Classical music
Berlin Philharmoniker, Karajan, Digital Concert Hall review - a captivating musical time capsuleThursday, 09 April 2020
When I saw that the Berlin Philharmonic had thrown open the doors to its virtual concert hall the thing that most interested me was to see some Karajan. When I was a child in the mid-1980s I lived for a while in Berlin and my father took me to the... Read more... |
Classical Music/Opera direct to home 5 - orchestral manoeuvres in the lightMonday, 06 April 2020
Necessity has certainly been the mother of invention over the past three weeks, and orchestras especially, left in the dark with no means of coming together other than virtually, have had to adapt double-quick. The players, of course, are... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Prokofiev, A Tale of Two ViolasSaturday, 04 April 2020
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas Fazil Say (Warner Classics)“This is a 605 minute piece containing 32 sonatas.” There's some bewildering verbiage from pianist Fazil Say near the back of Warners’ booklet, Say describing the creation of his ‘... Read more... |
'Most significant is the experience of being confronted by different ideas': Steven Osborne on free piano lessons from quarantineThursday, 02 April 2020
How fast the world can change. What seemed unimaginable just weeks ago, the effective shuttering of our societies, is now a reality in many countries for at least weeks and quite possibly several months to come. I hope for the health and security of... Read more... |
Czech Philharmonic Benefit Concert online review – profound musicianship in sombre masked fundraiserWednesday, 01 April 2020
Less than six months ago Prague’s most prestigious concert hall, the neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum, was all glittering lights and packed, smartly dressed audience for the Czech Philharmonic’s hot ticket first performance there for 49 years of its... Read more... |
Remembering Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)Tuesday, 31 March 2020
No composer since Stravinsky has defined his age as comprehensively as Krzysztof Penderecki, who died on Sunday aged 86. Initially an uncompromising modernist, Penderecki was one of the composers who put Poland at the forefront of the musical avant-... Read more... |
Classical Music/Opera direct to home 4 - Rattle in the etherSunday, 29 March 2020
He may no longer be the Berlin Philharmoniker's Chief Conductor, but by a combination of serendipity and foresight on the orchestra's part, Simon Rattle's last concert in Berlin for the foreseeable future was filmed without an audience and led the... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Poulenc, Simon HöfeleSaturday, 28 March 2020
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier George Lepauw (piano) (Orchid Classics)How a pianist tackles the opening C major Prelude of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier can often set the tone for what follows. You’d expect Glenn Gould’s quirky traversal to... Read more... |
Notes on a no-show - Nico MuhlyTuesday, 24 March 2020
The following is adapted from a programme note for a show which was to have premiered last Thursday – the very day Sadler's Wells went dark. Nico Muhly – Drawn Lines was part of an occasional series featuring composers who are making an impact... Read more... |
'Pause. Notice. Breathe': Elena Urioste on self-love in a time of coronavirusSaturday, 21 March 2020
In my second year as a violin student at the Curtis Institute, my right arm started going numb from my elbow to my fingertips on a fairly regular basis. It was rather like how your limbs feel right before they fall asleep: not full-on pins and... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Grieg, Sibelius, PapagenaSaturday, 21 March 2020
Grieg: To the Spring – Violin Sonatas 1-3 Elena Urioste (violin), Tom Poster (piano) (Orchid Classics)Grieg is a one-work composer, mostly: there's one symphony, one piano concerto and single piano sonata. There are three violin sonatas,... Read more... |
Classical music/Opera direct to home: 2 - Boris Giltburg and Igor LevitFriday, 20 March 2020
Maybe it's not so surprising that the musicians one has long thought of as true Menschen of the profession - that applies to both sexes, of course, and maybe it's just more about the artists in question being natural communicators - have been among... Read more... |
