Classical Reviews
Louis Lortie, Wigmore HallMonday, 05 December 2011
It was Chopin time when I last heard Louis Lortie, and a typical London clash of scheduling allowed me to catch his effervescent Op 10 Études before pedalling like crazy north of the river for the second half of Elisabeth Leonskaja’s even bigger all-Chopin programme. Last night Lortie offered a comparably monumental homage to this year's bicentenary birthday boy Liszt in all his Italian-inspired variety, and there was no need to miss, or to wish to miss, a note. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bartók, Tchaikovsky, Edwards, Sibelius, John WilsonSaturday, 03 December 2011
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Trpčeski, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tognetti, Queen Elizabeth HallWednesday, 30 November 2011
A music broadcaster commented after last night’s concert by the Australian Chamber Orchestra that all the hype, all the talk about the surf-obsessed, free-spirited leader Richard Tognetti, had left her half expecting them to surf onto the stage of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. As they walked on however (decorously, and rather more smartly dressed than most English groups) we were reminded that there’s nothing gimmicky about this ensemble. Read more... |
Mutter, London Symphony Orchestra, Gergiev, Barbican HallMonday, 28 November 2011
Praise be, or slava if you prefer, to Valery Gergiev for honouring new Russian music alongside his hallmark interpretations - ever evolving or dangerously volatile according to taste – of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Stravinsky. Last LSO season featured some of the less than inspired recent works Rodion Shchedrin has been dredging by the yard. Yet few would begrudge the palm of deep and original musical thought to this past week’s heroine, Sofia Gubaidulina. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Beethoven, Simon KeenlysideSaturday, 26 November 2011
Bach: Complete Keyboard Works Ivo Janssen (Void Classics) Read more... |
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker & Jérôme Bel, 3Abschied, Sadler’s WellsTuesday, 22 November 2011
When the subject of funding for the arts arises, the phrase “allowed to fail” is frequently heard: artists must be enabled to try new things, press against the outer edges of what they know. Enter Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Jérôme Bel, two of contemporary dance’s thinkers. They have tried, and failed, to choreograph the final section of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, and in that attempt, they have produced an extraordinary evening: the anatomy of a failure. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Mathias, Sibelius, Duo GazzanaSaturday, 19 November 2011
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Jansen, London Philharmonic, Vänskä, Royal Festival HallThursday, 17 November 2011
Noticed that nip in the air recently? The reason now is obvious: conductor Osmo Vänskä, the brisk wind from Minnesota, has blown into town, challenging London’s orchestral musicians to give beyond their best and uncover new layers in repertory works they previously assumed they knew backwards. |
Rysanov, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bělohlávek, Barbican HallFriday, 11 November 2011
When telling a complex musical story, handle with care. Interpreters need have no fear of composers who find selective, tone-friendly angles in their literary sources, like Janáček with Gogol’s Taras Bulba in last night’s searing finale, or Zemlinsky with Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the saturated climax of the previous evening. Read more... |
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Gardiner, Queen Elizabeth HallThursday, 10 November 2011
We all know the question at issue last night at the Young Vic where Hamlet was opening, but down the road in the Queen Elizabeth Hall it was one of applause. Clapping between movements is a well-worn topic; we’ve had editorial, essays, even an RPS lecture devoted to the subject with no resolution in sight. Every year the Proms reminds us of the natural release a good clap can provide after a monumental first movement, and every year we return to our hands-clenched ways afterwards.... Read more... |
Bartók: Violin Concerto No 2, Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Valeriy Sokolov Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich/David Zinman (Virgin)
William Mathias: Piano Concertos 1 & 2; Vaughan Williams: Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra Mark Bebbington (piano) Ulster Orchestra/George Vass (Somm)Pages
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