Shostakovich
Repin, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Fedoseyev, RFHTuesday, 25 February 2014
Valery Gergiev once described Yevgeny Svetlanov’s USSR - later Russian - State Symphony Orchestra to me as “an orchestra with a voice”. Then Svetlanov died and the voice cracked. Which are the other big Russian personalities now? Gergiev’s own... Read more... |
Opus, Circa and Debussy String Quartet, BarbicanFriday, 21 February 2014
Well! Just when you think you’ve constructed a nice tripartite schema for dance styles based on their relationship with the ground, along comes a company which tears up that rule book entirely.Last week I theorized that contemporary dance goes down... Read more... |
Katia & Marielle Labèque, BBCSO, Bychkov, Barbican HallFriday, 17 January 2014
The first half of this concert was quite the family affair: Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos featuring the eternally youthful Katia and Marielle Labèque, with the latter’s husband Semyon Bychkov conducting.Any natural rapport took a... Read more... |
Pavel Haas Quartet, Trifonov, Wigmore HallTuesday, 03 December 2013
There are probably more fine string quartets in the world than audiences to listen to them, or so a gloomy estimate from a major chamber music festival would have us believe. Fortunately the Wigmore Hall usually guarantees crowds to hear the best,... Read more... |
Jerusalem Quartet, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Wigmore HallWednesday, 13 November 2013
A previous visit to the Wigmore Hall saw the Jerusalem Quartet make headlines for all the wrong reasons, after political protestors disrupted the live-broadcast concert. Last night however all was mercifully calm and music-focused for the start of... Read more... |
Mustonen, Nakariakov, BBCSO, Oramo, BarbicanSunday, 03 November 2013
This was Sakari Oramo's first concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra since taking over as chief conductor. Of course he knows the orchestra well already, but it was important to make this a good ’un, and so it was.It opened with the world premiere... Read more... |
Belcea Quartet, Wigmore HallSaturday, 02 November 2013
Pure, unorthodox genius: the terms apply both to the three works on the Belcea Quartet’s programme – Haydn at his most compressed, Britten unbuttoned and sunny, Shostakovich hitting the tragic heights – and, if the term “genius” can be applied to re... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Shostakovich, TchaikovskySaturday, 19 October 2013
Brahms Beloved: Symphonies 2 & 4, Clara Schumann Lieder Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/John Axelrod, with Indra Thomas, Nicole Cabelle (sopranos) (Telarc)There’s a glut of Brahms symphonies on disc this autumn, with live... Read more... |
Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, ManchesterFriday, 04 October 2013
A “world premiere” of music written by Benjamin Britten just over 70 years ago? Whence this treasure trove of long-lost musical gold? Well, under the title of An American in England, in 1942 Britten wrote the score for a BBC/CBS co-produced series... 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... |
Prom 21: Hope, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, SøndergårdTuesday, 30 July 2013
The “Turning Point” in Colin Matthews’ so-named orchestral piece is a change of attitude, a sudden seriousness of purpose, a great effort of will to stop moving and take stock of where it - whatever it is - is going. That Matthews did actually stop... Read more... |
Ma, LSO, Tilson Thomas, Barbican HallThursday, 13 June 2013
What rare luxury. A three-concert series from the London Symphony Orchestra and their Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is lure enough, but add three collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist and you have to rope off a special area in... Read more... |
