Classical Reviews
Kristian Bezuidenhout, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Wigmore Hall review - fires of LondonWednesday, 23 November 2022
A dream pairing of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and early-keyboard wizard Kristian Bezuidenhout marked St Cecilia’s Day at the Wigmore Hall with a programme that celebrated music made not in the Black Forest but beside the Thames. Read more... |
Leif Ove Andsnes, Wigmore Hall review - brooding richness and fiery fervourTuesday, 22 November 2022
Leif Ove Andsnes has a distinctive voice at the piano; clear, controlled and powerful. He sits upright; his body barely moves, and his head sways gently to the melodies. But he never loses himself in the music, he is always in control. Read more... |
Roderick Williams, Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall review - sunshine and serenityMonday, 21 November 2022
The Nash Ensemble’s concerts dedicated to “Beethoven and the Romantics” not only trace the flowering of the Romantic spirit in music from the Vienna of the 1800s through a continent and across the century. They also give a place at the top table for works by once-sidelined helpmeets of the movement’s giants: Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler. Read more... |
Mahler 9, BBC NOW, Stenz, St David's Hall, Cardiff review - passionate without bloodshed on the rostrumSaturday, 19 November 2022
What a fascinating work Mahler's Ninth Symphony is! Marvellous and astonishing as well, of course. But these qualities are, so to speak, written into the score (did Mahler ever compose anything not designed to astonish?). Read more... |
Watts, Williams, The Bach Choir, Philharmonia, Hill, RFH review - Vaughan Williams, from decadence to metaphysicsSaturday, 19 November 2022
David Hill, long-term driving force of the Bach Choir which Vaughan Williams sang in for 18 years before becoming its music director in 1921, claims VW as “a quintessentially English composer”. Read more... |
Psappha, Hallé St Peter’s, Manchester review - pioneers of today’s music undauntedFriday, 18 November 2022
Manchester's champions of contemporary music, just stripped of support by Arts Council England, are undaunted and last night continued doing what they do best. A small ensemble of virtuoso players brought a large and appreciative audience at Hallé St Peter’s a set of four challenging pieces, with a world premiere and a UK premiere among them. Read more... |
El Gran Teatro del Mundo, St John's Smith Square review - a diverting tour of an unusual musical formTuesday, 15 November 2022
In some ways the concerto da camera was the 18th-century music equivalent of the hatchback – only slightly larger in scale than a basic chamber work but with an ambition that allowed it to carry ideas associated with more substantial structures. Read more... |
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - nine haute cuisine courses, twelve happy musiciansMonday, 14 November 2022
How do they do it? Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective ticks all the boxes of diversity and reaching out to all ages without needing to draw attention to it all. The answer is quite simple: the repertoire – in Saturday’s morning and afternoon concerts, French chamber music both known and unfamiliar – is beautifully chosen and programmed, the performers all born communicators as well as musicians at the highest level. Read more... |
Pioro, Julien-Laferrière, BBC Philharmonic, Schwarz, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - joy on a Saturday nightMonday, 14 November 2022
This was at first sight a somewhat ordinary looking programme for the BBC Philharmonic: Beethoven, Brahms … even Stravinsky doesn’t frighten a Saturday night audience in Manchester these days. Read more... |
Ott, LSO, Stutzmann, Barbican review - highways to hell (and back)Friday, 11 November 2022
In a Renaissance artist’s studio, a wannabe master proved his skill by drawing a perfect circle. Perhaps playing Beethoven’s A minor Bagatelle (aka “Für Elise”) as an encore should count as the pianist’s equivalent. At the Barbican last night, Alice Sara Ott did just that with the ubiquitous ring-tone earworm. Read more... |
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...
Death in Paradise Christmas Special, BBC One review - who ki...
Though Death in Paradise is an Anglo-French production filmed in Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies, the Frenchness seems to have...
Albums of the year 2024: Everything Everything - Mountainhea...
There are some years where my pick for album of the year is obvious; something stands out so...
Music Reissues Weekly: Hawkwind - X In Search Of Space, Dore...
One of last year’s major joys was the box set version of Hawkwind's Space Ritual, an 11-disc extravaganza which made the great live album...
Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Theatre review - comic ener...
It is not just Twelfth Night, it’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will in The Folio,...
Blu-ray: Hitchcock - The Beginning
There's a tension in Alfred Hitchcock’s early films between misogyny and condemnation of...
Albums of the Year 2024: Samara Joy - Portrait
From placing first in the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Jazz Competition in 2019 to being a triple Grammy winner, Samara Joy’s rise has been...
Nutcracker, English National Ballet, Coliseum review - Tchai...
No new production of a beloved old ballet can please everyone, and there is none more beloved, or more frequently produced, than ...
You Me Bum Bum Train, secret location review - a joyful mult...
This feels like the theatrical equivalent of being in a centrifuge – a wild, spinning ride...