Classical Reviews

Andsnes and Friends at the Astrup Exhibition, Dulwich Picture Gallery

David Nice Tuesday, 08 March 2016

It's rare that a sponsor does more than stump up the money for culture and sometimes request a mention in a review (usually ignored).

Classical CDs Weekly: Chagrin, Dukas, Mozart

graham Rickson Saturday, 05 March 2016

Francis Chagrin: Symphonies 1 and 2 BBC Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins (Naxos)

Williams, Janiczek, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

David Kettle Friday, 04 March 2016

Just a few days earlier, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra had been doing a pretty convincing impression of a symphony orchestra in a powerful Vaughan Williams Fifth Symphony under John Storgårds. And here they were, in crisp, nimble Mozart and Beethoven, being a thoroughly convincing period band – well, with valveless horns, at least. They’re nothing if not versatile.

Kelemen, BBCSO, Wigglesworth, Barbican

Geoff Brown Thursday, 03 March 2016

In the deep recesses of my brain lies a distant memory of an early lesson in musical appreciation in primary school. Excerpts from Beethoven’s "Pastoral" Symphony were being played. The teacher asked us what images came to mind. The answers came fairly quickly, prodded by the music’s title: a babbling brook, a thunderstorm, twittering birds. I was on my way.

Giltburg, RSNO, Prieto, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Christopher Lambton Sunday, 28 February 2016

To a freezing grey night in Scotland’s capital, the conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto brought a welcome ray of Mexican sunshine. Wearing a broad grin he marched onto the platform of the Usher Hall and launched into Rodion Shchedrin’s impish Concerto for Orchestra No.1, Naughty Limericks, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Classical CDs Weekly: Louis Aubert, Schubert, Claudio Abbado

graham Rickson Saturday, 27 February 2016

Louis Aubert: Sillages, Violin Sonata etc Jean-Pierre Armengard (piano), Alessandro Fagiuoli (violin), Olivier Chauzu (piano) (Grand Piano)

Vengerov, Saitkoulov, Barbican Hall

Sebastian Scotney Thursday, 25 February 2016

In 2007 Maxim Vengerov had to withdraw completely from violin playing, and stayed away for four years. He had suffered the after effects of a weight-lifting injury to his shoulder, and needed surgery. But he also described at the time that he felt he needed to re-learn the instrument.

Classical CDs Weekly: Handel, Reicha, Stravinsky

graham Rickson Saturday, 20 February 2016

Handel: Duetti e Terzetti italiani Roberto Invernizzi (soprano), La Risonanza/Fabio Bonizzoni (Glossa)

Feldman and Cage, Cross-Currents Festival, Birmingham

Peter Quantrill Friday, 19 February 2016

One strain of American music sprang up one evening early in 1950 from a chance encounter at Carnegie Hall, where the New York Philharmonic had played Webern’s Symphony to an audience of all-too-predictably restless patrons. Both bewitched by the Webern and upset at the response, John Cage and Morton Feldman bumped into one another as they left and stayed friends for life: now they have been reunited at a day of concerts within the new music festival hosted by the University of Birmingham.

Comment

Mahler 3, Fink, Philharmonia, Hrůša, RFH

Peter Quantrill Friday, 12 February 2016

"It’s all very well, but you can’t call it a symphony". So said William Walton of Mahler’s Third, all six movements and a hundred minutes of it. Jakub Hrůša conducted the Philharmonia last night on fine if hardly infallible form in a performance notable for its restraint in a work remarkable for the excess which raised Walton’s eyebrow.