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 […]
BERNSTEIN IN ALL HIS GLORY (SLAVA)
Prom 60, Royal Albert Hall, 27 August 2018 Does Leonard Bernstein 28 years after his death really need an advocate? In this country we are particularly keen on celebrating or commemorating the births and deaths of composers. In March it […]
HALLÉ AT THE PROMS: WAGNER, DEBUSSY AND STRAVINSKY
The Hallé is one of Britain’s oldest orchestras and it is no surprise that they have championed many compositions at an early stage, before they became true classics. The orchestra’s founder, Charles Hallé, put Wagner’s Tannhäuser overture on the repertoire […]
SAMSON AT HÄNDEL FESTSPIELE HALLE
Sunday 27 may 2018, Handel Festival Halle The late-Gothic Ulrichskirche in Halle (Saale) has been a concert hall since the 1970s and the massive concert organ is now a bit of a feature. It is not old, but if you […]
WAR AND PEACE IN HALLE, DIDONATO WINS
Händel Festspiele Halle 2018, 26 May, 2018 Georg-Friedrich Händel Halle Correct me if I am wrong, but surely the Kansas-born mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is our generation’s biggest opera diva. On top of that a prima donna who doesn’t put on […]
BERENICE FINALLY CONQUERS HÄNDEL FESTSPIELE
The Handel festival has taken place on an annual basis in the composer’s birthplace Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, since 1952. This year’s premiere of the original Italian version of the opera Berenice means that all of Georg Friedrich Händel’s 42 operas have […]
FINLAND CELEBRATES ITS CENTENARY
The BBC Symphony Orchestra with its Finnish chief conductor Sakari Oramo at the helm will perform an all-Sibelius programme at the Barbican hall in London on the 6th of December. This is a significant date for a small state that […]
A MUSIC JEWEL IN BUCHAREST
Bucharest is not a place you fall in love with straight away. It might take a few days. Or, as in my case, a return visit. Seventy years ago the monarchy was abolished and instead a Romanian People’s Republic was […]
A GRANDIOSE CLASSICAL MUSIC FEST IN BUCHAREST
The biennial Enescu festival is a classical music fest with a difference. In my previous blog I have tried to explain why it is so unique and absurdly grandiose. In that sense it is reminiscent of the Palatul Parlamentului ( […]
CLASSICAL MUSIC STARS GALORE IN BUCHAREST
The Enescu Festival, 2-24 September, Bucharest, Romania The 23rd edition of the George Enescu festival has just finished. This biennial event held in the Romanian capital Bucharest manages to be both bizarre and totally marvelous. Bizarre because when it comes […]
YOUNG MUSICIANS SCALE THE HEIGHTS AT VERBIER FESTIVAL
I am not surprised that so many musicians return to the Verbier Festival year after year. The top soloists probably don’t get paid as much as they normally would get for a concert, but the real carrot is that they […]