Mozart
theartsdesk at the Istanbul Music Festival: East and West in perfect balanceWednesday, 14 June 2017
The time is out of joint for Turkey at the moment, but it’s still a country equally split between those looking to the west for the culture of ideas and the more conservative element which at least needs its voice respected. They co-exist peacefully... Read more... |
Chineke! Orchestra, Brighton Festival / Saleem Ashkar, Wigmore HallMonday, 08 May 2017
Anyone who missed the opening Southbank concerts of the Chinike! Orchestra, figurehead of a foundation which aims to give much-needed help to young Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) classical musicians, could and now can (on YouTube) catch snippets of... Read more... |
Wosner, Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Kings PlaceSaturday, 06 May 2017
For most pianists, playing the Ligeti Piano Concerto would be enough exertion for one night, to be followed by a stiff drink and some down time. Not for the tireless Shai Wosner at Kings Place last night. By the time the Ligeti came along, not only... Read more... |
theartsdesk on the Seine: a second new concert hall for ParisFriday, 05 May 2017
It's funny how Parisians grumble about any major new venue which lies outside their chic central stamping ground. First they moan about having to trundle out to the Philharmonie concert hall in the Cité de la Musique, and now they look as if they'll... Read more... |
The First Commandment, Classical Opera, St John’s Smith SquareWednesday, 22 March 2017
Isn’t it funny? You wait ages for an opera by an eleven-year-old and then two turn up at once. The world’s feature journalists descended on Vienna at Christmas for a new take on Cinderella by Alma Deutscher. What they heard, for what it’s worth, was... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Oslo: Mozart beneath a Munch sunWednesday, 15 March 2017
Leif Ove Andsnes directing two great Mozart piano concertos from the keyboard may be the chief attraction when the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra comes to London's Cadogan Hall on Friday to celebrate its 40th birthday. It was certainly the bait which... Read more... |
Tara Erraught, Ulrich Pluta, James Baillieu, Wigmore HallWednesday, 08 March 2017
As a scan through the 17-year list of Rosenblatt Recitals quickly reveals, sopranos and tenors come and (often as not) go. Much rarer is the opportunity to enjoy the gifts of a mezzo-soprano near the start of what should, all things being equal, be... Read more... |
Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Takács-Nagy, RNCM, ManchesterFriday, 03 March 2017
Manchester Camerata give relatively few old-fashioned concerts these days – I mean the sort that are done in purpose-built concert halls, with a conductor, soloist and conventional orchestra strength – because they’re busy crossing boundaries and... Read more... |
Juan Diego Flórez, Vincenzo Scalera, Symphony Hall, BirminghamWednesday, 22 February 2017
“Who says Mozart is not like Rossini?” remarked Juan Diego Flórez, about a quarter of an hour into his debut recital at Symphony Hall. “There are seven high Cs in this aria.” And with a flicker of notes from the pianist Vincenzo Scalera, he was off... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Rome: Bartoli and Pappano on home turfMonday, 06 February 2017
Wherever you are in the world, opportunities to see Cecilia Bartoli perform are hard to come by. A one-off chance to see her sing Mozart in Rome was not to be missed. This was a rare homecoming for Bartoli. Born in Rome, she studied at the city’s... Read more... |
Mitsuko Uchida, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 01 February 2017
Mitsuko Uchida specialises in elegant, if uncontroversial, interpretations of core Austro-German repertoire, yet she’s never predictable, and every performance is full of unexpected insights and welcome surprises. Mozart and Schumann stand at... Read more... |
Summerfield, Jackson, Riches, Classical Opera, Page, Wigmore HallWednesday, 18 January 2017
Young Amadeus is growing up in real time with MOZART 250, Classical Opera's ambitious 26-year project following its hero's creative life from childhood to the grave. 2015's start, marking two and a half centuries since the boy wonder's first visit... Read more... |
