Classical Reviews

Daniil Trifonov, Royal Festival Hall

Jessica Duchen Wednesday, 01 October 2014

Daniil Trifonov, 23, has shot to prominence as one of the hottest pianistic properties of the moment. With multiple competition wins behind him, including the Tchaikovsky in his native Russia, plus a recording contract with DG and a frenetic globe-trotting schedule, he is now a very busy young man.

Comment

Classical CDs Weekly: Aho, Bartók, Zelenka

graham Rickson Saturday, 27 September 2014

Grande Messe des Morts, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH

Sebastian Scotney Friday, 26 September 2014

Hector Berlioz knew from early on in life which aspects of death he would want to avoid. He had seen quite enough of the medical textbooks that his father had tried to foist upon him. He had even got as far as smelling the dissecting table as a medical student in Paris, desperately counting the days before he could make his escape into music.

Bavouzet, LPO, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall

David Nice Thursday, 25 September 2014

Comparisons, even on paper, between two season openers from London orchestras could hardly have been more instructive.

Comment

BBC Singers, BBCSO, Litton, Barbican Hall

Edward Seckerson Thursday, 25 September 2014

The problem with programming Charles Ives’s Fourth Symphony - and only the very bold and resourceful and/or the BBC are ever likely to do so - is that it eclipses everything, and I mean everything, in its proximity.

Benedetti, Manchester Camerata, Takács-Nagy, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Sunday, 21 September 2014

Having been put to the fiddle at the age of five, Nicola Benedetti appreciates the value of making music at an early age. She is fiercely committed to music education and developing new talent. So it was a joy to see her playing enthusiastically with 30 primary school children as a pre-concert curtain raiser to the start of Manchester Camerata’s new season.

Last Night of the Proms, Jansen, Williams, BBCSO, Oramo

Sebastian Scotney Sunday, 14 September 2014

If only the Last Night of the Proms could just be about the music. If it were, then the story which I would want to tell would be about Janine Jansen. A crowd which mainly turns up to wave its vast array of flags, to bounce its beach-balls and generally to step free from the shackles of adulthood, was mesmerised into a concentrated hush by the magnetism of the Dutch violinist. She drew the huge audience right in to her playing.

Prom 75: Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Gilbert

alexandra Coghlan Saturday, 13 September 2014

The silliness of the Last Night is really just a postscript to the penultimate night of the Proms, traditionally given over to a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It was a tradition restored yesterday evening when Alan Gilbert and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra returned for their second concert of the season. For anyone whose stomach is liable to turn at extrovert jingoism and excess, this was the perfect antidote.

Comment

Classical CDs Weekly: Elgar, Fuzzy, James Rhodes

graham Rickson Saturday, 13 September 2014

Elgar: Symphony no 1, Cockaigne Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Sakari Oramo (BIS)

Prom 74: Wainwright, Voigt, Britten Sinfonia, Debus

David Nice Friday, 12 September 2014

Swathes of this year’s final Late Night Prom were so invertebrate, amateurish even, that I was tempted to go home and throw out my Want One and Want Two CDs. I won’t, of course: Canadian American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has written some fabulous songs, and developed a unique vocal style to deliver them.