GRAMOPHONE Review: Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition & Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 – London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda
You would surely expect an Italian to tap into the heat and ardour of Tchaikovsky’s fate-fuelled Fourth Symphony – but ‘heavy and unyielding’ is all that I took away from Noseda’s decidedly unremarkable performance. A sternness prevails…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – February 2019
With last month’s focus on a new generation of pianists in mind I am prompted to think again about something that is not often discussed with regard to international concertising: namely, not just what these exceptional young…
Claude-Michel Schönberg in conversation with Edward Seckerson
St James Concert & Assembly Hall, Guernsey Saturday 29th June 8pm The legendary composer of the musical Les Misérables visits the island where Victor Hugo wrote his classic novel. This June, Take a Left Productions will bring…
BERNSTEIN REVEALED
To mark the centenary of his birth in 2018, Leonard Bernstein enthusiasts Edward Seckerson and Tony Award nominated arranger, composer and musical director Jason Carr are joined by Olivier Award nominee Sophie-Louise Dann to celebrate the musical superman who bestrode…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – January 2019
I have often been asked if I listen to music differently when reviewing or not reviewing. It’s an interesting question. There is, you could say, a heightened level of awareness when ‘in working mode’. One listens in…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich Symphony No. 8 – London Symphony Orchestra/Noseda
I always think that the opening bars of this war-torn essay suggest the flip side, the oppressively dark side, of the Fifth Symphony. No more ‘A Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism’, simply a Soviet artist’s outrage.…
Patti LuPone in conversation with Edward Seckerson
Sunday 10th March 2019 7pm Theatre Royal Haymarket Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone sits down with writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson to talk about her rich and varied career. From her auspicious beginnings…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – December 2018
The recent revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess at English National Opera and the prospect of comparing all its available recordings in BBC Radio 3’s Record Review early next year has prompted me to look a…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Stravinsky Petrushka/Jeu de Cartes – Mariinsky Orchestra/Gergiev
Bold local colours are pretty much a given for Petrushka with this orchestra and this conductor in this location. But the vividness and ‘authenticity’ (not a word I generally use) of the characterisation took even me a…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Symphony No. 6 – MusicAeterna/Currentzis
Anyone who thrilled (as I did) to Teodor Currentzis’ Tchaikovsky Pathetique will find distinct parallels here. The impulse, the imperative, of this Mahler 6 is extraordinary – a headlong ride to the abyss with every rhythm and…
