fri 27/12/2024

Concertgebouw

Kavakos, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Harding, Barbican review - elegance without poise

The Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam began their two-concert visit to the Barbican with a crowd-pleasing programme: Brahms and Beethoven. We are used to hearing the pinpoint precision and transparent textures of the London Symphony Orchestra...

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Remembering Mariss Jansons (1943-2019)

He was indeed "one of the greats" among conductors, as theartsdesk's Gavin Dixon put it in reviewing Mariss Jansons' January visit to the Barbican, and remains so by virtue of his recordings. Affable and natural in person, though not hugely...

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Proms 64 & 66 review: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gatti - halfway to paradise with Bruckner and Mahler

How do you get to heaven, especially if you need to reach the pearly gates by way of the earthbound acoustics of the Royal Albert Hall? With Chief Conductor Daniele Gatti as their spirit guide, the sumptuously arrayed pilgrim band of the Royal...

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Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Gatti, Barbican

Time was when the principal conductor of a top orchestra could afford to refine mastery of a small and familiar repertoire, covering a century and a half of music at most. The rest he (always he) would leave to loyal or youthful lieutenants. The...

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Classical CDs Weekly: Wim Henderickx, Mahler, Roger Woodward

 Wim Henderickx: Disappearing in Light HERMESensemble/Wim Henderickx (HERMESensemble) Flemish composer Wim Henderickx's music is a bewildering mixture of influences – of Stravinsky, Bartók, Messiaen, Xenakis and Ligeti. All of which are...

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Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Haitink, Barbican Hall

The last night Haitink conducted at the Royal Opera House as musical director the staff wheeled on a moped as a leaving present. Ever since, his conducting has been inextricably linked to that mode of transport in my head. With Haitink, music-making...

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Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Jansons, Barbican Hall

I half expected to hear someone on the platform call out “Is there a doctor in the house?” For Mariss Jansons, principal conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and esteemed beyond measure, didn’t look well during this concert, the second in...

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