Prokofiev
Alexander Ivashkin Memorial Concert, Queen Elizabeth HallFriday, 13 February 2015
A memorial concert to a busy man. Alexander Ivashkin, who died last January, was a cellist, a scholar, a teacher, an authority on Russian music, and much else besides. This evening’s concert faced up to the daunting challenge of commemorating the... Read more... |
Romeo and Juliet, Moscow City Ballet, Cambridge Corn ExchangeMonday, 05 January 2015
The question with Moscow City Ballet is: should I judge them on what they are, or on what they claim to be? The touring company, a self-supporting private enterprise, takes productions of classic ballets (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake et al) round... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Christina SandsengenSaturday, 06 December 2014
Prokofiev: Symphonies 1 and 2, Sinfonietta Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits (Onyx)Only two of Prokofiev's seven symphonies seem to be performed with any regularity. Of the remainder, nos. 2 and 4 remain the shadiest, so it's... Read more... |
Chung, Kenner, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 03 December 2014
In one way, it makes sense to give your London comeback concert in the venue where you made your European debut 44 years ago. Yet the Royal Festival Hall is a mighty big place for a violin-and-piano recital. Kyung Wha Chung had no problem nearly... Read more... |
Tsujii, RLPO, Petrenko, Philharmonic Hall, LiverpoolFriday, 21 November 2014
The knots on the purse-strings have certainly been untied at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and it was good to hear another world première in less than a week. This time it was the turn of Michael Torke, the composer of Ecstatic Orange and Yellow... Read more... |
Betrothal in a Monastery, Maryinsky Opera, CardiffMonday, 03 November 2014
It’s one of the ironies of life and art that Prokofiev’s tenderest and most romantic opera was composed at a time when he was abandoning his wife in favour of a Moscow literature student half his age. Betrothal in a Monastery is a setting... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bach, Prokofiev, ShostakovichSaturday, 25 October 2014
Bach: Partitas 1-6 Igor Levit (piano) (Sony)Martin Geck's sleeve essay accompanying this pair of discs is a good read, hinting at the subtleties and complexities lying just below the surface of what may, superficially, look like six simple... Read more... |
Bavouzet, LPO, Jurowski, Royal Festival HallThursday, 25 September 2014
Comparisons, even on paper, between two season openers from London orchestras could hardly have been more instructive. I didn’t attend Valery Gergiev’s London Symphony Orchestra concert last week, for reasons several times outlined on theartsdesk.... Read more... |
Cinderella, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera HouseMonday, 18 August 2014
It sure feels like longer than three weeks since the Mariinsky rolled into town – at least if you’re one of London’s ballet fans. Non-balletomanes might be wondering whether the feverish intensity with which the company’s doings are followed, its... Read more... |
Prom 33: Schwizgebel, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, GardnerMonday, 11 August 2014
After the European Union Youth Orchestra hit unsurpassable heights last week, the Proms plateau of excellence remained available to another youth carnival of weird and wonderful 20th century monsters. If the EUYO showed us that Shostakovich’s... Read more... |
Romeo and Juliet, Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera HouseTuesday, 29 July 2014
One of the reasons I always tell ballet sceptics to give Romeo and Juliet a go is that any production with halfway decent lovers and a vaguely competent rendition of Prokofiev’s score should convince them that this art form isn’t just about swans... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Soprano Kristine OpolaisTuesday, 17 June 2014
The best that you can usually expect from an interview is that it takes off from stock beginnings in spontaneous and unexpected directions. This one was rather exciting from the start: the end of a day in the life of a new role, Puccini's good-time... Read more... |
