Beethoven
Crowe, BBCSSO, Volkov, BBC Proms review - shining light on history and heritageFriday, 27 August 2021
Minds in Flux is the largest of this season’s Proms commissions, and last night it afforded a rare chance for UK audiences to hear work of George Lewis outside the often insular new-music and avant-garde improvisation circuits. As a trombonist-... Read more... |
Benedetti, National Youth Orchestra, Heyward, BBC Proms review – stirring sounds of changeSunday, 08 August 2021
In a normal year, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain descends mob-handed on the Royal Albert Hall for a Prom that complements the sheer quality of the young musicians’ work with joyful, raucous, roof-raising quantity. I recall a... Read more... |
Brauss, BBC Philharmonic, Gernon, BBC Proms review - surprises and miracles in storeWednesday, 04 August 2021
Two nights after the Scottish Chamber Orchestra had brought the first great E flat major symphony to the Proms – Mozart’s 39th – a serendipitous change of programme on Tuesday gave us the second: Haydn’s “Drumroll”. An equally serendipitous change... Read more... |
Carducci Quartet, Wigmore Hall review - complexity and depthMonday, 12 July 2021
This programme was a bit of a calling card from the Carducci Quartet. They have previously recorded all three works, and the three composers, Haydn, Shostakovich, Beethoven, clearly play to their strengths. Add to that a modest running time, the... Read more... |
Bronfman, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review – celebration around C majorSaturday, 05 June 2021
One of the many things we’ll miss when Esa-Pekka Salonen moves on from his 13 years as the Philharmonia’s principal conductor will be his programming. For this first of his farewell concerts, he’s not only chosen what he loves but made sure it all... Read more... |
First Person: Boris Giltburg on lockdown interruptions to filming Beethoven's 32 piano sonatasMonday, 03 May 2021
About a year ago, in a distant pre-pandemic world, I remember walking down Edgware Road one cold London evening. I was heading towards Jaques Samuel Pianos, my favourite haunt in London, to meet filmmaker Stewart French from Fly On The Wall. There,... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Dramatic symphonies, medieval bagpipes and a solo bassoonSaturday, 10 April 2021
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, Piano Concerto No. 4, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra/Lahav Shani (piano and conductor) (Warner Classics)Poor Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year saw most of the projected live events cancelled, but good new... Read more... |
Levit, Berlin Philharmoniker, Paavo Järvi, Digital Concert Hall review - optimal light and darkTuesday, 09 March 2021
It seems right that (arguably) the greatest orchestra in the world has (unarguably) the best livestreaming and archive service. Thanks to a vital musicians’ Covid testing set-up, the Berlin Philharmoniker is even more supreme online now that it can... Read more... |
Zimerman, LSO, Rattle, LSO St Luke's review - rainbow colours, continuity and imperial soaringFriday, 18 December 2020
Adaptability backed up by funding has been the course of the most successful musical organisations since mid-March – but it’s been especially tough from November onwards. One abrupt lockdown meant that anything scheduled to be performed before a... Read more... |
First Person: conductor Johannes Vogel on Beethoven’s Ninth as re-orchestrated by MahlerThursday, 17 December 2020
Think of the finale at a big fireworks show: the anticipation; the build up. There is nothing bigger than the Ninth Symphony. It is the climax of this year’s Beethoven celebrations. A year ago, no-one would have expected 2020 to be turned upside... Read more... |
Gabriele Carcano, Fidelio Orchestra Cafe - fresh, funny and focused BeethovenMonday, 14 December 2020
Perhaps it’s just the conventional mind which celebrates the pathos, tragedy and triumph in Beethoven’s music at the expense of his humour. And that’s the one aspect of the composer which has been a constant revelation – to me, at any rate – in his... Read more... |
Fidelio, Opera North online review - less is really moreMonday, 14 December 2020
Adaptability is the name of the game for big companies in the music business now. And Opera North’s streamed presentation of Beethoven's Fidelio from inside Leeds Town Hall is a prime example of just how adaptable things need to be.The orchestra is... Read more... |
