Classical Reviews

Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Christopher Lambton Saturday, 25 October 2014

Is there an ideal way to programme Metamorphosen? Richard Strauss’s elegiac masterpiece requires 23 solo strings. That’s more than most chamber orchestras can muster, but with a full size symphony orchestra the piece leaves most of the players with nothing to do. In this Usher Hall concert the Royal Scottish National Orchestra chose to let Metamorphosen stand in glorious isolation before the interval.

Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Prokofiev, Shostakovich

graham Rickson Saturday, 25 October 2014

quartet-lab, Wigmore Hall

David Nice Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Musical theatre needn’t be dominated by the human voice. Instrumental dramas with an element of acting can be a good way into the wonderful world of chamber music for younger audiences, and the Wigmore Hall’s new gambit of special student tickets for contemporary music paid off with the very different crowd there last night.

Classical CDs Weekly: Mahler, Poulenc, Orbert Davis

graham Rickson Saturday, 18 October 2014

Mitsuko Uchida, Royal Festival Hall

Sebastian Scotney Friday, 17 October 2014

Pianist Mitsuko Uchida's concentration, calm and grace under pressure are an inspiration. Towards the end of the first piece on her programme, played to a packed Royal Festival Hall last night, the quiet but insistent high-pitched screech of a fire alarm kept going off. Low voices on walkie-talkies at the entrances to the hall were also audible.

Comment

Sioned Williams, Purcell Room

David Nice Wednesday, 15 October 2014

What Anne-Sophie Mutter is to the violin, Alison Balsom to the trumpet and Sabine Meyer to the clarinet, so is Sioned Williams to the harp. Though Meyer had the glass-ceiling distinction of being the first woman in the Berlin Philharmonic, Williams’s service to the BBC Symphony Orchestra has been longer (nearly 25 years so far as principal harp).

Meyer, BBCPO, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Sunday, 12 October 2014

Staying close to his Scandinavian roots, John Storgårds, principal guest conductor of the BBC Phil and chief conductor of the Helsinki Phil, is gearing up for the celebration of Carl Nielsen’s 150th birthday next year. Being the seventh child of 12, Nielsen battled his way from poor beginnings to musical eminence, serving his time on the way as a military bandsman and, for 16 years, as a violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Comment

Cargill, Yoshino, SCO, Ticciati, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Christopher Lambton Friday, 10 October 2014

“Mahler, with a chamber orchestra?” In his introduction to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s winter season brochure, principal conductor Robin Ticciati anticipates the reaction of an audience brought up to believe that a chamber orchestra leaves its comfort zone somewhere in the early 19th Century.

Comment

Mullova, Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Friday, 10 October 2014

Sir Mark Elder has a penchant for taking on large-scale works in Manchester, from operatic concert performances of Wagner and Verdi to Hollywood musicals. Following that line, he kicked off the new Hallé season with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé ballet score in its entirety, described by the composer as “a vast musical fresco faithful to the Greece of my dreams”. We are used to hearing the odd suite, but rarely the whole work.

A Night Under the Stars: Latin Spirit, Royal Festival Hall

Kimon Daltas Friday, 10 October 2014

London homelessness charity The Passage was set up in 1980 and has been growing steadily so that it now provides a day centre, short-term hostel and long-term housing in an effort to help street sleepers get their lives back on track. Its annual "A Night Under the Stars" gala concert is the central event on its fundraising calendar, and assembles an extremely high standard of musician.