COMPARING NOTES: Jenna Russell in conversation
Olivier Award-winning West End and Broadway star, Jenna Russell discusses the challenges and rewards of performing works by Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown, and the importance of nurturing innovative new musicals with Edward Seckerson.… [Read More]
Michael Ball: Voice of the People
The Independent Monday 14 April 2014 Michael Ball seems to have it all – the finest show voice of his generation, charm, good looks, swooning fans. But? In Edward Seckerson’s opinion, there are no buts. Careers in…
COMPARING NOTES: Vasily Petrenko in conversation
Vasily Petrenko, celebrated Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic (between 2013-2020), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Music Director Designate of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra discusses his new recording of Prokofiev and Myaskovsky with his Norwegian orchestra, his…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Tchaikovsky Swan Lake excs – Philharmonia Orchestra/Rouvall
Like Oliver Twist I’m left wanting more. Clearly this Suite from Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece was part of a larger concert programme serving its purpose well in the wider context – and maybe, just maybe, it was just too…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Heggie Unexpected Shadows – Jamie Barton, Matt Haimovitz & Jake Heggie
Jamie Barton’s all-embracing talent – her powerful presence, her spectacular vocal equipment – has a whole lot of Heggie to get hold of here. But there’s a whole lot of motivation, too, a bevy of inspiring women…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Mahler Das Lied von der Erde – Budapest Festival Orchestra, Fischer / Het Collectief, de Leeuw
Listening to Ivan Fischer’s account of Das Lied von der Erde so soon after nominating Jurowski’s Berlin/Pentatone recording for ‘Record of the Month’ (September) only serves to underline how pointedly Jurowski and his Berlin Radio engineers made…
GRAMOPHONE: From Where I Sit – Awards 2020 Issue
Reflecting on ‘Callow meets Rattle’ in the September issue, the theatre animal within me (some readers may be unaware that I was briefly an actor in another life) is moved to consider once more why Leos Janacek…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Russian Colours – Camerata Tchaikovsky/Zhislin
The small and perfectly formed have come into their own during the pandemic with new and existing chamber arrangements making virtue out of necessity and ensembles like Yuri Zhislin’s terrific 19-strong Camerata Tchaikovsky fashioning more of less…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Shostakovich & Muhly/Helbig/Long Cello Concertos – Jan Vogler, Mariinsky Orchestra/Gergiev & WDR Symphony Orchestra/Măcelaru
A brand new Cello Concerto – one piece, three composers, ‘three continents’. As Jan Vogler, the commissioner, puts it: ‘I’m a German, I live in America, and I’m married to a Chinese woman. My life is enriched…
GRAMOPHONE Review: Ives Complete Symphonies – Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Dudamel
The evolution of American music is chronicled right here in this quartet of symphonies. And when heard – as I did here – in a single sitting – it’s as if Ives is transitioning from the Old…
