Classical music
Planting seeds for change: Helen Wallace on a year of seminal events at Kings PlaceWednesday, 08 January 2020
When I mention Nature Unwrapped, a year-long series at Kings Place subtitled "Sounds of Life", the responses are often tinged with cynicism: "Oh, very 2020", "So, what’s the carbon footprint with all those musicians flying in?" There’s an assumption... Read more... |
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Martín, Barbican review - songs of protest and resilienceMonday, 06 January 2020
In youth we trust. That can be the only motto worth anything for 2020, as the world goes into further meltdown.So it was startling, stunning and cathartic, two days after the big downer of 3 January – the American horror clown seemingly in... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Schubert, Shostakovich, Berlinskaya-Ancelle Piano DuoSaturday, 04 January 2020
Schubert: Symphony No 9 Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Maxim Emelyanychev (Linn)There’s a telling photo of Maxim Emelyanychev on page 11 of Linn's booklet, the conductor beaming at the camera, the body language suggesting he's having a hard time... Read more... |
Best of 2019: Classical CDsSaturday, 28 December 2019
Classical CDs are still with us, even if the shops that sell them are rarer than hens’ teeth. Maybe this article should be renamed Downloads of the Year, or Cream of the Streams? That people are still listening to good music at all is a cause for... Read more... |
Best of 2019: Classical concertsFriday, 27 December 2019
It says so much for the cornucopia of London's classical music scene alone that all five of the most recent concerts I've attended have made the long list for best of 2019. I'll settle for two. The anger and violence of Vaughan Williams's Fourth... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Conductor Olari Elts in TallinnSunday, 22 December 2019
Arriving in Tallinn hotfoot from Paavo Järvi's inaugural concert as chief conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, and expecting the limelight to belong to composer Erkki-Sven Tüür on his 60th birthday, I found another Estonian bonus in store. Not... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas CDs 2Saturday, 21 December 2019
Schütz: The Christmas Story Yale Schola Cantorum/David Hill (Hyperion)Heinrich Schutz’s parents did their best to dissuade him from becoming a professional musician in 17th century Dresden, arguing that a legal career was a better option.... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Zurich and Tallinn: celebrating great EstoniansThursday, 19 December 2019
Culturally, "the little country that could" - as Estonia's ex-Prime Minister and historian Mart Laar dubbed it - punches well above its weight. While it educates the young with a musical instrument made available to every child, Estonia continues to... Read more... |
Ex Cathedra, Skidmore, Coventry Cathedral review - Christmas calm and contemplationTuesday, 17 December 2019
As they celebrate their 50th year, Ex Cathedra have brought their much loved Christmas music by candlelight concerts to churches all across England, before giving five concerts in the run up to Christmas at St Paul’s in the Jewellery Quarter, in... Read more... |
Hewitt, Clein, Aurora Orchestra, Ward, Kings Place review – rise and shineMonday, 16 December 2019
Why does music suddenly disappear? It is all the more heartening when a work as excellent and enjoyable as Louise Farrenc’s Symphony No 3 takes wing once more, but you do have to wonder how in the world such a terrific orchestral piece was... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Christmas CDs 1Saturday, 14 December 2019
Bach: Christmas Oratorio Thomanerchor Leipzig, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Gotthold Schwarz (Accentus)Another year, another new Bach Christmas Oratorio. This one is happily among the best, its plus points including a slimmed down Leipzig... Read more... |
Cargill, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - high anxiety and visionary gleamsFriday, 13 December 2019
What a jolting coincidence that one of the 20th century's angriest symphonic beasts should have a rare unleashing on a night of high national anxiety. Whether Vaughan Williams spewed forth his Fourth Symphony in response to darkening European clouds... Read more... |
