Two Piano Quintets here. culminating in César Franck’s – though both are so emotionally charged that it could have been the other way around – suggesting that this concert may have been a late tribute to that composer after his bicentenary last year. But it certainly reminded that this Quintet (1879) is one of the great …
If, in some sense, Schubert’s three song-cycles can be taken as a trilogy (even if not intended as such when composed) then the first, Die schöne Müllerin (1823) represents youthful ardour and naivete receiving its first lessons in the emotional complexities of real life. That was realised adroitly by Simon Bode’s generally direct and well-projected performance, singing with …
Wigmore Hall – Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin with Simon Bode and Igor Levit Read More »
At this point in the calendar, a little over halfway between Christmas and where Easter falls this year, it was apt to be reminded in Messiaen’s substantial cycle on the infant Jesus, that the appearance of God on earth wasn’t ‘just for Christmas’ as it were, but in the Christian story served the much more serious purpose of …
Wigmore Hall – Reinis Zariņš plays Messiaen’s Vingt Regards Read More »
In the midst of his appearances at the Royal Opera House in its staging of Handel’s oratorio Theodora, Jakub Józef Orliński gave this recital of sacred arias from the Baroque period, hitherto largely unknown until rediscovered from their manuscript sources in recent times and seldom heard. Handel featured as the composer of the final item, …
Wigmore Hall – Jakub Józef Orliński with Il Pomo d’Oro – Sacred Baroque arias Read More »
There was a wry (intentional?) irony in programming this Serenata on 6 January. In the Christian calendar that is the feast of the Epiphany – the formal end of the Christmas season which marks the joyful occasion of the Magi’s arrival to the Christ child and is celebrated by the Church as the (first) manifestation …
There’s something wonderful about the way these two artists interact. They listen to every momentary nuance that the other brings to any rendition and adjust their own accordingly, and to telling effect. The first half of the programme was a rather intense affair with the brooding songs of Opus 32 followed by the Four Serious Songs (Opus …
Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber at Wigmore Hall – Brahms Read More »
