Classical Reviews
Watkins, BBCSO, Bychkov, BarbicanWednesday, 13 January 2016
We don’t often hear Semyon Bychkov in the core Austro-German repertoire. That’s a great shame, because the qualities that make his Russian music performances so special are just as valuable here: the dynamism and immediacy, the supple but propulsive phrasing, and, above all, the firm, guiding hand, exerting control without imposing restraint. Read more... |
Rana, CBSO, Gražinytė-Tyla, Symphony Hall BirminghamMonday, 11 January 2016
As pianist Beatrice Rana ran up the final bars of Schumann’s Piano Concerto, the conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla turned to her soloist and simply beamed. As well she might. Rana is an artist whose advance publicity belies the seriousness and selflessness of her playing. Read more... |
Cesari, BBCSSO, Pintscher, City Halls, GlasgowSunday, 10 January 2016
Forget your celebratory Messiahs and your crowd-pleasing Strauss galas. Instead of easing listeners gently into 2016 with conventional New Year fare, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra went for the shock approach in its 2016 opening concert: non-stop, back-to-back, uncompromising contemporary music. And it felt like a marvellously bracing, ear-cleansing, provocative way to kick off the year’s concerts. Read more... |
Goyescas, Khamis, Houston, National GallerySaturday, 09 January 2016
"I fell in love with the psychology of Goya and his palette,” wrote brilliant composer-pianist Enrique Granados at the beginning of an evocative paean prefacing his six original Goyescas of 1909-11, finely-wrought gems of the piano repertoire. In love, too, are most of us who have gaped with awe at the astonishing range and careful selection of portraits in the current National Gallery exhibition - one of its best ever, equal in revelation to the recent Rembrandt spectacular. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Elgar, Silvestrov, Hideko UdagawaSaturday, 09 January 2016
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Hadland / Moser Brothers, Wigmore HallMonday, 04 January 2016
Prokofiev milestones stood proudly at the ends of the New Year’s first three major UK concert programmes. Read more... |
Scholl, Halperin, Sam Wanamaker PlayhouseMonday, 04 January 2016
“Music for a while, shall all your cares beguile.” So promise Dryden and Purcell in their hypnotic song, a high-stakes closer for Andreas Scholl and Tamar Halperin’s "Exquisite Love" recital. But beguiling away cares on the eve of a national return to work is a big ask, even in the other-worldly surroundings of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, and something that, on this occasion, the countertenor himself couldn’t quite deliver. Read more... |
Murray, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Collon, Leeds Town HallSunday, 03 January 2016
The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’s standard of playing is consistently impressive, so much so that it’s easy to forget that the ensemble is effectively reconstituted from scratch each autumn. Last night’s fresh incarnation, deftly conducted by Nicholas Collon, sounded as if they’d been playing together for decades, though without any sense of complacency which that might bring. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Roger Doyle, Mahler, ProkofievSaturday, 02 January 2016
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Best of 2015: Classical ConcertsSaturday, 26 December 2015
The musical future looks bright indeed, at least from my perspective. There are more classical concerts than ever going on across the UK on most days of the year, so who can know with any authority what might have been missed? Yet each of theartsdesk’s classical music writers has a special take on the events of 2015, and part of mine has been the special privilege of following a trail of younger players in out-of-the-way places. Read more... |
Elgar: Sea Pictures, Polonia, Pomp and Circumstance Marches 1-5 Alice Coote, Hallé/Sir Mark Elder (Hallé)
Roger Doyle: Time Machine (Heresy Records)Pages
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