Classical Reviews
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... |
A London Saturday with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Pavel Kolesnikov, Samson Tsoy and friends - reviewMonday, 21 September 2020
Even bigger things have happened to Sheku Kanneh-Mason since I last saw him performing alongside his contemporaries in the Fantasia Orchestra – That Royal Wedding, for instance, and a Decca contract. Yet it looks like he will always have the wisdom to hurry slowly. Read more... |
Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall/Hill Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review – seamlessness inside and outThursday, 17 September 2020
An early hero of lockdown, livestreaming from his Berlin home in terrible sound at first, Igor Levit is a supreme example of how adaptable musicians can survive in times like these. Read more... |
Alban Gerhardt, Markus Becker, Wigmore Hall review - long shadows and rich soundsTuesday, 15 September 2020
It wouldn’t be true to say I’d forgotten what a solo cello in a fine concert hall sounds like; revelation of an admittedly sparse year will undoubtedly remain Sumera’s Cello Concerto played by young Estonian Theodor Sink at the Pärnu Music Festival in July. Read more... |
Maggini Quartet/Friend, Solem Quartet, Bandstand Chamber Festival review - in harmony with natureMonday, 14 September 2020
Music going back to nature, or rather the managed nature of a London park, can make you think and feel quite differently about great composers’ responses to the world around them. Read more... |
Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber, Wigmore Hall review – revelatory Schubert welcomes audiences backMonday, 14 September 2020
“It’s SO good to be back,” said Catherine Bott, and it would be impossible to disagree with her. She was presenting the livestream of the first concert to be performed in front of an audience at Wigmore Hall since March. Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Aurora Orchestra, Collon review - down memory laneFriday, 11 September 2020
The Aurora Orchestra’s trademark expertise in playing symphonies from memory arguably reached new heights this week as they tackled Beethoven’s Seventh, first in performances with a live audience and then, yesterday, in an empty Royal Albert Hall for what’s left of the Proms. Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Grosvenor, Evans, Philharmonia, Järvi review – energy and sparkleThursday, 10 September 2020
Unlike the other two Proms I’ve reviewed this season, last night’s by the Philharmonia did not have any bells and whistles when it came to the staging, nor did it explore the edges of the repertoire. Read more... |
BBC Proms live online: Romaniw, BBCNOW, Bancroft - creating 'hwyl' with no audienceWednesday, 09 September 2020
I’ve been missing the sound of applause. That realisation dawned on me on the couple of occasions when it broke out spontaneously in last night’s Prom. There was no audience at Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, so these particular bouts of hand-clapping were coming from the orchestral musicians of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Read more... |
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