Classical Reviews
Angelich, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place review - warm embraces from good companionsMonday, 10 February 2020
"New Dawns" as a title smacked a bit of trying to shoehorn a fairly straightforward Aurora programme in to Kings Place's Nature Unwrapped series. Only Dobrinka Tabakova's short and sweet Dawn made the link, and that was old, not new (composed in 2007). Read more... |
Blaauw, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review - Beethoven seen in '2020 Vision'Monday, 10 February 2020
It’s Beethoven with everything for 2020, the composer’s 250th anniversary year. But the London Philharmonic has devised an interesting approach for their Beethoven-themed programming. Read more... |
Beatrice Rana, Wigmore Hall review - fantasy and sonority writ largeSaturday, 08 February 2020
Not even the unengaged or terminally weary could have dozed through this. Pianists have often commented how the Wigmore Steinway is too big for the hall, and most adjust accordingly. Read more... |
Garvey, Quatuor Zaïde, Classical Vauxhall review - vibrant chamber music for allFriday, 07 February 2020
Three concerts, three fascinating venues, seven world-class young(ish) players, an audience of all ages and a musical storytelling event for 200 schoolchildren: this is how to launch a festival with outwardly modest means. Read more... |
Buniatishvili, RPO, Wigglesworth, RFH review – dark drama and controlled powerWednesday, 05 February 2020
Visiting conductor Mark Wigglesworth is a good match for the Royal Philharmonic. The orchestra’s repertoire is usually at the popular end of the spectrum, so they know how to make the most of a good tune. Wigglesworth gives the players the space to phrase and shape the music, but his approach is more about drama and discipline. That’s a great musical virtue, but it’s hardly glamorous. Read more... |
Beethoven Weekender, Barbican review - genius at work and playTuesday, 04 February 2020
Where to begin with the most appropriated musician in history? The Barbican’s Beethoven 250 celebrations got off to an auspicious start with a weekend of events, styled like a pop festival, which nonetheless put the composer back where he belonged – in Vienna, at the turn of the 18th century – and set fire to some tenacious myths. Read more... |
Lu, Orchestre National de Lille, Bloch, Leeds Town Hall - polish and precision in Ravel and DebussyMonday, 03 February 2020
French orchestras haven’t sounded distinctively Gallic for decades; François-Xavier Roth’s brilliant period band Les Siécles does use idiosyncratic French instruments but their polish and sheen is very modern. Still, close your eyes while Alexandre Bloch’s Orchestre National de Lille are playing Ravel and you’re struck by the polish, the elegance of the playing. Read more... |
Denis Kozhukhin, QEH review - lyric mastery and subtle eleganceThursday, 30 January 2020
In Beethoven anniversary year, there will probably be many more "Moonlight"s, meaning the Sonata, than the real thing (though we've been lucky to see the crescent in close conjunction with Venus these past two nights). Not many pianists would dare to place it at the beginning of a programme. Read more... |
Oriole Ensemble, Conway Hall review - sublimely peculiar chamber musicTuesday, 28 January 2020
When I reviewed the Philharmonia’s Weimar season last year I expressed a hope to hear more Hindemith performed in London. When, also last year, I reviewed chamber music at Conway Hall I looked forward to my next visit. So a Conway Hall programme including Hindemith’s Clarinet Quartet was like a magnet. Read more... |
Shostakovich 24 Preludes and Fugues, Igor Levit, Barbican review - an eagle's-eye viewMonday, 27 January 2020
"Citizen. European. Pianist," declares Russian-born, Berlin-based Igor Levit on the front page of his website. One should add, since he wouldn't, Mensch and master of giants. Read more... |
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