Classical Reviews

Simon Trpčeski, Wigmore Hall

Jessica Duchen Sunday, 20 July 2014

No man is a prophet in his own land – except possibly the Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski. In the UK he shot to fame upon winning the London International Piano Competition in 2001 and at home he has become a national hero, his efforts rebooting the country’s classical music scene and inspiring the building of a new full-scale concert hall in Skopje – even though he is still a mere 35. He is also celebrated there as a popular songwriter.

Comment

First Night of the Proms, BBCSO, Davis, Royal Albert Hall

David Nice Saturday, 19 July 2014

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” To fill the Albert Hall – where a sizeable number of participants are standing, of course, in the best place – as handsomely as this, and as clearly, takes some work.

Comment

Classical CDs Weekly: Hartmann, Mahler, Vaughan Williams

graham Rickson Friday, 18 July 2014

Classical CDs Weekly: Per Nørgård, Stephen Hough, The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments

graham Rickson Friday, 11 July 2014

Daneman, Bostridge, Drake, Middle Temple Hall

Sebastian Scotney Thursday, 10 July 2014

Temple Music's enterprising song series, directed by pianist Julius Drake, brought a welcome rarity to Middle Temple Hall last night. Schumann's Myrthen, the garland of twenty-six songs dedicated to his intended bride Clara Wieck, are seldom heard in a complete performance. Even with an interval in the middle, they serve as a reminder of the power and sheer emotional range of Schumann's music.

Comment

Pinnock's Passions, Handel's Garden, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Kimon Daltas Tuesday, 08 July 2014

The latest in a series of "Pinnock’s Passions" concerts at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse saw the doyen of period instrument performance lead a delightful exploration of Handel the musical borrower, entitled "Handel’s Garden". As Trevor Pinnock writes in the programme notes, "throughout his life as a composer he had the habit of taking cuttings, transplanting and grafting from works old and new".

Classical CDs Weekly: Turina, Rorem, Rhos Male Voice Choir

graham Rickson Friday, 04 July 2014

Jordi Savall, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Sebastian Scotney Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Jordi Savall has spent half a century combining instrumental performance on the viola da gamba with being the leader of ensembles of pioneering scholarship. Now in his early 70s, he has certainly had the recognition he deserves: a Grammy (he has made over a hundred albums), an honorary professorship (he has taught since 1974), and the Légion d'Honneur. These days he is also a prominent public figure supporting the “Catalunya should have the right to vote” campaign.

Crowd Out/Death Actually, Spitalfields Music Summer Festival

David Nice Sunday, 22 June 2014

“I feel so alone I could cry”. As the keynote of Adam Smallbone’s Passion in the breathtaking third series of Rev, that unspoken sentiment provided a passacaglia bass line to the failure of St Saviour’s.

De la Salle, LSO, Luisi, Barbican

Edward Seckerson Friday, 20 June 2014

It is not often we hear Bruckner’s colossal Eighth Symphony in its longer and far quirkier original version (1887 ed. Nowak) and when we do hear it in either of its two incarnations it invariably stands alone.