Classical music
Prom 55, Ólafsson, Berlin Philharmonic, Petrenko review - stealth and sweep from the greatestMonday, 02 September 2024
Is it because the British are wary of national sentiment from a genius that this performance of Má vlast (My Homeland) is the only major London offering in Smetana’s 200th anniversary year? Supple movement, emotional range and unerring climaxes from... Read more... |
Prom 54, Ma, Ax, Kavakos review - exquisite display of humility and communicationSunday, 01 September 2024
In their lyrical, often intensely moving afternoon concert at the Proms, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos demonstrated such seamless communication that at points it was tempting to imagine that even their heartbeats were in sync. It’s an... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: conductor Dalia Stasevska on her new album of contemporary orchestral musicSaturday, 31 August 2024
Dalia Stasevska is a persuasive advocate for new music, as presented on her new album Dalia’s Mixtape. She combines a puppyish enthusiasm with a salesman’s eloquence – beneath which sits a steely self-confidence in her own artistic vision. The... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Beans, carrots and bassoonsSaturday, 31 August 2024
Antonio Pappano: Complete Symphonic, Concertante and Sacred Music Recordings Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Warner Classics)Exploring this compendious 27 CD box set has been a lot of fun. Rome’s Santa Cecilia... Read more... |
Prom 50, Fujita, Czech Philharmonic, Hrůša review - revelations where least expectedThursday, 29 August 2024
Namedrop first: it was Charles Mackerras who introduced me to the music of Vítězslava Kaprálová, lending me a CD with her Military Sinfonietta leading the way. It piqued interest, but more as a sense of promise cut short: this abundantly gifted... Read more... |
Prom 49, Kobekina, Czech Philharmonic, Hrůša review - what an orchestraWednesday, 28 August 2024
How easy it is to fall instantly in love with the Dvořák Cello Concerto. And particularly when it is played by an orchestra as fine as the Czech Philharmonic.Everything’s there in the opening minute. We get our first, wonderful. ear-wormish... Read more... |
Verdi's Requiem / Capriccio, Edinburgh International Festival 2024 review - words, music, judgementTuesday, 27 August 2024
The Philharmonia’s residency was the centrepiece of the Edinburgh International Festival’s final weekend, and it’s right that the orchestra should be the focus because they were consistently the finest thing about both their Verdi Requiem and their... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Switzerland: Lucerne and Gstaad offer curious audiences fresh perspectives on much-loved worksTuesday, 27 August 2024
The summer festival circuit in Central Europe can be a bit of a merry-go-round. Notices in festival towns promise world-class orchestras and soloists, but they are usually the same performers, making festival appearances as part of broader touring... Read more... |
Prom 44, Shani, Rotterdam Philharmonic review - impressive multi-tasking by conductor-pianistSaturday, 24 August 2024
Conducting a piano concerto and playing a piano concerto are normally two separate jobs. Not at last night’s Prom, where Lahav Shani did both – and not just in a breezy Mozart concerto, but the beast that is Prokofiev’s Third. It was quite the feat... Read more... |
Fire in my mouth, Philharmonia, NYCOS, Alsop, Edinburgh International Festival 2024 review - total work of art for our timesSaturday, 24 August 2024
Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and premiered in 2018, Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth is a multi-sensory oratorio written to commemorate the 146 workers who perished in a factory fire in what was the deadliest industrial disaster in New... Read more... |
Prom 42, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Aurora Orchestra, Collon review - a dramatic coupThursday, 22 August 2024
Hugh Masekela used to give advice for concerts like this one: “If you haven’t got tickets, turn yourself into a cockroach.” Every seat for Aurora Orchestra’s Beethoven’s Ninth by Heart Prom had already sold out on the first morning when season... Read more... |
Prom 40, St John Passion, Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki review - finesse and feelingWednesday, 21 August 2024
Bach’s St John Passion came into the world just three centuries ago, in Leipzig at Easter 1724. This year’s Proms shower of manna from musical heaven continued with a consummately polished, sensitive and – ultimately – very moving birthday... Read more... |
