Concert Reviews

This is Rattle: Helen Grime curates
The installation of Simon Rattle as LSO supremo continued apace with this Britten Sinfonia concert put together – or, as we must say these days, curated – by Helen Grime,...
106 All-Stars: Opening Concert of the New York Philharmonic’s 2017-18 season – Jaap van Zweden conducts Mahler 5
Neville Cardus called Mahler’s Fifth Symphony “one of the seven wonders of the symphonic world.” Listening to its passage from tragedy to joy can be a thrilling experience and was...
Senza sangue & Bluebeard’s Castle at Hackney Empire, conducted by Peter Eötvös
The Hackney Empire shares an architect with the Coliseum but is a relatively intimate venue, here further reduced in size by the removal of the stalls seats to allow for...
Classical Opera/The Mozartists at Wigmore Hall
Ian Page realised that Classical Opera is no longer a suitable name for his concert chamber orchestra, therefore The Mozartists is the name under which its new identity was launched...
This is Rattle: Thomas Adès curates
Part of the extraordinary celebrations for the arrival of Sir Simon Rattle at the helm of the LSO, this programme put together by Thomas Adès was typically varied. Certainly, given...
Ebracher Musiksommer – Gerd Schaller conducts Bruckner’s Third Symphony
The comparison between Bruckner’s Third Symphony as presented in Nowak’s score of the ‘third version’, 1889, and that published by Rättig in 1890 reveals only minor but nevertheless interesting differences...
This is Rattle – Simon Rattle conducts the LSO in Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust
Sir Simon Rattle pulled off a remarkably vigorous account of The Damnation of Faust, all the performers producing an electrifying response to both Berlioz and the conductor – any thoughts...
The Grange Festival 2017 – Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park – Martha Jones, Henry Neill; directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans; conducted by David Parry
Jonathan Dove’s Jane Austen opera Mansfield Park was first performed in 2011 in a touring production with piano-duet accompaniment from Heritage Opera (which also opened the 2011 Grimeborn season), and...
This is Rattle: Oliver Knussen curates
Two nights ago Simon Rattle in his first concert as music director of the LSO included pieces by Helen Grime, Thomas Adès, Harrison Birtwistle and Oliver Knussen. In turn they...
Woyzeck in Winter [Barbican Theatre]
Schubert’s Winterreise has come in for its share of performance enhancement – Ian Bostridge filmed in an asylum, Peter Pears filmed looking like a glum Sherlock Holmes, Simon Keenlyside in...
Göteborgs Symfoniker – Opening Concert of the 2017-18 Season – Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts Sibelius’s Kullervo
“A new symphony, completely in the Finnish spirit” (Sibelius), Kullervo has found a currency of acceptance largely denied to it during the composer's lifetime. Following the Helsinki premiere at the...
This is Rattle – LSO opening concert of the 2017-18 season – Simon Rattle conducts Helen Grime, Thomas Adès’s Asyla, Oliver Knussen & Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and Christian Tetzlaff plays Harrison Birtwistle’s Violin Concerto
“This is Rattle” – a rather inelegant title, and also needlessly rammed home on screens either side of the platform that for me was a pain in the eye. Simon...
Doric String Quartet at Wigmore Hall – The first three Quartets of Haydn’s Opus 20
Expressiveness is the basis of the Doric Quartet’s approach to Haydn. Every phrase is carefully shaped and presented in a most meaningful way. As a result, slow movements often have...
Bampton Opera at St John’s Smith Square – Salieri’s La scuola de’ gelosi/The School of Jealousy
Not seen in London since its original performance in 1786, Salieri’s The School of Jealousy returns under the infectious zeal of Bampton Classical Opera. It continues the company’s concentration on...
The Royal Opera – David McVicar’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; conducted by Julia Jones
Here in its sixth revival since 2003 is David McVicar’s rather dark-hued conception of Die Zauberflöte and which still provides an evening of both intelligence and geniality. Cleverly, the pantomime...
BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Recital at Wigmore Hall – Sophie Bevan & Sebastian Wybrew
Sophie Bevan and Sebastian Wybrew kicked off the latest season of BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Recitals at Wigmore Hall, a programme of mostly twentieth-century song which offered much more variety...
The Royal Opera – Puccini’s La bohème – Nicole Car, Michael Fabiano, Mariusz Kwiecień, Simona Mihai; directed by Richard Jones; conducted by Antonio Pappano
Once you have got used to his trademark stylisations and visual jokes, Richard Jones has also always revealed a cleverly tailored affection for whichever opera he is directing, but it...
Russian State Opera at Cadogan Hall – Puccini’s Tosca
The Russian State Ballet and Opera certainly works hard for a living. Its schedule for this autumn is all-round Britain, and this indefatigable touring company has been doing much the...
Wigmore Hall – Opening Concert of the 2017-18 Season – Robin Tritschler & Julius Drake
It fell to Robin Tritschler to step in at twenty-four hours’ notice for an indisposed Gerard Finley to open Wigmore Hall’s 2017-18 season. It took a few songs before the...
British Youth Opera at Peacock Theatre – Mozart’s Don Giovanni
In its thirtieth year, British Youth Opera offered, as usual, the opportunity to come across some talented young singers. Here there was the bonus of a rare chance to experience...
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