Category: Classical Music
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Igor Levit plays Shostakovich 24 Preludes and Fugues at the Barbican review *****
Igor Levit Barbican Hall, 26th January 2020 Dmitri Shostakovich – 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op 87 If you going to be inspired by anyone to write a monumental piano piece than JS Bach is a good place to start, specifically his Well Tempered Clavier collection of 48 Preludes and Fugues.…
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Christ on the Mount of Olives: LSO at the Barbican review ****
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (conductor), Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Elsa Dreisig (soprano), Pavol Breslik (tenor), David Soar (bass), London Symphony Chorus, Simon Halsey (chorus director) Barbican Hall, 19th January 2020 Berg – Violin Concerto Beethoven – Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op 85 After a somewhat disappointing take…
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Accademia Bizantina at Milton Court review *****
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone (director) Milton Court Concert Hall, 19th January 2020 Bach the Craftsman: The Art of Fugue In which, as part of a Bach weekend curated by harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, Ottavio Dantone and his troupe of crack HIP strings play the Art of Fugue. I should probably stop there…
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Horn Calls: Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall review *****
Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor), Richard Watkins (horn), Allan Clayton (tenor) Royal Festival Hall, 16th January 2020 Carl Maria von Weber – Overture Der Freischütz Mark-Anthony Turnage – Horn Concerto (Towards Alba) Benjamin Britten – Serenade for tenor, horn & strings Richard Strauss – Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche Broke the golden rule. It…
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LSO: Beethoven and Berg at the Barbican review ***
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (conductor), Dorothea Röschmann (soprano) Barbican Hall, 15th January 2020 Berg – Seven Early Songs Beethoven – Symphony No 7 One of these Half Six Fix early start capers that Sir Si has introduced, a capital idea. A pairing of Berg with Beethoven. Sir Si being…
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prisoner of the state at the Barbican review ****
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov (conductor), Elkhanah Pulitzer (director), Julie Mathevet, Jarrett Ott, Alan Oke, Davóne Tines, BBC Singers Barbican Hall, 11th January 2020 In which American contemporary composer David Lang, co-founder alongside Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon and probably best known for his Pulitzer prize winning the little match…
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Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale at the Wigmore Hall review ***
Isabelle Faust (violin), Wies de Boevé (double bass), Lorenzo Coppola (clarinet), Javier Zafra (bassoon), Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet), Jörgen van Rijen (trombone), Raymond Curfs (drums), Dominique Horwitz (narrator) Wigmore Hall, 23rd December 2019 Bartok – Solo Violin Sonata BB124 Stravinsky – The Soldier’s Tale Curious confection this. Cut off from Russian royalties on the ballets, Stravinsky was…
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Freiburg Baroque Orchestra at the Barbican Hall review ****
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Trevor Pinnock (director), Rachel Redmond (soprano), Claudia Huckle (alto), James Way (tenor), Ashley Riches (bass), Zürcher Sing-Akademie Barbican Hall, 11th December 2019 The Tourist’s annual Messiah. Almost Billy No Mates. But eventually MSBDB1 stepped into the breach. For which many thanks as Messiah is best shared. Now…
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Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House *****
Death in Venice Royal Opera House, 3rd December 2019 Fresh from the superlative semi-staged version of Peter Grimes from Ed Gardner, the Bergen PO and assorted chums and straight into this. A top drawer new version of Death in Venice from David McVicar. I have fond memories of seeing Deborah…
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Peter Grimes at the Royal Festival Hall review *****
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner (conductor), Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Edvard Grieg Kor, Royal Northern College of Music Chorus, Choir of Collegiûm Mûsicûm, Håkon Matti Skrede (chorus master), Vera Rostin Wexelsen (stage direction) Royal Festival Hall, 30th November 2019 Let’s not waste too much time on this. For this extraordinary evening…
At Home He Feels Like A Tourist 