Beethoven
Missa solemnis, BBCSO, Runnicles, Barbican review - affirmation in the face of adversityThursday, 05 March 2020
The tough, knotty writing of the Missa solemnis – its “unrelenting integrity”, Donald Runnicles said in a pre-concert interview – was addressed unflinchingly last night by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. They have a distinguished history with... Read more... |
Fidelio, Royal Opera review - fitfully vivid singing in a dramatic voidMonday, 02 March 2020
Emblazoned on a drop-curtain in front of a mirror-image of the auditorium, the three great tenets of the French revolution seem to be mocking us right at the start, above all the second of them: equality, really, given the make-up of the Royal Opera... Read more... |
Denk, LPO, Vänskä, RFH review - 200 years of joy and sorrowSaturday, 29 February 2020
Three works two centuries apart, two of them rarities, with 100/200 years between each: that's no guarantee for programming success, and no way to fill a hall (though the London Philharmonic Orchestra admin deserves a good medal for the intricacy of... Read more... |
Hallé, Elder, Gernon, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, review - fiery Beethoven tributeFriday, 28 February 2020
Honouring Beethoven in Manchester is a united enterprise, at least between the Hallé and BBC Philharmonic, two symphony orchestras that have worked out a series of Beethoven specials between them. Last night’s Hallé concert even had two conductors... Read more... |
Aimard, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Roth, RFH review - Beethoven as avant-gardistSaturday, 22 February 2020
In Beethoven anniversary year, there are three ways to enhance our ongoing concert dialogues with the composer beyond the bog-standard overture-concerto-symphony format: complete cycles of the quartets, symphonies and sonatas, preferably without old... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Bruckner, Notice RecordingsSaturday, 22 February 2020
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 1-32 Igor Levit (Sony)“Beethoven paid no attention at all to the conventions of his own time In fact, he only ever wrote music for the future.” One strength of Igor Levit’s magnificent traversal of Beethoven’s piano... Read more... |
Blaauw, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - Beethoven seen in '2020 Vision'Monday, 10 February 2020
It’s Beethoven with everything for 2020, the composer’s 250th anniversary year. But the London Philharmonic has devised an interesting approach for their Beethoven-themed programming. “2020 Vision” is a series of concerts which couple a work by... Read more... |
Beethoven Weekender, Barbican review - genius at work and playTuesday, 04 February 2020
Where to begin with the most appropriated musician in history? The Barbican’s Beethoven 250 celebrations got off to an auspicious start with a weekend of events, styled like a pop festival, which nonetheless put the composer back where he belonged... Read more... |
Denis Kozhukhin, QEH review - lyric mastery and subtle eleganceThursday, 30 January 2020
In Beethoven anniversary year, there will probably be many more "Moonlight"s, meaning the Sonata, than the real thing (though we've been lucky to see the crescent in close conjunction with Venus these past two nights). Not many pianists would dare... Read more... |
Beethoven Discovery Day, Batiashvili, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review – reassessing a rarityMonday, 20 January 2020
#Beethoven250 is in full swing at the Barbican. Like most venues, they are keen to show a different side to the composer in his jubilee year. And the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives ticks all sorts of anniversary boxes. The work is utterly... Read more... |
Classical CDs and Vinyl Weekly: Beethoven, HolstSaturday, 11 January 2020
Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9 Danish Chamber Orchestra/Ádám Fischer (Naxos)“I need to play the notes in such a way that we can recreate the feelings of the listeners which Beethoven would have wanted to invoke in his audience, rather than playing it... Read more... |
Schiff, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fischer, Barbican review – generosity and genialityMonday, 02 December 2019
There are encores and encores – most a friendly, minimal farewell gesture from the soloist; some a jolly, festive unwind after a particularly taxing piece. And then there’s the luxury free gift that Sir András Schiff bestowed on us during the second... Read more... |
