Classical Reviews
SCO, Ticciati, Usher Hall, EdinburghFriday, 16 October 2015
The justification for playing Brahms with a chamber orchestra is well rehearsed. In fact, I have on my desk a Telarc boxed set of the four symphonies “in the style of the original Meiningen performances”, recorded by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the visionary Sir Charles Mackerras in 1997. Then, as now, the idea was to lighten the texture and give greater prominence to the woodwind. Read more... |
Cordelia Williams, Kings PlaceWednesday, 14 October 2015
The music of Olivier Messiaen lends itself ideally to the kind of multimedia project created by Cordelia Williams. His titles tell stories of terror and redemption, Man, men, God and angels. His chords burst with colour, not only the green and gold of Christmas or the red and purple of Crucifixion but the pulsing of a slow journey, stripes of redemption, layers of wakefulness. Read more... |
Bronfman, LSO, Gergiev, BarbicanMonday, 12 October 2015
Stravinsky and Bartók both escaped Europe at the start of the second world war to live in the USA. For Stravinsky it was the start of 30 years of mostly happy exile, while Bartók was to survive for only five years. Works from their time in America featured in Valery Gergiev’s penultimate concert as principal conductor of the LSO last night. Read more... |
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Volkov, BarbicanSaturday, 10 October 2015
This Barbican concert began with a Mendelssohn overture and ended with a Haydn symphony. But on stage were the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov. What did you expect in between, a Mozart piano concerto? Not likely. Instead they gave the first performance of No.48 (night studio) by Richard Ayres. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Gesualdo, Wim Henderickx, Fleisher-Jacobson DuoSaturday, 10 October 2015
|
Tuba concerto unveiled in LiverpoolFriday, 09 October 2015
How many tuba concertos are there? How many pieces are there where the guys from the heavy battalion can really shine as soloists? Well, possibly, here is one: this was the world première of Robin Holloway’s Europa and the Bull, billed as a concertante for tuba and orchestra. It is a joint commission between the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony. But Liverpool won the toss to perform it for the first time in Philharmonia Hall. Read more... |
Johnston, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, LiverpoolMonday, 05 October 2015
If you’re going to employ tens of extra musicians for Strauss’s gigantic Alpine Symphony, it’s probably just as well that a few other "biggies" are programmed in the same concert. So it was at the Philharmonic Hall, where the Strauss shared the programme with a new orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons as well as a selection of Canteloube’s haunting Songs of the Auvergne. Read more... |
Belcea String Quartet, Wigmore HallMonday, 05 October 2015
To keep a string quartet on the road for 20 years requires patience, devotion and staying power. Therefore the Wigmore Hall's participation in the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Belcea Quartet, which is being marked in several European concert halls, is fitting testimony to the achievements of these players. Last night's concert was the first of their London series. Read more... |
Total Immersion: Henryk Górecki, BarbicanSunday, 04 October 2015
This was Henryk Górecki beyond the Third Symphony. His otherwise ubiquitous masterpiece was notable by its absence from yesterday's programme. That was surely a conscious decision, and a wise one, allowing his many other important works to come out from its shadow. Górecki turned out to be an ideal subject for the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s “Total Immersion” treatment. Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Adams, Bliss, Matthew WhitesideSaturday, 03 October 2015
|
Erkki-Sven Tüür, Brett Dean: Gesualdo Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir/Tõnu Kaljuste (ECM) 
Adams: Absolute Jest, Grand Pianola Music San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas, with Orli Shaham and Marc-André Hamelin (pianos), Synergy Vocals (SFS Media)Pages
inside classical music
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
Midnight Cowboy, Southwark Playhouse - new musical cannot es...
It seems a bizarre idea. Take a pivotal film in American culture that reset the perception of The Great American Dream at this,...
Music Reissues Weekly: Motor City Is Burning - A Michigan An...
In October 1967, John Lee Hooker released a single titled “The Motor City is Burning.” The song commented on the civil unrest which had taken...
St Matthew Passion, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, St Patr...
When you’ve already come as close as possible to perfection in the greatest masterpiece, why risk a repeat performance with a difference? Because...
Thanks for Having Me, Riverside Studios review - snappily pe...
Keelan Kember’s play Thanks for Having Me may look like a vehicle for Kedar Williams-Stirling (Sex Education, Red Pitch...
Kraggerud, Irish Chamber Orchestra, RIAM Dublin review - sto...
A lot hung upon the delivery last night of Henning Kraggerud, whom I last witnessed leading performances of Strauss’s Metamorphosen and...
theartsdesk on Vinyl: Record Store Day Special 2025
Record Store Day 2025 is tomorrow (Saturday 12th April 2025)! At theartsdesk on Vinyl we’ve been sent a selection of exclusive...
Sad Book, Hackney Empire review - What we feel, what we show...
Who goes to the theatre to feel sad? That is, knowing full well that they won’t be going home with a skip in their step. Many people, it would...
Small, Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - re...
Kahchun Wong returned to the symphony with which he made his first big impression conducting the Hallé – and made a big impression with it again...
The Amateur review - revenge of the nerd
In a world of macho super-achievers like Jack Reacher and Ethan Hunt, maybe it’s time to hear it for the nerdy guys. The Amateur (based...