Classical music
St Matthew Passion, Academy of Ancient Music, Cummings, Barbican review - moving and humbleSaturday, 30 March 2024
It is Passion season, and Bach’s St John and St Matthew – as well as his less well-known Easter Oratorio – have been well covered on theartsdesk in the last few weeks. Whether with large choir, small choir, or one to a part with no separate chorus,... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Fog, overdubs and broken glassSaturday, 30 March 2024
Brahms arr. Reger: Song Transcriptions Rudolf Buchbinder (piano) (Deutsche Grammophon)Max Reger said that, for him, “the Brahms fog will remain – I prefer it to the blazing heat of Wagner.” This collection of twenty-eight song transcriptions... Read more... |
Bach's Easter Oratorio, OAE, Whelan, QEH review - the joys of springtimeFriday, 29 March 2024
Waiting, and hoping, may prove just as intense an experience as the fulfilment of a wish – or of a fear. Bach knew that, and infused his Easter Week music with a sense of suspense and anticipation built into vocal and instrumental lines that build... Read more... |
Schubert Piano Sonatas 4, Paul Lewis, Wigmore Hall review - feverish and sometimes violentWednesday, 27 March 2024
“Death doesn’t scare me at all,” said my friend Christopher Hitchens during our last telephone conversation. “After all, it’s the only certainty in life. Dying, however, scares me shitless”.However hard one tries to remove these three final sonatas... Read more... |
Bach St John Passion, Dublin Bach Singers, Marlborough Baroque Orchestra, Murphy, St Ann's Church, Dublin - choral fireMonday, 25 March 2024
Was it worth taking a risk on a more humbly presented St John Passion in Dublin after the best St Matthew I’m ever likely to hear (from Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Ensemble in St Patrick’s Cathedral)?The answer, post-performance, is yes:... Read more... |
Bach Passions, Dunedin Consort, Mulroy/Jeannin, St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral/Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - twin peaksSaturday, 23 March 2024
The annual St Matthew Passion from the Dunedin Consort is one the most reliably beautiful jewels in Edinburgh’s musical year. They do the St John Passion much less frequently; in fact, this is the first time I’ve heard them do it, maybe motivated by... Read more... |
Our Mother, Stone Nest review - musical drama in a mother's griefSaturday, 23 March 2024
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is one of the most ineffable masterpieces of the 18th century, its poignancy increased by the fact that the 26-year-old composer died shortly after writing it. A medieval meditation about Mary at the foot of the cross, it... Read more... |
Gillam, Hallé, Poska, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - an experience of colour and funThursday, 21 March 2024
There was a common factor in the superficially disparate elements of this Hallé concert, and it wasn’t just the fact that both soloist and conductor were female. It was an experience of the colours of the music and a sense of enjoyment of what... Read more... |
Ensemble Augelletti, London Handel Festival, Charterhouse review - dynamic framing of the honorary EnglishmanThursday, 21 March 2024
One of the many delightful discoveries in this dynamic, imaginative lunchtime concert was that Handel and Telemann had a thing for sending each other flowers. Not bouquets, but earthy bulbs and tubers, “I am insatiable where hyacinths and tulips are... Read more... |
St Mary's Music School, RSNO, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a shining role for young choristersWednesday, 20 March 2024
For the second year in a row the Royal Scottish National Orchestra chose to share its platform in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall with the young musicians of St Mary's Music School. As RSNO chief executive Alistair Mackie pointed out in a short opening... Read more... |
Bevan, Williams, BBCSO, MacMillan, Barbican review - inspirational journey from darkness to lightMonday, 18 March 2024
It began with the tolling of a lone bell and ended in a transcendent blaze of golden light. The UK premiere of James MacMillan’s Fiat Lux – first performed in Los Angeles in 2023 to mark the dedication of the dazzling crystalline Christ Cathedral,... Read more... |
First Person: conductor Peter Whelan on coming full circle with the Monteverdi Choir and OrchestraSunday, 17 March 2024
There's something undeniable about the way music can weave itself into the fabric of our lives, shaping our passions and leaving an indelible mark on our journeys. For me, this magic has been particularly intertwined with the Monteverdi Choir and... Read more... |
