Classical music
Selaocoe, Schimpelsberger, LSO, Ward, Barbican review - force of nature crowns dance jamboreeFriday, 17 November 2023
It was good of the EFG London Jazz Festival to support this concert and bring in a different audience from the one the LSO is used to. But how to define it? Jazz only briefly figured in works by Gary Carpenter, Bartók, Barber and Abel Selaocoe. The... Read more... |
West-Eastern Divan Ensemble, Michael Barenboim, QEH review - enchantment and convivialityMonday, 13 November 2023
What a month, and what a day, for Michael Barenboim to bring the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble to London. Created in 1999 by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said, the original West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has always impressed because it gathers Israeli,... Read more... |
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Currie, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh review - maximum minimalismSaturday, 11 November 2023
Chameleon among orchestras, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra hung up its habitual classical cloak in favour of an evening of 20th and 21st century minimalism, curated, presented, and conducted by the star percussionist Colin Currie.That this was a... Read more... |
Perfection of a Kind: Britten vs Auden, City of London Sinfonia, QEH review - the odd coupleTuesday, 07 November 2023
“Underneath the abject willow/ Lover, sulk no more;/ Act from thought should quickly follow:/ What is thinking for?” In 1936, early in their tempestuous friendship, WH Auden wrote a poem for Benjamin Britten that urged the younger artist to pursue... Read more... |
The Creation, Choirs of King's College & New College Oxford, Philharmonia, Hyde, King's College Chapel, Cambridge - sublime setting for mundane performanceMonday, 06 November 2023
“Let his words resound on high,” sings the choir in the final chorus of The Creation. In King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, it is hard not to want to look up, to admire the splendour of the largest fan vaulting anywhere in Europe. King’s truly is... Read more... |
L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Monteverdi Choir, EBS, Sousa, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - Handel at his most magicalWednesday, 01 November 2023
There was a good reason why Milton never added a Moderato, a “middle way”, to his masterly poems on mirth in bright day (L’Allegro) and more reflective pleasures by night (Il Penseroso), and a bad one why Handel allowed Charles Jennens to tack on... Read more... |
Maxim Vengerov, Polina Osetinskaya, Barbican review - masterclass in technique with a thrilling rage of emotionsWednesday, 01 November 2023
For the first half of this spellbinding recital, Maxim Vengerov chose three works framed by one of Romantic music’s most infamous and turbulent stories.In 1853 the violinist Joseph Joachim became close friends with Robert and Clara Schumann – and as... Read more... |
Lang Lang, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - playing with the musicTuesday, 31 October 2023
The showman was back – and, bless him, he can still sell every seat in a big hall even if the programme offers close on an hour and a half of unalloyed Bach.Lang Lang’s gifts are phenomenal: he doesn’t just play music brilliantly, every now and then... Read more... |
Lugansky, RPO, Petrenko, RFH review - so sure in all their waysMonday, 30 October 2023
It’s a given that no finer Rachmaninov interpreter exists than Nikolai Lugansky – a few others may see the works differently, not better – and that Vasily Petrenko has an uncanny affinity with both the swagger and the introspection of Elgar. But... Read more... |
Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn review - a tale of two siblingsMonday, 30 October 2023
Documentaries intended for cinema release don’t always come off, and cynics might suggest that Sheila Hayman’s Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn would work perfectly well as a BBC Radio 3 broadcast. Fortunately, Hayman’s visual flourishes and a sense of... Read more... |
Feldmann, BBC Philharmonic, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - adventures in the unusualMonday, 30 October 2023
For the most adventurous programme in its autumn Saturday series at the Bridgewater Hall, the BBC Philharmonic’s John Storgårds brought two works from his native Finland’s repertoire, and a concerto some distance from the beaten track.Like the Hallé... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Polkas, fans and chestnut treesSaturday, 28 October 2023
Kabeláč: Eight Preludes, Motifs from Exotic Lands, Smetana: Dreams Jan Bartoš (piano) (Supraphon)Anyone interested in 20th century music should investigate Supraphon’s box set of Miloslav Kabeláč’s eight symphonies. when you've done that, get... Read more... |
