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 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 […]
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 […]
WORLD-BEATING DANISH COLLECTION OF FRENCH ART
Gauguin and the Impressionists, seen at the Royal Academy of Arts, London (until 18 October 2020) Pictures from the Danish ‘Golden Age’ of art (first half of the 19th century) and Vilhelm Hammershøi’s understated, almost stark interiors have this century […]
GOLDEN AGE INFLUENCER NICOLAES MAES AT THE NG
London’s National Gallery and The Hague’s Mauritshuis museum have put together the first exhibition in the UK devoted to Nicolaes Maes, a Dutch Golden Age painter who deserves to be more well-known. Even in the Netherlands Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693) is […]
NATIONAL GALLERY REOPENS AND REINVENTS ITSELF
Do you think you know London’s National Gallery? Think again. The museum has reopened, now that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is deemed to have passed. But all visitors are still expected to wear a face mask. You will […]
ART CONQUERS ALL, THE SHOW MUST GO ON
This is my second report from TEFAF Maastricht, the world’s foremost art fair for antiques and design. In my previous blog I mentioned a number of blockbusters, both quality- and price-wise. In this article I am concentrating on some personal […]
TEFAF BATTLES COVID-19 VALIANTLY, AND WINS
Back home after two riveting days at the TEFAF antiques & fine arts fair in Maastricht and my head is still buzzing. No, it’s not the coronavirus that’s affecting me. When I am trying to process thousands of exquisite objects […]
HAITINK HAS HUNG UP HIS BATON AND BOOTS
BBC Proms 3 September 2019 Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4, Bruckner Symphony No.7 Vienna Philharmonic, soloist: Emanuel Ax, conductor: Bernard Haitink Last year it was announced that Bernard Haitink was going to take a sabbatical. A sabbatical at 90? It turned […]
WAS SIBELIUS A FOLKIE?
BBC Prom 20, August 3 2019 Violin Concerto and Symphony 5. J. Sibelius, violinist: Pekka Kuusisto, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard Where did Sibelius find the wonderful, hummable themes and melodies for his violin concerto and his fifth symphony? […]
A FINER SELF-PORTRAITIST IS HARD TO FIND
Helene Schjerfbeck at the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, Royal academy , London. On until 27 october 2019 How many Finns with an artistic bent can you mention? I don’t blame you if you can just think of two and at a […]
THE SIXTEEN MAKE BELSHAZZAR A FEAST
Belshazzar by Georg Friedrich Händel seen at The Grange Festival, Northington, UK, July 4, 2019 Bizarrely this is the first professional production of Händel’s oratorio Belshazzar (1744) in the UK. It is true that oratorios originally weren’t intended to be […]