piano
Ingrid Fliter, Queen Elizabeth HallWednesday, 08 June 2011
We all make mistakes. I was absent for the start of Ingrid Fliter's Tempest sonata at her Queen Elizabeth Hall debut. Fliter was absent (mentally speaking) for much of the final movement of the Appassionata. The parts of Fliter's recital that we... Read more... |
CD: Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo – Songs of Mirth and MelancholyThursday, 02 June 2011
It may have taken just three days to record, but this new duo recording from sax player Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo has 13 years of music-making behind it, dating back to when Calderazzo replaced the late, great Kenny Kirkland in... Read more... |
Set The Piano Stool on Fire: on filming Alfred BrendelWednesday, 01 June 2011
When Alfred Brendel first mentioned Kit Armstrong to me, in early 2008, I knew there was a film there. He was brimming with excitement: Kit had come to him with an interpretation of a Chopin Nocturne that displayed a command and maturity that was... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Nyman, Hallé Orchestra, Vaughan WilliamsFriday, 20 May 2011
This week we’ve some neglected British orchestral music played by the UK’s oldest professional orchestra, including a spectacular work later championed by Britten. An offbeat disc of concertos for two pianos provides scintillating entertainment. And... Read more... |
Lang Lang, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 18 May 2011
There must be at least 100 more interesting pianists in the concert world than Lang Lang, but perhaps he is just the best publicist around, because nothing else can explain why such a vacuous display as he gave last night at the Royal Festival Hall... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: De Sabata, Scarlatti, Violin/Viola DuetsFriday, 06 May 2011
This week we’ve offbeat violin and viola duets played by a renowned husband-and-wife duo, Scarlatti keyboard sonatas played on piano, and a very Italian take on Shakespeare from one of the 20th century’s fieriest conductors.Victor de Sabata: The... Read more... |
Alexander Melnikov, Wigmore HallTuesday, 26 April 2011
How important is it to hear “the composer’s intentions” at a concert? Maybe only the interpreter’s intentions are possible. The young Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov challenges the golden rule of faithfulness to source with the resources of today... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Haydn, Gershwin, Ciccolini, SheherazadeFriday, 22 April 2011
Today we’ve Easter-themed music from Haydn and a rare chance to hear some delectable Grieg played by an old master. A kitsch Russian classic is given a new slant, and two Italians have serious fun with Gershwin.Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto... Read more... |
Daniel Barenboim, Tate ModernSaturday, 09 April 2011
It had all the hallmarks of being an almighty car crash of an event. Barenboim? Chopin? Turbine Hall? You might as well have dumped the piano at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Actually, acoustically, it wasn't quite that bad. It sounded as if... Read more... |
McCoy Tyner, Ronnie Scott'sWednesday, 06 April 2011
Inspired to take up the piano by his neighbours Bud and Richie Powell, Philadelphia’s McCoy Tyner made jazz history as a member of the early-1960s John Coltrane quartet before emerging as a leader at Blue Note records. If his voicings seem any less... Read more... |
Murray Perahia, Barbican HallWednesday, 30 March 2011
Last night Murray Perahia played Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Chopin, and we heard, quite simply, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann and Chopin. Nothing more need be said, if one follows the Cordelia principle to love, and be silent.Still,... Read more... |
Soloists of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Uchida, QEHMonday, 28 March 2011
There is always a moment after you've mauled a musician in review when guilt bubbles to the surface. Your inner nursery school teacher (the little voice that thinks potato prints deserve Nobel Prizes) starts tugging at your conscience. This spell of... Read more... |
