Category: London
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SCO Winds at Wigmore Hall review ****
Scottish Chamber Orchestra Wind Soloists Wigmore Hall, 12th February 2018 Beethoven – Sextet in E flat, Op 71 Poulenc – Sonata for clarinet and bassoon Beethoven – Octet in E flat, Op 103 A rare opportunity for completists to hear performances of Beethoven’s Sextet and Octet written for wind instruments.…
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Colder Than Here at Guildhall School Milton Court Studio review *****
Colder Than Here Milton Court Studio, 13th February 2018 Another visit to see the final year actors at the Guildhall School take on a fascinating contemporary play. Another excellent production laced with outstanding performances. Even better than the production of Edward Bond’s Saved, (Saved at Guildhall School Milton Court Studio…
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Saved at Guildhall School Milton Court Studio review ****
Saved Milton Court Studio, 10th February 2018 Now one of the manifold pleasures of being a layabout theatre addict is the ability to pitch up midweek to one of the invariably excellent performances served up by the students at London’s prestigious drama schools. Outstanding talent, likely to go on to…
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Stravinsky from the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall review ****
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Alexander Ghindin (piano) Royal Festival Hall, 7th February 2018 Igor Stravinsky – Scherzo fantastique, Op 3 Igor Stravinsky – Funeral Song, Op 5 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, Op 30 Igor Stravinsky – The Firebird (original version) My favourite concert of…
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Out of Love at the Orange Tree Theatre review ****
Out of Love Orange Tree Theatre, 6th February 2018 The second of the three co-productions with Paines Plough and Theatre Clywd and, for me, somewhat more persuasive than Black Mountain (Black Mountain at the Orange Tree Theatre review ***), though very different in subject and scope. Mind you, in both…
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Black Mountain at the Orange Tree Theatre review ***
Black Mountain Orange Tree Theatre, 5th February 2018 The latest in a long string of ambitious, but not outrageously so, projects from the OT, this time commissioned in conjunction with trusty partners Theatre Clywd and Paines Plough. Three plays, in rep, from OT favourites, Brad Birch, Elinor Cook and Sarah…
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Nicola Benedetti and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Marin Alsop, Nicola Benedetti Royal Festival Hall, 4th February 2018 Beethoven Symphony No 4 in B flat Beethoven – Violin Concerto in D major “Stardom” in the classical music world is a curious thing. To get there ideally you need to be a…
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John at the National Theatre review *****
John National Theatre (Dorfman), 6th February 2018 I would be very wary of playwright Annie Baker if I were you. She will bewitch you. Magical powers. That is the only way to explain John. Nothing really dramatic happens, the setting doesn’t change and the words, initially at least, seem quite…
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Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir at Milton Court review ****
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putnins (conductor) Milton Court Concert Hall, 30th January 2018 Arvo Part Solfeggio Summa Magnificat Zwei Beter The Woman With the Alabaster Box Nunc dimittis Dopo la vittoria Cyrillus Kreek Onnis on inimene (Blessed is the Man) Psalm 104 Jonathan Harvey Plainsongs for Peace and Light…
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Darkest Hour film review ****
Darkest Hour, 30th January 2018 I wonder when they decided? Is it what the producers demanded at the outset? Was it always there in Antony McCarten’s script? Did director Joe Wright, (who has shown in his stage work at the Young Vic with Life of Galileo and A Season in…
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The Open House at the Print Room Coronet review ***
The Open House The Print Room Coronet, 27th January 2018 Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, Sam Shepherd, Lillian Hellman. All succeeded at writing a Great American Play, or in some cases Plays, about dysfunctional families. In an entirely naturalistic way. It is the meat and…
At Home He Feels Like A Tourist 