Debussy
Classical CDs Weekly: Grundman, Messiaen, Aki KurodaSaturday, 09 August 2014
Jorge Grundman: A Mortuis Resurgere Susana Cordón (soprano), Brodsky Quartet (Chandos)Spanish composer Jorge Grundman was a vocalist and keyboard player in two bands in his teens, and he’s now a professor of audio engineering at a Madrid... Read more... |
The Fall of the House of Usher, Welsh National OperaSaturday, 21 June 2014
The Fall of the House of Usher is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s mistier tales, and although it has been turned into opera a few times, there are obvious difficulties. Debussy struggled for a decade to materialise a drama out of its haunting, neurotic... Read more... |
Pascal and Ami Rogé, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand TheatreFriday, 11 April 2014
For record collectors of a certain age, Pascal Rogé is Mr French Piano Music; if you’re looking for decent recordings of Ravel, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and Debussy, he’s the man. Hearing him perform live, here with his wife and duet partner Ami Rogé,... Read more... |
Cabell, BBC Concert Orchestra, Lockhart, QEHTuesday, 01 April 2014
Where did all the terrific programming energy of last year’s The Rest is Noise festival go? One answer – surprising given the orchestra’s former Friday night lite status – is into a two-concert adventure by the BBCCO. World to Come, World Once Known... Read more... |
RainFriday, 04 October 2013
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance," wrote Aristotle. And you know what, the old Greek geezer knew a thing or two. While this downbeat stealth/platform game delivers a pure aesthetic... Read more... |
Anne Schwanewilms, Roger Vignoles, Wigmore HallTuesday, 10 September 2013
So we glide between seasons from one communicative diva giving her all in a vast space to another casting spells in intimate surroundings. While Joyce DiDonato, not perhaps one of the world’s great voices but certainly a great performer, was... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Debussy, Goldmark, Ravel, Martynas LevickisSaturday, 07 September 2013
Goldmark: Rustic Wedding Symphony, Symphony No 2 Singapore Symphony Orchestra/Lan Shui (BIS)Root around in enough second-hand LP shops and you’ll probably find at least one scratchy vinyl copy of Karl Goldmark’s 1875 Rustic Wedding Symphony.... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Stavanger: A touch of FröstSunday, 01 September 2013
Three great pianists, one of the world’s top clarinettists and two fine string players in a single concert: it’s what you might expect from a chamber music festival at the highest level. What I wasn’t anticipating on the first evening in Stavanger... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Debussy, HindemithSaturday, 20 July 2013
Britten: Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto Howard Shelley (piano), Tasmin Little (violin), BBC Philharmonic/Edward Gardner (Chandos)Edward Gardner starts Britten’s Piano Concerto with amazing ferocity and drive. Winds and horns make light work... Read more... |
Yevgeny Sudbin, Wigmore HallFriday, 19 July 2013
A second visit to hear this already great young Russian pianist in six months was meant for private pleasure only. Yet no-one in the Wigmore Hall audience last night, I’ll hazard a guess, will ever have heard Liszt playing like Sudbin’s in a first... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Feldman, French Piano Concertos, Andreas OttensamerSaturday, 13 July 2013
Debussy, Poulenc, Ravel, Françaix: Piano Concertos Florian Uhlig (piano), Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern/Pablo González (Hänssler Classic)I salivated when I read the tracklisting on this immaculately produced disc. I... Read more... |
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Queen Elizabeth HallThursday, 06 June 2013
On most of her London visits, Elisabeth Leonskaja has been an unassuming high priestess of the mysteries and depths in core sonatas by Beethoven, Chopin and Schubert. This time she applied her Russian-school style of orchestral pianism, tempered as... Read more... |
