Classical music
Fröst, Philharmonia, Lazarova, Kuusisto, Southbank Centre review - congenial new works complemented by live-wire classicsFriday, 24 March 2023
Anna Clyne’s engaging First Person here led me to two of her works in a Philharmonia rainbow. She curated a woodwind-based gem of a 6pm programme of works by four women composers, herself included, and her Clarinet Concerto could only gain from two... Read more... |
First Person: Donatella Flick on why the conducting competition in her name is needed more than everThursday, 23 March 2023
What are the qualities that make a great conductor? It’s something that has been debated for years, brought into focus recently not least because of Cate Blanchett’s award-winning performance as fictional maestra Lydia Tár. Despite what you may... Read more... |
The Chevalier, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - virtuoso journey into a shamefully neglected pastWednesday, 22 March 2023
Shimmeringly urbane, shifting effortlessly from intricate agility to muscular intensity, the music of the 18th century composer Joseph Bologne is remarkable not least in the fact that it has remained an obscure part of the repertoire for so long.... Read more... |
First Person: Anna Clyne on composing collaborations, not battles, in her latest concertosWednesday, 22 March 2023
Collaboration fuels a lot of my music – I love the interaction that takes me outside of my natural tendencies – it’s a source of inspiration and an opportunity to see my own music and creative process through a different lens.This past season I had... Read more... |
Osborne, RSNO, Chan, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - cinematic sweep and surging dramaTuesday, 21 March 2023
Two women featured prominently in this programme; the one a composer and the other a conductor.To the composer first. Long before she hit New York big time, Anna Clyne was at Edinburgh University, so there’s a strong link with Scotland that the... Read more... |
Amidon, Clayton, SCO, Kuusisto, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - profuse and outstanding musicianshipSaturday, 18 March 2023
On paper, the formula shouldn’t be that special. Really good music played by really good people is hardly a groundbreaking concept; but in actuality it’s seldom found with such honesty and diversity as in Pekka Kuusisto’s recent residency with the... Read more... |
Axing the BBC Singers: four associated musicians on why it's so wrongFriday, 17 March 2023
Sent by a surely reluctant BBC PR, an ardent choral singer and supporter of new music, last Tuesday’s email had a title to make one groan: “New Strategy for Classical Music Prioritises Quality, Agility and Impact”. Very W1A. But this was no laughing... Read more... |
Mahler’s Third Symphony, Philharmonia, Paavo Järvi, RFH review - phosphorescent glow, depths only glimpsedFriday, 17 March 2023
This longest, wackiest and most riskily diverse of Third Symphonies became Esa-Pekka Salonen’s personal property during his years as the Philharmonia's Principal Conductor. His successor, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, has (in)famously said he’s not... Read more... |
Bernstein's Mass, RNCM, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - a happening, a demo, an achievementTuesday, 14 March 2023
Leonard Bernstein’s Mass has something of the nature of what might have been called a “happening” at the time he wrote it. It was 1971, and it was created for and premiered at the opening of the Kennedy Center in Washington.It’s set for very large... Read more... |
Nonclassical: The Greenhouse Effect, Barbican Conservatory review - enjoyable freestyle happeningMonday, 13 March 2023
It would seem unfitting to report on Nonclassical’s event – happening? – in the Barbican Conservatory on Sunday with anything resembling a conventional review. So instead I shall treat this free-form “experience” to a non-sequential response, in the... Read more... |
Classical CDs: Goblins, tailors and an errant knightSaturday, 11 March 2023
Eleanor Alberga: Wild Blue Yonder (Navona Records)This is a belated review for an album that came out in 2021, but one well worth a retrospective appraisal. Eleanor Alberga (b.1949) is a British-Jamaican composer, perhaps best known for her... Read more... |
St Mary’s Music School, RSNO, New, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - a cornucopia of delightsWednesday, 08 March 2023
This evening brought to mind those marathon 19th century concerts when Beethoven would unleash a handful of new symphonies and a couple of piano concertos on an unsuspecting public.The programme in Edinburgh's Usher Hall began at 6pm with a... Read more... |
