Classical music
A masked elegy: portraits of string players at the Fidelio Orchestra CaféFriday, 07 August 2020
Out of a silent and empty City of London, unusually still even for a Sunday afternoon, it felt surreal to come upon a centre of light and activity. Raffaello Morales, Renaissance man, conductor of the Fidelio Orchestra and owner/impresario of its... Read more... |
'Rehearsing Beethoven with Barenboim felt like an historical moment': Vienna Philharmonic trombonist Kelton Koch on a new normalMonday, 03 August 2020
Joining the Vienna Philharmonic as a student and young professional was an absolute thrill. I had begun to play with the orchestra as an academist in October 2019 and as a full-time member in the Opera in January 2020. I was experiencing many “... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Bruckner, Elgar, ProkofievSaturday, 01 August 2020
Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 Australian World Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle (ABC Classics)I love Bruckner’s mature symphonies, but they still baffle me. Mostly in terms of how certain performances work, or don’t work, and the near-impossibility of... Read more... |
Louis Schwizgebel, Fidelio Orchestra Café review – gilt-edged postcards from around the worldFriday, 31 July 2020
A front-rank pianist only takes on Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in full confidence of being able to handle the massive bells and blazing chants of its grand finale, “The Great Gate of Kiev”. To risk it in a far from large café space adds to... Read more... |
Pavel Kolesnikov, Fidelio Orchestra Café review – a Chopin cosmosMonday, 27 July 2020
There is genius not only in the rainbow hues of Pavel Kolesnikov’s playing but also in the way his chosen programmes resonate. He’s given us interconnected wonders from across the centuries, but chose to focus on the greatest of composers for the... Read more... |
theartsdesk at the Pärnu Music Festival 2020 – great live orchestra, ecstatic audienceSaturday, 25 July 2020
“At the Pärnu Music Festival 2020” were words I never expected to type. A fortnight ago Estonia finally upped its non-quarantinable country rate from 15 to 16 infections in every 100,000 people (the UK was then on 15.9; our unfathomable Foreign... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Sir John BarbirolliSaturday, 25 July 2020
Sir John Barbirolli – The Complete Warner Recordings (Warner Classics)This month marks the 50th anniversary of Sir John Barbirolli’s death, one of several British conductors who dominated the UK’s post-war record industry. Barbirolli made most... Read more... |
BBC Lunchtime Concerts from Glasgow's City Halls, BBC Radio 3 review - a feast for ears if not for eyesMonday, 20 July 2020
After the success of BBC Radio 3’s live lunchtime broadcasts from the Wigmore Hall, live music is now kicking off again north of the border, with four concerts broadcast from City Halls, Glasgow, presented by Kate Molleson. Sadly, due to "unforeseen... Read more... |
First Person: Christopher Glynn on how the Ryedale Festival flows onSaturday, 18 July 2020
An invitation: come to the Ryedale Festival. It's never been easier. All you need is a screen and an internet connection. Because our festival, along with others up and down the land, is waiting in the wings, ready (just) to step out for the first... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Ives, Plakidis, ShostakovichSaturday, 18 July 2020
Ives: Universe, Incomplete (Accentus DVD)Charles Ives’s Universe Symphony, conceived for 4,000 musicians positioned on different mountain tops, never saw the light of day. Sketches for the work span his creative life, some made as late as 1948... Read more... |
Classical music/Opera direct to home 21 - from large-scale memories to chamber-music streamingFriday, 17 July 2020
It seems a shame that large-scale organisations can’t be more flexible when government guidelines shift. True, the arts couldn’t jump at two days’ notice when outdoor events were licensed by our ever-vacillating government. The BBC Proms could have... Read more... |
Kanneh-Mason, Philharmonia, Wilson online review - light in darknessFriday, 17 July 2020
Presenting online concerts has been a Matterhorn-steep learning curve for the music sector. Now, after a few months in which imaginations have been tested to the limit, it’s becoming clear what works and what doesn’t. All the more power, then, to... Read more... |
