London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall
The Austro-Hungarian connection loomed large but it was the Hungarian bloodline which bound this typically shrewd Vladimir Jurowski programme – and out of the Trannsylvanian twilight came Peter Eötvös like a latterday Bartok. Shadows owes much to…
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Nézet-Séguin, Royal Festival Hall
Fashion is a strange thing. There was a time when the César Franck Symphony was popular core repertoire. All the greats performed and recorded it – Monteux, Bernstein, Karajan. Suddenly it was out of vogue – obsolete,…
Juan Diego Florez, Vincenzo Scalera, Royal Festival Hall
Ten years is a lifetime in singing and since his London recital debut, courtesy of Ian Rosenblatt, Juan Diego Florez has achieved superstar status in that highly specialised corner of the bel canto repertoire demanding suppleness and…
London Symphony Orchestra, Khachatryan, Gergiev, Barbican Hall
Valery Gergiev’s survey of the Tchaikovsky symphonies began here on a chilly January night with youthfully idealistic “Winter Daydreams” thrown into the sharpest relief against a disillusioned and angry Shostakovich whose own journey into the bleak mid-winter…
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Hough, Fischer, Royal Festival Hall
The Hungarian Presidency of the EU and the start of the Liszt Bicentennial – two very good reasons for some of Hungary’s (indeed the world’s) finest – the Budapest Festival Orchestra – to party. And bringing Esterhazy…
Love Never Dies…twice
Thinking back to the much-publicised revamp of Boublil and Schonberg’s Martin Guerre (with which Cameron Mackintosh cunningly succeeded in giving jaded critics a second bite at a great score whilst not actually fixing the show) I am…
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Kavakos, Wildner, Royal Festival Hall
There are a handful of examples that I can think of where an unknown conductor has stepped in at the eleventh-hour and created an overnight sensation. This was not one of them. And yet, credit where it…
National Youth Orchestra, Jarvi, Barbican Hall
It was as audacious as it was challenging: a programme to wreak havoc on sensitive dispositions – and because this was the National Youth Orchestra there was something incredibly liberating about the welter of sound that unleashed…
London Symphony Orchestra, Douglas, Roth, Barbican Hall
Programming Liszt is like counting calories: you can blow your entire month’s intake in less than an hour. Whoever thought of pairing the Symphonic Poem Mazeppa with the 2nd Piano Concerto – presumably the conductor Francois-Xavier Roth…
Humperdinck, Hansel and Gretel, Royal Opera House
The moment of truth in any staging of Hansel and Gretel must be the Dream Pantomime which closes act one. This is the director’s moment, the moment where the entire premise of the production finds fulfillment in…