Classical Reviews
Best of 2021: Classical music concertsMonday, 27 December 2021
As the catastrophe unfolded in 2020, it seemed reasonable to speculate that the biggest orchestral works – Mahler and Shostakovich symphonies, Strauss tone poems among them – probably wouldn’t be heard live in our concert halls for years. Read more... |
Voces8 Live from London Christmas online review – seasonal favourites and new discoveriesSunday, 26 December 2021
The Voces8 online festivals – which were born of a need to keep the show on the road during at the beginning of the pandemic – have rapidly become a fixture of the musical landscape, setting the bar for online presentation of choral music and broadening the reach of all the groups involved. Read more... |
Solomon's Knot, Wigmore Hall review - festive music for uncertain timesTuesday, 21 December 2021
It had been a tense week, explained Jonathan Sells, the artistic director and bass-baritone of Solomon’s Knot, from the stage of the Wigmore Hall: unsure if the concert would go ahead, unsure who exactly would be able to perform, unsure if there would be anyone in the audience. Read more... |
Messiah, Dunedin Consort, Butt, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh - period clarity infused with loveMonday, 20 December 2021
This time last year, the moment I knew things were really bad was when the Dunedin Consort cancelled Messiah. All performances since the summer of 2020 had been online films, but Dunedin cancelled even their online Messiah because it would involve performers travelling from all corners of the UK to do it. Read more... |
The Sixteen, Christophers, Cadogan Hall review - polished and impeccable but slightly sedateThursday, 16 December 2021
The Sixteen are one of the jewels of the choral world. For over 40 years they have led the way in singing excellence and programming that brings together old and new. Read more... |
L’Enfance du Christ, Monteverdi Choir, ORR, Gardiner, St Martin-in-the-Fields review – clear-cut Christmas storyMonday, 13 December 2021
Time, place and performers gave this performance of Berlioz’s typically original “Sacred Trilogy” a special significance. Read more... |
Semenchuk, Skigin, Wigmore Hall review - compelling Tchaikovsky songsTuesday, 07 December 2021
This winter's evening spent at Wigmore Hall, completely immersed in performances of songs by Tchaikovsky, was a delight. Read more... |
MacMillan Christmas Oratorio, LPO, Elder, RFH review – a new star for the seasonMonday, 06 December 2021
The shadow of the cross falls over James MacMillan’s manger. You may come for his work’s consoling, even transporting, beauty and mystery. It’s there in abundance in his new Christmas Oratorio. Yet what may grip hardest are his passages of crashing dread and horror. For MacMillan, the incarnation in Bethlehem triggers a journey across human suffering that only redemption, through Christ’s crucifixion, can close. Read more... |
Hanslip, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Stoller Hall, Manchester review - lyricism and challengeMonday, 06 December 2021
Manchester’s oldest chamber orchestra has been gathering a new audience at the Stoller Hall in Chetham’s School of Music since that auditorium opened, and Sunday afternoon’s programme provided an excellent example of where the Northern Chamber Orchestra’s virtues lie. Read more... |
Feng, CBSO, Wilson, Symphony Hall Birmingham review - effortless expressionThursday, 02 December 2021
As the conductor of English National Opera’s 2018 production of Porgy and Bess, there can’t be many maestros in the UK who can currently match John Wilson’s knowledge of that extraordinary score. And there are surely none who can rival Wilson’s understanding of – and passion for – the work of the great interwar Broadway and Hollywood arrangers (he built an entire orchestra around them, after all). |
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