Classical Reviews

Caractacus, Worcester Cathedral, Three Choirs Festival

stephen Walsh Thursday, 11 August 2011

“The text of Britain’s teaching, the message of the free…”. No, not the Last Night of the Proms or the Olympic Games ahead of time. This is the final chorus of Elgar’s concert-length cantata Caractacus, which was given a vigorous work-out in this star concert of the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester Cathedral under Sir Andrew Davis.

BBC Proms: Ensemble Modern, Steve Reich

Peter Culshaw Thursday, 11 August 2011

One thing became clearer to me last night – just how much Steve Reich has borrowed from world music in his compositions – we had the flamenco-tinged Clapping, Electric Counterpoint, using Central African guitar lines, and Music for 18 Musicians, a mix of West African rhythms, Indonesian gamelan and other elements.

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BBC Proms: Ott, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Oramo

Geoff Brown Tuesday, 09 August 2011

What a difference a change of scene makes. During Sakari Oramo’s 10 years at the helm of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra he wasn’t exactly diffident; but you felt you could invite him to tea without any crockery getting broken. Now, I’m not so sure. Last night at the Proms, conducting one of his three current babies, the Royal Stockholm...

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BBC Proms: Tetzlaff, BBCSO, Gardner

alexandra Coghlan Monday, 08 August 2011

This year’s Choral Sundays at the Proms are a wonderfully mixed bag. Mighty choral touchstones are represented by Mendelssohn’s Elijah, both the Verdi and Mozart Requiems and Beethoven Missa solemnis, but there’s also an enticing strand of curiosities. Looming largest among these has of course been Brian’s Gothic Symphony, but emerging now from its sprawling shadow are less obscure but no less interesting works – Britten’s Spring Symphony, and last night Mahler’s...

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BBC Proms: National Youth Orchestra, Jurowski/ Nigel Kennedy

alexandra Coghlan Sunday, 07 August 2011

Youth was everywhere to be seen at the Proms last night. Whether in the massed ranks of Britain’s National Youth Orchestra, soloist Ben Grosvenor (even younger than the precocious Benjamin Britten when he debuted his own Piano Concerto in 1938), Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, or DJ-turned-composer Gabriel Prokofiev, it was an evening celebrating the scope of the teenage experience. Even the Late Night Prom joined in the party, coming courtesy of Nigel Kennedy, still surely the oldest...

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BBC Proms: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Dudamel

Geoff Brown Saturday, 06 August 2011

Marley & Me: that’s the film about living with a neurotic dog, out now on DVD. And Mahler & Me? It could be the Gustavo Dudamel story. Conducting Mahler was what first brought everyone’s favourite Venezuelan to world attention, when he won the 2004 Mahler Competition in Bamberg.

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BBC Proms: Martinpelto, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Runnicles/ Tallis Scholars

Geoff Brown Friday, 05 August 2011

Leonard Tanner, my old choirmaster, used to say that Brahms was a composer with his feet in three different camps: the Baroque period, the Classical period, and the Romantic. Possibly he had a fourth leg too, poking into the music of the future.

BBC Proms: Little, BBCSO, Davis/ Late Night Grainger

David Nice Wednesday, 03 August 2011

June Tabor: six minutes of solo transcendentalism in the Albert Hall

They came in their thousands again last night, most – I’m guessing – for “the Elgar”. Lacking faith that Tasmin Little could fill the enormous soul of that most elusive of violin concertos – a prejudice, alas, fulfilled - I put my money on the polytonal jungle Percy Grainger grows from pastoral seeds at the heart of his wacky In a Nutshell...

BBC Proms: Les Talens Lyriques/ BBC Philharmonic, Noseda

alexandra Coghlan Monday, 01 August 2011

According to Classic FM’s managing director Darren Henley there are many people who find the term “chamber music” offputting, if not downright intimidating. Perhaps the best explanation of the genre comes from a musicologist who has termed it “the music of friends”. It’s a lovely description and one that, for the very best ensembles, can extend beyond the confines of quartets or duos to even the largest of symphony orchestras.

BBC Proms: Midori, CBSO, Nelsons

alexandra Coghlan Sunday, 31 July 2011

Andris Nelsons: a conductor whose legend proves equal to the great Alexander Nevsky

Jealousy of people who live in Birmingham is not (I venture to hazard) so widespread a phenomenon as to merit a name all its own. After last night’s Prom from the CBSO and music director Andris Nelsons however...