Dvořák
BBC Proms: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, AlsopThursday, 16 August 2012
It may be the power of suggestion, but there was distinctly laid-back vibe at the packed Royal Albert Hall last night. Clapping between movements (and this was an audience never knowingly under-clapped) wasn’t greeted by the any of the usual hisses... Read more... |
Helmchen, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival HallThursday, 03 May 2012
Two more contrasting pianists than Yuja Wang and Martin Helmchen would be hard to find. To move within 24 hours from the glittering assault of Wang’s technique to the restrained, almost introverted, Helmchen is an exercise in extremes, and one that... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Dvořák, Ravel, Garth KnoxSaturday, 07 April 2012
Dvořák: Symphony No 7, In Nature’s Realm, Scherzo capriccioso Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/José Serebrier (Warner Classics) Each of Dvořák’s last three symphonies is a wonder, and the Seventh is possibly the best of the lot. It’s a work... Read more... |
Rusalka, Royal Opera HouseTuesday, 28 February 2012
Why has the Royal Opera not staged Dvořák’s Rusalka before now? I know there have been plausible distractions: the lock grip of Italian repertoire, fear of singing Czech, fixation with Dvořák as an instrumental composer, two world wars, a... Read more... |
Valentine Birthdays on the TubeTuesday, 14 February 2012
What could be more romantic than watching and listening to singers born on Valentine's Day rhapsodising about L.O.V.E.? We have love songs on video from Russia, Japan, Tunisia, America and the Czech Republic. Or if not love exactly, then how about... Read more... |
Hough, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alsop, Royal Festival HallThursday, 09 February 2012
Poor old Stephen Hough. The Liszt double. Again! Was he not at all Liszted out after last year's epic bicentenary? Were we not Liszted out by last year's epic bicentenary? Hough has been living, breathing and eating these two pieces for the past... Read more... |
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... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Dvořák, De Falla, Music Makes a City (DVD)Saturday, 29 October 2011
Dvořák: Symphony No 9, Czech Suite, Two Slavonic Dances Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/José Serebrier (Warner Classics)It’s easy to become a little obsessed with obscure, underrated music. You bang on and on about works which you’re convinced... Read more... |
Rusalka returns to the Glyndebourne lakeMonday, 15 August 2011
It's a bit late for a straight review, I know, as this Glyndebourne Festival Opera revival of one of the most ingenious and (hopefully) enduring productions the company has seen in recent years opened three weeks ago. I was down there yesterday... Read more... |
Nash Ensemble, Drapers' Hall, City of London FestivalTuesday, 05 July 2011
It takes a lot to humanise the hideous late-Victorian glitter of Drapers' Hall, but the City of London Festival's latest cornucopia knew how. Ornithologist-composer David Lumsdaine's soundscape greeted us with Australian birds fluttering invisibly... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Dvořák, Rózsa, XenakisSaturday, 02 July 2011
An unreleased live recording from a much missed conductor provides heartwarming food for the soul, while another podium giant brings musicality to uncompromising Modernism, aided by a phenomenal pianist. Meanwhile, a Hungarian exile in Hollywood... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Dvořák, StraussSaturday, 18 June 2011
This week we’ve a brilliant, budget-priced box of Beethoven symphonies played on authentic instruments. It’ll remind you of how much fun there is to be had with this most iconic of composers. A historical recording of a famous cellist reappears, but... Read more... |
