Classical Reviews
Wegener, LPO, Jurowski, RFH review – on the revolutionary road to MahlerThursday, 14 November 2019
For better or worse, because of Visconti’s classic film the Adagietto of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony now inevitably means Venice in its gloomiest moods. So there turned out to be a grim timeliness in a performance on an evening that coincided with the most devastating “acqua alta” to flood the city in half a century. Read more... |
ECO, Zacharias, Fairfield Halls Croydon review - green-fingered HaydnWednesday, 13 November 2019
Switch off for a phrase or two and it’s easy to miss the point in a Haydn symphony that makes each one of them odd and unique. In No. 74, played last night with understated class by the English Chamber Orchestra, that point occurs in the first movement, at the end of the second theme. All has gone just as you’d expect. Read more... |
Pavlů, Prague SO, Inkinen, Cadogan Hall review - exhilarating but uneven Mahler ThirdWednesday, 13 November 2019
The Prague Symphony Orchestra are in town, their Cadogan Hall concert the London leg of a UK tour. It’s ambitious, including Mahler’s epic Third Symphony in five different cities, each with a local chorus. The orchestra itself, Prague’s second band, is a spirited and distinctively Central European ensemble. Read more... |
Roméo et Juliette, LSO, Tilson Thomas, Barbican review - surprisingly sober take on Berlioz epicMonday, 11 November 2019
So much was fresh and exciting about Michael Tilson Thomas's years as the London Symphony Orchestra's Principal Conductor (1988-1995; I don't go as far back as his debut, the 50th anniversary of which is celebrated this season). Read more... |
Williams, LPO, Alsop, RFH review - sleek lines and pastoral tonesMonday, 11 November 2019
The London Philharmonic’s Isle of Noises, a year-long festival dedicated to music of the British Isles, drew towards its close with this programme of Butterworth, Elgar and Walton. Marin Alsop was a good choice to lead, especially for Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast. Read more... |
Wallfisch, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Stoller Hall, Manchester review - Weinberg UK premiereSaturday, 09 November 2019
Everyone’s doing Weinberg now, or so it seems. The Polish-born composer who became a close friend of Shostakovich was born 100 years ago, and there’s plenty of his music to go round. Read more... |
Poster, Cabeza, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings Place review – shock of the newMonday, 04 November 2019
Mozart’s piano concertos often overflow with good humour, but you seldom expect to hear a hearty chuckle from the audience in the middle of a performance of one. Yet something close to a guffaw burst out around King’s Place when soloist Tom Poster, deep into the last-movement cadenza of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, suddenly quoted Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Read more... |
Morison, RSNO, Järvi, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review – French romanceSaturday, 02 November 2019
To hear Neeme Järvi conduct the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is to witness one of the great musical partnerships, one that has evolved into an enduring friendship. Read more... |
Daniil Trifonov, RFH review - devil in the worksFriday, 01 November 2019
For the first 20 or so minutes and the second encore of this generous recital, I turned into a Trifonite, in thrall to the 28-year-old Russian pianist's communicative powers. Has Scriabin, in an imperious sweep from early to late, ever made more consistent sense? Read more... |
Weinberg Focus Day, Wigmore Hall review – innocence and loss, violence and calmMonday, 28 October 2019
Mieczysław Weinberg – where to begin? The composer died in obscurity in 1996, but his music has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity over the last ten years, culminating in this year’s global celebrations for the centenary of his birth. His music is lyrical and deeply expressive, but audiences can be forgiven for not knowing quite what to make of him. He was immensely prolific, and his works are diverse, yet a distinctive voice runs throughout them. Read more... |
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