch and supper for 10 days solid. Nothing very marathon-like about any of it, though, either. Read more... |
Bach St John Passion, Academy of Ancient Music, Egarr, Barbican HallSaturday, 30 March 2013
A Leipzig church is surely the place we’d most like to be for Bach on Good Friday. Never mind: the Barbican Hall is kinder to the best period instrument ensembles than it is to big symphony orchestras. Better still, having sat stunned and weepy for a good few minutes at the end of this performance, I’m happy to evangelise and proclaim that no better team could be assembled anywhere for the original 1724 version of this world-changing musical Passion. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Billy Mayerl, ProkofievSaturday, 30 March 2013
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Bach: Cantatas for Ascension Day The Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1-4, Paganini Rhapsody Valentina Lisitsa, London Symphony Orchestra/Michael Francis (Decca)
Goossens: Orchestral works vol.2 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis (Chandos)
Britten: Billy Budd John Mark Ainsley, Jacques Imbraillo, Matthew Rose, Philip Ens, Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder (Glyndebourne)Pages
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