Classical Reviews

theartsdesk Q&A: Pianist Saleem and Violinist Nabeel Abboud Ashkar

David Nice Sunday, 03 August 2014

Saleem (born 1976), having dropped the "Abboud" from his name, is one of the world’s most individual top pianists: his recent disc of Mendelssohn concertos with Riccardo Chailly and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester is bound to make my “best of year” list. Nabeel, his brother and junior by two years, has served for some years as a violinist in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, first-rate peacemaking brainchild of Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said.

Prom 20: Crabb, BBCSO, Brabbins

Bernard Hughes Saturday, 02 August 2014

The first half of last night’s Prom was supposed to be linked by the theme of the First World War, but Anthony Marwood’s illness meant that Sally Beamish’s Violin Concerto, based on All Quiet on the Western Front, had to be replaced at late notice by her accordion concerto The Singing.

Comment

Classical CDs Weekly: Dutilleux, Rimsky-Korsakov, Roger Woodward

graham Rickson Saturday, 02 August 2014

Dutilleux: Symphony no 1, Tout un monde lontain, The Shadows of Time Xavier Phillips (cello), Seattle Symphony/Ludovic Morlot (Seattle Symphony Media)

Prom 19: BBC Singers, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Petrenko

David Nice Friday, 01 August 2014

A monstrous celebration prefaced by thunderous organ chords is always going to be more the Albert Hall’s kind of thing than a comic opera viewed through the wrong end of the telescope. So Strauss’s Festival Prelude kicked off a first half of 150^th birthday celebrations in more appropriate style than last week’s Der Rosenkavalier.

Comment

Prom 16: Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, Goetzel/Prom 17: Les Arts Florissants, Christie

David Nice Wednesday, 30 July 2014

The sprightly tread of Handel’s Queen of Sheba, attended by two wonderful Turkish oboists, wove the most fragile of gold threads between full orchestral exotica and Rameau motets of infinite variety last night. Not that any more links need be found: it’s the addition of the late night events which turns the Proms into a real festival, not the mere concatenation of concerts you might find in the main orchestral season.

Prom 14: Pahud, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Fischer

Bernard Hughes Monday, 28 July 2014

Last night's Prom offered an intriguing mixture of French music both sacred and profane, with a British world premiere as its centrepiece. Duruflé’s pious Requiem rubbed shoulders with Ravel’s wordly homages to the Viennese waltz, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales and La Valse.

A Hundred Million Musicians: China's Classical Challenge, BBC Four

Jasper Rees Monday, 28 July 2014

A few years ago I sat high up in a rapt, sweltering Albert Hall as a lone pianist performed for two hours in the round. Neither before nor since has the BBC Proms treated a classical musician like a rock god. But then Lang Lang, whether his music-making causes you to cheer or shudder, was and remains the poster boy of a cultural revolution. A few weeks earlier he'd opened the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Prom 12: Bach St John Passion, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Norrington

Kimon Daltas Sunday, 27 July 2014

Sir Roger Norrington, 80 this year, produced a masterful St John Passion in the first of his two appearances at this year’s Proms, built around his excellent Swiss chamber orchestra and the Zürcher Sing-Akademie.

Classical CDs Weekly: Dvořák, Haydn, Janáček, Thomas Larcher

graham Rickson Friday, 25 July 2014

Prom 7: BBCSO, Bělohlávek/Prom 8: Pet Shop Boys

Matthew Wright Thursday, 24 July 2014

The Forties and Fifties, seen through the eyes of Shostakovich and the Pet Shop Boys, were the historical centre of gravity for last night’s courageously broad Proms programme. Bartók’s Violin Concerto No.