Classical Reviews

Classical CDs Weekly: Roxanna Panufnik, Penderecki, eX

graham Rickson Saturday, 01 February 2014

Comment

Jansen, LSO, Pappano, Barbican

Edward Seckerson Friday, 31 January 2014

There were, it seemed, enough trumpets to serve Gabriel throughout eternity - and, as fanfares go, this one was stretching a point and then some.

Classical CDs Weekly: Delius, Hindemith, Holst, Claudia Corona

graham Rickson Saturday, 25 January 2014

Holst: The Hymn of Jesus, Delius: Sea Drift, Cynara Roderick Williams (baritone), Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Hallé Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder (Hallé)

Williams, BBCPO, Hallé, Mena, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Saturday, 25 January 2014

There are occasions when just one band isn’t enough. Hence the rare experience of the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic joining forces for a performance, in the Strauss’s Voice series celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, of An Alpine Symphony under Juanjo Mena.

Issipile, La Nuova Musica, Bates, Wigmore Hall

Geoff Brown Thursday, 23 January 2014

A question flitted through my mind in advance. Was I down to review La Nuova Musica’s modern premiere of Conti’s baroque opera Issipile, or was it Issipile’s opera Conti? To many music lovers, even those well grounded in history, both possibilities must be equally plausible.

Katia & Marielle Labèque, BBCSO, Bychkov, Barbican Hall

Kimon Daltas Friday, 17 January 2014

The first half of this concert was quite the family affair: Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos featuring the eternally youthful Katia and Marielle Labèque, with the latter’s husband Semyon Bychkov conducting.

Power, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall

David Nice Thursday, 16 January 2014

Baleful prophecies were rife before the concert. Was Vladimir Jurowski right to let Mahler’s only total tragedy among his symphonies, the Sixth, share the programme with anything else, least of all a new viola concerto in which the solo instrument’s naturally pale cast of thought seemed likely to be indulged by James MacMillan – another composer not afraid of rhetorical angst?

Winterreise, Finley, Drake, Wigmore Hall

Mark Valencia Thursday, 16 January 2014

Of Schubert’s two great cycles, the youthful ardour of Die schöne Müllerin sits best with a tenor while the bleak wretchedness of Winterreise lends itself to the baritone voice.

Jephtha, The Sixteen, Christophers, Barbican

alexandra Coghlan Wednesday, 15 January 2014

You really think they’d have learned by now. Any operatic vow to sacrifice the next living creature you see in return for salvation will reliably end up with the luckless suppliant faced with their lover/son/spouse. For those who haven’t already learned this handy lesson from Mozart’s Idomeneo, there’s Handel’s Jephtha. Its skeletal (and frankly rather daft) plot matters little, however.

Kožená, Les Violons du Roy, Barbican Hall

alexandra Coghlan Sunday, 12 January 2014

Last night’s Mozart and Haydn concert at the Barbican was billed as Magdalena Kožená with Les Violons du Roy. In practice it actually turned out to be Les Violons du Roy with Magdalena Kožená, which (barring a few die-hard fans of the Czech mezzo) was surely preferable for all concerned.