Classical Reviews
Verdi Requiem, Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus, Gergiev, Barbican HallThursday, 05 April 2012
After conducting two performances of Parsifal since Saturday and one of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, most human beings would be spending a day curled up at home. But Valery Gergiev doesn’t know what carpet slippers look like. Besides, he’s currently on tour in Britain with his Mariinsky Opera forces, and he’s conducting nothing but blockbusters. Last night, Verdi’s Requiem in London. On Good Friday, it’s the epic Parsifal again, in Birmingham. Read more... |
Mahler Eighth, Mariinsky Orchestra/Gergiev, Wales Millennium CentreMonday, 02 April 2012
Gergiev’s second Cardiff concert was thematically linked to his first. Mahler’s Eighth Symphony shares with Parsifal a certain kind of solipsistic religiosity that talks about God in the way some people talk about their ancestors. We don’t really need them any more, but they make us feel important. One approaches both works with mixed feelings (some, with actual distaste). But in the end one usually has to admit: art conquers, and God is not (altogether) mocked. Read more... |
Fischer, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Dutoit, Royal Festival HallSaturday, 31 March 2012
If Dr Frankenstein wanted to manufacture the perfect violinist, he’d require a long list of ingredients. Perfect, unfussy technique, of course; but also seriousness of purpose, a sense of humour, a clear head, a passionate heart, a generous tone, plus access to a Stradivarius. On the other hand, the good doctor could simply go out and find Julia Fischer, the 28-year-old German violinist who ticks almost all of the above boxes, except perhaps “sense of humour”. Read more... |
The Spirit of Schubert: Hughes, BBC Philharmonic, Mena, Media City UK, SalfordFriday, 30 March 2012
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Only the last umpteen hours left of BBC Radio 3’s The Spirit of Schubert marathon. After some 200 hours of broadcasting to mark the 215th anniversary of his birth, Franz can perhaps be left to rest easy for a while. The poor chap has been scrutinised, analysed and turned inside out this week. Read more... |
War Requiem, Philharmonia Orchestra, Maazel, Royal Festival HallMonday, 26 March 2012
In this, the work’s 50th anniversary year, there will be a lot of War Requiems. Benjamin Britten’s howl of Pacifist conviction has lost little of its poignancy since its composition – a period marked by the almost continuous military presence of British forces abroad. Read more... |
Vengerov, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Temirkanov, Barbican HallSunday, 25 March 2012
Originally, this concert was to open with that mercurial wonder Martha Argerich playing an unspecified piano concerto. Then its first item became Martha Argerich not playing anything, for the good lady, almost as rare a visitor to Britain as the Man in the Moon, did what she’s famous for doing. She cancelled. Acting with award-winning panache, the Barbican then found a substitute artist who’s recently become even rarer, the violinist Maxim Vengerov. Read more... |
AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, Penderecki, Barbican HallFriday, 23 March 2012
I don't much like aspirational music-making. I like my classical classical and my pop pop. Give me Boulez over Bernstein, Britney over Radiohead, any day. Having said that, I'd heard a piece by Jonny Greenwood at Reverb last month that had gone some way to winning me over. For a brief moment, Greenwood dropped the avant-garde pose that he's adopted for most of his other classical compositions and indulged in a bit of tender-hearted Romanticism that was nothing if not charming. Read more... |
Kaufmann, CBSO, Nelsons, Symphony Hall, BirminghamThursday, 08 March 2012
There was a lovely narrative to last night's CBSO concert. Read more... |
Maurizio Pollini, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 07 March 2012
Their bicentennial years may have been and gone, but even Mazeppa’s wild horse wouldn’t be able to stop the world’s top pianists playing Chopin and Liszt almost every month. Last night Maurizio Pollini and his aristocratic art returned to the Royal Festival Hall for a recital featuring both composers, each on either side of the interval. Read more... |
AV Festival, Newcastle/ Heiner Goebbels's Surrogate Cities, RFH/ London Contemporary Orchestra, Brunt, The RoundhouseMonday, 05 March 2012
It's often more fun on the margins. The pickings are richer. The view is clearer. You can take aim easier. The AV Festival has spent more than eight years here, on the counter-cultural edges, delving into the divisional cracks between art, music and film. Read more... |
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