Wigmore Hall
Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flightWednesday, 06 November 2024
As Steven Isserlis announced just before the final work, in more senses than one, of a five-day revelation, the 79 year old Fauré’s last letter told his wife that “at the moment I am well, very well, despite the little bout of fatigue which is... Read more... |
Fauré Centenary Concert 1, Wigmore Hall review - Isserlis and friends soarMonday, 04 November 2024
Earlier this year, Steven Isserlis curated a revelatory Sheffield Chamber Music Festival spotlighting Saint-Saëns, with plentiful Fauré towards the end. Now it’s the younger composer’s turn, marking his death 100 years ago on 4 November 1924, but... Read more... |
'His ideal worlds embraced me with their light and love': violinist Irène Duval on the music of FauréSaturday, 02 November 2024
"I always enjoy seeing sunlight play on the rocks, the water, the trees and plains. What variety of effects, what brilliance and what softness... I wish my music could show as much diversity." Gabriel Fauré, who wrote those words and is indisputably... Read more... |
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, La Nuova Musica, Bates, Wigmore Hall review - thrilling Handel at full throttleSaturday, 02 November 2024
Last time I saw the lovelorn Cyclops from Handel’s richly turbulent cantata, Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, he was in a warehouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf earlier this year, posturing moodily as an Italian film director. The London Handel Festival’s... Read more... |
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - warm and colourful Bartók and BrahmsSaturday, 19 October 2024
Last Monday my colleague Boyd Tonkin was delighted by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective’s playing at Hatfield House – and on Thursday it was my turn to be impressed by their colourful Wigmore Hall recital, which featured the marvellous... Read more... |
Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford review - an unforgettable recitalFriday, 18 October 2024
Christian Gerhaher, the most compelling and complete interpreter of German Lieder of our time, makes no secret of the fact that – unlike his devotion to, say, Schumann – his relationship with the songs of Brahms has never been comfortable.In a... Read more... |
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Wigmore Hall review - a universe of sound and emotion in Schubert’s last three sonatasMonday, 30 September 2024
Wonders never ceased in Elisabeth Leonskaja’s return to the Wigmore Hall. Not only did she play Schubert’s last three sonatas with all repeats and the full range of a unique power undiminished in a 78-year old alongside a never too overstated pathos... Read more... |
Angela Hewitt, Wigmore Hall review - Scarlatti miniatures outshine Brahms behemothWednesday, 25 September 2024
If Angela Hewitt’s recital last night at the Wigmore Hall was a meal, it would have been two light, fresh – but nourishing – courses, followed by a big suetty pudding, splendidly cooked but sitting slightly heavy on the stomach. The delightful... Read more... |
Pavel Kolesnikov, Wigmore Hall review - unpredictable magicTuesday, 24 September 2024
All five finalists in the Leeds International Piano Competition, at which Pavel Kolesnikov was one of the jurors, should have been given tickets, transport and accommodation to hear his Wigmore recital the evening after the prizegiving. Not that... Read more... |
Beethoven Sonata Cycle 1, Boris Giltburg, Wigmore Hall review - running the gamutMonday, 16 September 2024
A happy, lucid and bright pianist, a forbidding Everest among piano sonatas: would Boris Giltburg follow a bewitching, ceaselessly engaging first half by rising to the challenge of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” - a title he suggests, in his series of... Read more... |
Murrihy, Martineau, Wigmore Hall review - poise, transformation and rainbow coloursThursday, 30 May 2024
Peerless among the constellation of Irish singers making waves around the world, mezzo Paula Murrihy first dazzled London as Ascanio in Terry Gilliam’s English National Opera production of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. Since then she’s become a major... Read more... |
Sphinx Organization, Wigmore Hall review - black performers and composers take centre stageMonday, 27 May 2024
Kudos to the Wigmore Hall for continuing to make efforts to diversify its roster of performers and repertoire. Last year I reviewed the Kaleidoscope Collective, and noted how the different profile of their players attracted a younger and less... Read more... |
