Classical Reviews
Ehnes, BBC Philharmonic, Wilson, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - contrasts from the 1930sMonday, 15 April 2019
John Wilson conducted Vaughan Williams’ Fifth Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester just over a year ago with great success, in a programme of music from the 1940s. This time it was the very different, troubled Fourth, and the context was British composition. Read more... |
JACK Quartet, Wigmore Hall review – superlative Elliott Carter quartetsMonday, 08 April 2019
At Wigmore Hall the JACK Quartet presented the complete Elliott Carter string quartets in a single day – an astonishing feat given the scale and complexity of the music. Read more... |
Voces8, Cadogan Hall review – masterful madrigal singing and moreFriday, 05 April 2019
The vocal octet Voces8, approaching its 15th anniversary, is a purring musical machine: vocally top-notch, precisely and exhaustively rehearsed, imaginative in repertoire and equally at home in Monteverdi and Duke Ellington. And if the classical items grabbed me more than the kitsch swing numbers they ended with, there is no denying the whole concert was put together with panache and musical excellence. Read more... |
Judith, Royal Festival Hall review - a musical curiosity gets a rare airingThursday, 04 April 2019
If Gilbert and Sullivan did the Bible it would sound a lot like Hubert Parry’s Judith. Premiered in 1888 and last heard in London a year later, the oratorio – whose principal claim to fame is as the original home of tearjerker hymn tune Repton, better known as “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind – has been lovingly restored to life by conductor William Vann and the English Song Festival, who will record it with Chandos later this year. Read more... |
Bach St John Passion, OAE, Rattle, RFH review – earnest devotionsWednesday, 03 April 2019
We live in a secular age, or so we’re told. Yet we seem to need rituals, the age-old practice and province of religion, as much as ever. Read more... |
Melzer, Albion Quartet, Birmingham Town Hall review - songs without wordsWednesday, 27 March 2019
This was a fascinating, unexpected prospect; instantly appealing to anyone who’s ever wondered about the string quartet’s niche in the 21st-century musical ecosystem. Read more... |
Biss, Philharmonia, Boyd, RFH review – compulsive life-forceTuesday, 26 March 2019
Mozart in E flat (the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro) and in G (the K.453 Piano Concerto), and Schubert in C – the “Great” C major Symphony, no less – ushered spring into the Festival Hall on a warm and sunny... Read more... |
Soltani, LPO, Gardner, RFH review – disciplined and dynamic accountsMonday, 25 March 2019
No successor has yet been named to Vladimir Jurowski as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic, so it is interesting to note that Edward Gardner is making several appearances with the orchestra this season. The two conductors are similar in their dynamic approach and brisk, efficient tempos. Read more... |
Vasari Singers, Backhouse, St Bride’s Fleet Street review - rarely heard choral classic soarsSaturday, 23 March 2019
London performances of Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir are like Meaningful Votes: you wait a long time for one, then they come in clusters. After last night’s Vasari Singers performance, there is only three weeks till the London Concord Singers put this choral monster in front of the voting public again. It remains to be seen if John Bercow steps in to prevent even more. Read more... |
Bach St John Passion, Les Arts Florissants, Christie, Barbican review – sombre but engagingWednesday, 20 March 2019
William Christie kicked off Passion season in London this year with a particularly sombre reading of the St John. Read more... |
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