Albert Ehrnrooth

Journalist, photographer and social commentator.

Wood Nymphs, Countryside Songs and The Planets Prom 46

For the first time the combined forces of the Royal College of Music and the Sibelius Academy (Finland) amassed on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall. To debut in front of 5000 people must be quite a daunting experience, […]

BUDAPEST’S SEXY, AUTOMOTIVE CARMEN

An intoxicated man dressed in a white suit, wearing a panama hat enters during the ouverture. He announces that ‘Love is like Death’. I’m not sure who he is quoting, but it’s not Nietzsche, who apparently saw the opera at […]

PROM 61 BRUCKNER 4 WITH THE BAVARIANS AND RATTLE

PROM 61 Thomas Ades, Anton Bruckner, Sir Simon Rattle, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Sir Simon Rattle knows Anton Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony like the back of his hand. He had no need for a score when he conducted the work with […]

PROM 56 BERLIN PHIL’S PERFECT BRUCKNER 5

PROM 56 Sunday 1 September Berliner Philharmoniker  Kirill Petrenko Anton Bruckner’s grandiose symphonies are not everybody’s cup of Grüner Veltliner. Even now, almost 150 years since the Austrian composer wrote his Fifth Symphony, there will be people – maybe even […]

BRUCKNER WITH THE BERLIN PHIL AT THE BBC PROMS

PROM 56 2024  BRUCKNER Os Justi, Locus iste, Christus factus est, Symphony No.5 in B flat major A visit by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to the BBC Proms is guaranteed to be one of the festival’s highlights. I think their […]

Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Brahms Violin Orchestra

THE MUTTER OF ALL BRAHMS CONCERTOS

PROM 31, 11 August, London, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra The West-Eastern Divan orchestra was formed a quarter of century ago, when a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was still on the cards. The friendship between the […]

SAARIAHO’S HALLUCINATIONS, SEONG-JIN CHO’S FEATHER TOUCH

BBC PROM 27, Friday 9 August, 2024 BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Sakari Oramo Kaija Saariaho’s composition Mirage takes its inspiration from the life of Maria Sabina, a shaman and visionary of the Mazatec people in Mexico. She used chants and […]

A KINKY MADAMA BUTTERFLY IN BRATISLAVA

Seen: June 27 June, Bratislava , Slovak National Theatre Is opera an outdated genre? I urge you to see the Slovak National Theatre’s new production of Madama Butterfly and then argue that old operas have only limited relevance. The plot […]

THE YUNCHAN LIM BBC PROM

Prom 14, July 2024 will be recorded in the annals as the Yunchan Lim Prom. With the Royal Albert Hall packed to the acoustic mushroom rafters, the noise welcoming the South Korean pianist sensation was nothing short of tumultuous. In […]

CANCEL TCHAIKOVSKY’S QUEEN OF SPADES ?

Production seen June 23rd 2023 at The Grange, Northington, Hampshire From afar The Grange at Northington in Hampshire resembles a Grecian temple. But the gently rolling lawns, farmed fields, peaceful lake and trees that surround the impressive neoclassical building couldn’t […]

PROMMERS WARM TO VIKINGUR ÓLAFSSON

BBC Proms Saturday 14 August 2021 S.Prokofiev Symphony no.1,  J.S.Bach Keyboard Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056, W.A. Mozart Piano concerto no.24, D. Shostakovich Symphony no.9

Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla's conducting style is elegance embodied

MIRGA MAGIC DELIVERS THE BRITISH GOODS

BBC Proms 5 August Ruth Gipps Symphony No.2 in B major, Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel Symphony, Johannes Brahms Symphony No.3 in F major I have been sitting it out for nine months, waiting for proper concerts with a live […]

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, about 1620-25 Oil on canvas Artemisia Gentileschi

ARTEMISIA CUTS A DASH, AND A HEAD OR TWO

Artemisia, National Gallery in London 3 October 2020 – 24 January 2021 Don’t try this at home. Just try to imagine what it would be like to slice somebody’s head off with a sword. First of all,you have to make […]