Classical music
Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall/Hill Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review – seamlessness inside and outThursday, 17 September 2020
An early hero of lockdown, livestreaming from his Berlin home in terrible sound at first, Igor Levit is a supreme example of how adaptable musicians can survive in times like these. True, he has the advantage of being the go-to pianist of the moment... Read more... |
Alban Gerhardt, Markus Becker, Wigmore Hall review - long shadows and rich soundsTuesday, 15 September 2020
It wouldn’t be true to say I’d forgotten what a solo cello in a fine concert hall sounds like; revelation of an admittedly sparse year will undoubtedly remain Sumera’s Cello Concerto played by young Estonian Theodor Sink at the Pärnu Music Festival... Read more... |
Maggini Quartet/Friend, Solem Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review - in harmony with natureMonday, 14 September 2020
Music going back to nature, or rather the managed nature of a London park, can make you think and feel quite differently about great composers’ responses to the world around them. To hear Dvořák’s blissful “American” Quartet the Friday before last... Read more... |
Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber, Wigmore Hall review – revelatory Schubert welcomes audiences backMonday, 14 September 2020
“It’s SO good to be back,” said Catherine Bott, and it would be impossible to disagree with her. She was presenting the livestream of the first concert to be performed in front of an audience at Wigmore Hall since March. The rules as originally in... Read more... |
First Person: Artistic Director John Gilhooly on an inclusive and diverse Wigmore HallSaturday, 12 September 2020
It is hard to believe that it’s really happening! Despite a few bumps along the way, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber, one of the greatest Lieder duos of our time, will open the 20/21 Wigmore Hall Season tomorrow night in a programme of Schubert... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Vaughan Williams, Sandbox PercussionSaturday, 12 September 2020
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam, with Essi Luttinen (mezzo-soprano) (Alba)Leif Segerstam can be a maddeningly inconsistent conductor, a musician whose recordings can frustrate as much as they inspire. He’s... Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Aurora Orchestra, Collon review - down memory laneFriday, 11 September 2020
The Aurora Orchestra’s trademark expertise in playing symphonies from memory arguably reached new heights this week as they tackled Beethoven’s Seventh, first in performances with a live audience and then, yesterday, in an empty Royal Albert Hall... Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Grosvenor, Evans, Philharmonia, Järvi review – energy and sparkleThursday, 10 September 2020
Unlike the other two Proms I’ve reviewed this season, last night’s by the Philharmonia did not have any bells and whistles when it came to the staging, nor did it explore the edges of the repertoire. But the repertoire choices were good: progressing... Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Romaniw, BBCNOW, Bancroft - creating 'hwyl' with no audienceWednesday, 09 September 2020
I’ve been missing the sound of applause. That realisation dawned on me on the couple of occasions when it broke out spontaneously in last night’s Prom. There was no audience at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, so these particular bouts of hand-... Read more... |
Aurora Orchestra, Collon, West Handyside Canopy review – energy blasts outside Kings Cross WaitroseTuesday, 08 September 2020
Blessed are the players and musical organisations who adapt and innovate, for they shall inhabit the post-lockdown landscape. And while we appreciate the difficulties any orchestra faces in terms of re-opening logistics and costs, livestreams have... Read more... |
CBSO 100th Birthday Celebration online review - top musicians let down by sound and visualsTuesday, 08 September 2020
Let’s start by echoing Simon Rattle’s sense of “how lucky we are”, in our case to be able to share with a 75-piece City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra its centenary to the very day, and celebrate the programme, the performers, the front man too (... Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Hough, BBC Scottish SO, Chauhan review - sombre reflections on lockdownMonday, 07 September 2020
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Prom was a sombre contribution to an otherwise upbeat season. The mood was reflective – looking back on lockdown. The concert was given at City Halls, Glasgow, where the privations of social distancing were also... Read more... |
