Classical Reviews
Ragged Music Festival review - musical utopia in an East End schoolroomTuesday, 06 October 2020
A muse of fire descended on the top floor of a former warehouse in the East End, unextinguished by the rain which fell almost continuously outside during the four stupendous concerts – three advertised, one a generous bonus – of the Ragged Music Festival. Read more... |
Bryn Terfel, Britten Sinfonia, Barbican review – a moment of re-connectionMonday, 05 October 2020
This concert by Sir Bryn Terfel and the Britten Sinfonia, the very first concert given at the Barbican in front of an audience since 15 March, was surely in need of some stronger explanation than that offered by the blurb for the evening, namely “comfort and familiarity” and a “remedial tonic of an evening.” Read more... |
Istanbul International Music Festival online review – East-West flair and finesseSaturday, 03 October 2020
Salzburg, Verbier and other high-end festivals have scraped together reduced, still impressive programmes over the summer for consumption online. Read more... |
Danny Driver, Wigmore Hall review - ingenious sleight-of-handFriday, 02 October 2020
Like many musicians, Danny Driver had not given a recital since the pandemic took hold in March. Read more... |
Viktoria Mullova, Misha Mullov-Abbado, Fidelio Orchestra Cafe review - a rainbow of brilliant artistryThursday, 01 October 2020
There should eventually be a plaque on the outside of the Fidelio Orchestra Café in Farringdon, to the effect that London’s musical life after lockdown re-ignited here. And how, in early July, with Steven Isserlis exuberantly stepping up to play Bach before a rapt small audience. Read more... |
Bach’s The Art of Fugue, Angela Hewitt, Wigmore Hall – the many voices of humanityTuesday, 29 September 2020
How do they do it? Read more... |
Academy of St Martin in the Fields review - from solo meditations to collective celebrationsMonday, 28 September 2020
Clearly it takes peculiar circumstances for some of us to hear the Academy of St Martin in the Fields within its eponymous church – that’s a first for me. The lure was considerable. Read more... |
Castalian Quartet/Elizabeth Llewellyn, Simon Lepper, Wigmore Hall review - out of this worldFriday, 25 September 2020
Songs of the beyond versus the profundity of the here and now struck very different depths in the Castalians’ evening concert at the Wigmore Hall and Elizabeth Llewellyn’s recital with equal partner Simon Lepper the following lunchtime. It was good to have the very human anchoring of Haydn’s “Emperor” Quartet, Op. 76 No... Read more... |
Finley, LPO, Gardner, Royal Festival Hall (p)review - special magic ready for streamingThursday, 24 September 2020
There was a rainbow over the Royal Festival Hall as I crossed one of the Hungerford foot bridges for the first time in six months. The lights and noises inside did not betray the augury. Was it the sheer hallucinatory pleasure of being within the auditorium with a handful of other spectators watching and hearing a full orchestra after what felt like a lifetime? Read more... |
Gillam, Miloš, Wigmore Hall review – charismatic performers, charming playingTuesday, 22 September 2020
My first time back in a concert hall since March was also, more significantly, the first time back for last night’s Wigmore Hall performers, guitarist Miloš Karadaglić and saxophonist Jess Gillam. Read more... |
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