Briefly… ENO’s Boheme revisited
Like all the great music theatre pieces you only really see and feel their greatness when the acting is honest, true, and sure. In the case of Puccini’s La Boheme youth is a factor, too, and when…
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannigan, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall
Vladimir Jurowski deemed this the most challenging of any programme in the South Bank’s year long The Rest is Noise festival and proceeded to tell us precisely why. That his little preamble lasted almost twice as long…
Philharmonia Orchestra, Lugansky, Petrenko, Royal Festival Hall
Liadov crafted more than his fair share of curtain-raisers – but to what end? One might imagine The Enchanted Lake – an atmospheric and beautifully scored miniature – as the prelude to an opera or full-length ballet;…
Verdi “Requiem”, Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Gatti, Royal Festival Hall
It was clear that there was an Italian on the podium. While muted strings invoked an atmosphere so crepuscular that that one involuntarily closed one’s eyes the murmur of voices intoning the words “Requiem aeternam” seemed to…
A Conversation With IAN BOSTRIDGE
It comes as no surprise that international tenor Ian Bostridge plays a significant part in EMI and Virgin Classics‘ contribution to Britten 100. In this exclusive audio podcast talks to Edward Seckerson about the man, the music,…
Sir Colin Davis – the mellowing of a firebrand
A few words of reflection on the extraordinary career of one of our most prized musical exports, a man who in his own words graduated from something of a firebrand into a wise man so mellow and…
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bronfman, Michael Tilson Thomas, Royal Festival Hall
When Schoenberg made his steroidal orchestration of Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet he saw and heard what many don’t – that Brahms was more of a radical than the music world was ready to acknowledge, that he…
A Conversation With COLIN CURRIE
The evolution of the solo percussionist has advanced dramatically over the last couple of decades and among the superstars of the hardware that can be struck and pounded or caressed and stroked is the flying Scotsman Colin…
Lionel Bart’s “Quasimodo”, King’s Head Theatre (Review)
There has never been any doubt in my mind that Lionel Bart was the quirkiest, the most extraordinary, and potentially greatest musical theatre talent that this country has ever produced. Quite apart from the scarcity of those…
Philharmonia Orchestra, Goerne, Koh, Salonen, Royal Festival Hall (Review)
We began with the most beautiful moments in all of Ravel and ended with the ugliest. For the final concert, the climax, of the Philharmonia’s revelatory Lutoslawski retrospective Woven Words the fastidious Frenchman proved the perfect framing…