Beethoven
Lupu, Philharmonia, Järvi, RFH review - concerto magical in parts, symphony stupendousMonday, 04 February 2019
Pianists most often cite Radu Lupu alongside Martha Argerich and Grigory Sokolov as the greatest. So it was hardly surprising to see so many top musicians in a packed audience, buzzing with expectation for the 73-year-old Romanian's most recent UK... Read more... |
Hadelich, CBSO, Măcelaru, Symphony Hall Birmingham review - industrial strength Vaughan WilliamsThursday, 31 January 2019
Well, I didn’t expect that – and judging from the way the rest of the audience reacted, nor did anyone else. After Cristian Măcelaru slammed the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra full speed into the final chord of Vaughan Williams’s Fourth... Read more... |
Endellion Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - four decades of excellenceTuesday, 22 January 2019
The Endellion Quartet first rehearsed on 20 January 1979, deep in the throes of Britain’s so-called “Winter of Discontent”. That longevity – with three of the original players still on the team after four decades – makes the acclaimed ensemble... Read more... |
Ehnes, BBCSO, Ryan Wigglesworth, Barbican review - a concert of two very different halvesSaturday, 19 January 2019
The big news on this programme was Schoenberg’s Pelleas and Melisande. This early score, completed in 1903, is a sprawling Expressionist tone poem, making explicit all the passions in Maeterlinck’s play that Debussy only implies. The story plays out... Read more... |
Mutter, Vengerov, Argerich, Oxford Philharmonic, Papadopoulos, Barbican review - a birthday banquetMonday, 14 January 2019
When three of the planet’s starriest soloists take the time to celebrate the anniversary of a young, non-metropolitan orchestra, it may seem perverse to leave the hall entranced most by the one work in which the illustrious trio played no part. Of... Read more... |
Best of 2018: Classical CDsSaturday, 29 December 2018
Record shops may be thin on the ground, but CDs are still very much with us. No sensible soul would ever rate listening to a recording over experiencing music live. But if, like me, time, money and geography limit one’s opportunities to nip out to... Read more... |
Ed Vulliamy: When Words Fail review - the band plays onSunday, 23 December 2018
If you're seeking ideas for new playlists and diverse suggestions for reading - and when better to look than at this time of year? - then beware: you may be overwhelmed by the infectious enthusiasms of Ed Vulliamy, hyper-journalist, witness-bearer,... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Strauss, La Symphonie de Poche, Temple Church ChoirSaturday, 22 December 2018
Beethoven: Symphony No 3, Strauss: Horn Concerto No 1 Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck, William Caballero (horn) (Reference Recordings)Funny how one's first experience of encountering a piece can still cast a shadow decades on; I... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Cage, JanáčekSaturday, 17 November 2018
Beethoven: Symphonies 2 and 7 Wiener Symphoniker/Philippe Jordan (WS/Sony)Philippe Jordan’s cheery face adorns this third volume of Beethoven symphonies from Vienna’s other orchestra, setting the tone fairly well. These are overwhelmingly... Read more... |
Car, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tognetti, Milton Court review - a rattlebag of happy collaborationsThursday, 25 October 2018
Presenting the last Mozart symphonies as a three-act opera for orchestra, as Richard Tognetti and his febrile fellow Australians did on Monday, was always going to be a supreme challenge. It worked, as Boyd Tonkin reported here. Since then, the... Read more... |
Psappha, Kok / Kempf, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Stoller Hall, Manchester review - new and oldSaturday, 29 September 2018
The Stoller Hall, the modest-size auditorium inside Chetham’s School of Music, is really proving itself to be the venue Manchester has long needed this season. Two concerts on successive days, each the first of a series and both making something of... Read more... |
Prom 67, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nelsons / Prom 68, Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko review - frenzy and finesseMonday, 03 September 2018
Did the earth move for us? You bet. Sunday’s two Proms brought fabled visitors to the Royal Albert Hall – first the Boston Symphony Orchestra, then the Berlin Philharmonic for their second concert – but our august guests dispensed with all polite... Read more... |
