fri 19/04/2024

RLPO

Becker, RLPO, Ang, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

While there is, of course, safety in numbers, but five premieres on four continents is, perhaps, a little novel. Tan Dun’s new Concerto for Double-Bass, subtitled Wolf Totem, is a co-commission by five orchestras: the Royal Concertgebouw, St Louis...

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Samuelsen Duo, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

Major change is afoot at the Liverpool Philharmonic. The new season has just opened as Philharmonic Hall has been undergoing a major refurbishment and earlier concerts during the autumn were held in the gargantuan acoustics of both cathedrals, where...

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Classical CDs Weekly: Barry, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Shostakovich

 Barry: The Importance of Being Earnest Soloists, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/Thomas Adès (NMC)I missed the live performances of this work; being allergic to Wilde as a dramatist, I wasn't in any hurry to assimilate The Importance of...

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

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 150th...

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Così fan tutte, European Opera Centre, RLPO, Pillot, St George’s Hall Concert Room, Liverpool

One of the joys of attending an opera in the Concert Room at St George’s Hall, Liverpool, is the feeling that the audience is sitting in the set itself. Now one of the city’s foremost concert venues, this Victorian gem never ceases to amaze, even...

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RLPO, Petrenko, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

With the Albert Dock just a few hundred yards down the road, and Liverpool the launchpad for two centuries of Atlantic crossings, it’s perhaps not too shocking to hear Wagner’s intercontinental Ride of the Valkyries resound round Philharmonic Hall....

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Henry, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

The prospect of a new concerto from a largely unknown composer who, it’s safe to say, had never been performed previously in Liverpool may have seemed a little daunting. By the end of the 22-minute world premiere, however, rapturous applause greeted...

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BBC Proms: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Petrenko

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Ninth Symphony, completed in 2012 and heard in London for the first time in this concert, is dedicated to the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee. Those are not words to strike eager anticipation into my heart , though I’m happy...

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Maxwell Davies Ninth Symphony, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

The new Ninth Symphony, from the pen of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, is something of a paradox.  It was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Helskinki Philharmonic Orchestra and is dedicated to the Queen on the occasion of her...

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Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2012-13 season

Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko commences his seventh season, exploring the music of Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes. The soloists roll call includes Simon Trpčeski, Tasmin Little, Tine Thing Helseth, Daniel Müller-Schott. Liverpool...

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Lindberg, Cowen, RLPO, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

There’s always a bit of a buzz around a premiere, even one which may seem slightly off-the-wall. Jan Sandström’s Echoes of Eternity is a concerto for two solo trombones – unusual in itself, given that there are precious few concerti for just one...

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The BBC's new TV dawn for the Proms

Paul Lewis, Beethoven specialist and pioneering subject of the Q-Ball camera

For the couch-bound classical music lover, keeping up with the Proms is pretty straightforward. Step one: open bottle of agreeable claret. Step two: turn on Radio 3 and listen, or watch selected Proms on BBC Two or BBC Four. Or, indeed, catch up...

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