classical music reviews, news & interviews
Simon Thompson |
If there was love in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Valentine’s concert, then it was very much of the doomed variety. There was Romeo and Juliet, of course, as imagined in Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture, and Zemlinsky’s marvellously strange take on The Little Mermaid.
Simon Thompson |
Pretty much any performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony is a special occasion, but this one perhaps more so than most. For one thing, it was a landmark event in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s 90th anniversary year - the only concert this season that saw the return of Sir Donald Runnicles, their Conductor Emeritus.
Boyd Tonkin
Almost everything about Piotr Anderszewski's Wigmore Hall recital pleased, intrigued and even thrilled – except, perhaps, the order of the works. The…
stephen.walsh
The BBC NOW called this concert Echoes of France, which was both an understatement and a partial misnomer. Cardiff’s St David’s Hall being currently…
graham.rickson
An English Violin Geneviève Laurenceau (violin), Orchestre de Picardie/David Niemann, with Jean-Frédéric Neuburg (piano) (NoMadMusic)…
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Rachel Halliburton
Style, sophistication and philosophical elegance
Boyd Tonkin
Styles harmonise in music of memory and mourning
Robert Beale
A haunting encounter with Cassandra Miller’s Viola Concerto
Bernard Hughes
Long-time collaborators offer great singing but some wobbly playing
Boyd Tonkin
Handel's Biblical tragedy strikes hard without stage trickery
stephen.walsh
Moving tribute to a great centenarian
graham.rickson
Scandinavian symphonies, 20th century ballet music and a versatile conductor celebrated in box form
Robert Beale
A uniquely baritonal, masculine cello sound in Shostakovich
Bernard Hughes
Bayard Rustin-inspired programme has excellent music but a bit too much chat
David Nice
Perfect programme for two pianos and four hands at one
David Nice
Savage parade includes wonderfully discombobulating Martinů concerto
Rachel Halliburton
Thrillingly authoritative and stirringly poetic in Brahms
Bernard Hughes
Committed and high-class performance doesn’t quite overcome doubts about the piece
graham.rickson
Late music from a 20th century giant, a neglected symphony and an epic work for solo guitar
Rachel Halliburton
Sonatas by Brahms and Prokofiev were revealed in all their intricacy
David Nice
Rudolf Barshai's performing version undermines fine conducting and playing
Robert Beale
From misery to fun to grim discovery in a vivid opera-in-concert performance
Robert Beale
Award-winning pianist makes his mark with mystery and magic
David Nice
Welcome return of one of the world's greatest conductors with a fascinating programme
David Nice
A live-wire violinist in top form, and a programme contrasting mystery with good humour
Robert Beale
Clear and crystalline pianism in contrast with Ives and Adams
Rachel Halliburton
A ravishingly beautiful depiction of the composer's life in tableaux vivants
David Nice
The most creative of guitarists invests in everything, but it didn't all work for the audience
Robert Beale
A test of nerve and stamina in centenary celebration of a multi-faceted masterpiece
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