THURSDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2010 PROKOFIEV “THE GAMBLER” **** Royal Opera House Like some kind of cosmic roulette wheel Prokofiev’s mighty orchestra starts whirring as the word “Casino” appears, writ large in dozens of flashing bulbs. But Martin…

THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2010 MACIEJEWSKI “REQUIEM” ** Westminster Cathedral It’s quite a story: the exiled Polish composer Roman Maciejewski tenaciously pursuing his dream to complete his “anti-war” Requiem over 15 years and across several countries and only…

WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY 2010 NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC/ GILBERT** Barbican Hall The Americanisation of Magnus Lindberg was just the beginning. The New York Philharmonic was back in town and everything – even the other Finn on the programme,…

TUESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2010 STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN/ BARENBOIM ***** Royal Festival Hall The defining moment in Daniel Barenboim’s unforgettable Beethoven/ Schoenberg experience came from hearing Schoenberg’s exquisitely epigrammatic Five Orchestral Pieces transcend period and style to form a…

FRIDAY 29TH JANUARY 2010 STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN/ BARENBOIM **** Royal Festival Hall Daniel Barenboim has earned his adoration. He could stand on one leg and whistle “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” and still bring audiences to their feet.…

TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY 2010 JOYCE DIDONATO/ DAVID ZOPEL **** Wigmore Hall When the language of love is Italian there are countless different ways of saying “Amore”. Joyce DiDonato pretty much exhausted them all during the course of…

FRIDAY 22ND JANUARY 2010 SIMON KEENLYSIDE/MALCOLM MARTINEAU ***** Wigmore Hall It was during the Hugo Wolf setting of Mörike’s “An eine Äolsharfe” (“To an Aeolian Harp”) in this marvellous Simon Keenlyside/ Malcolm Martineau recital that it became…

MONDAY 18TH JANUARY 2010 DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY & ANNA NETREBKO *** Royal Festival Hall They made for an interesting couple: he, svelte and knowing, his black velvet tails and shock of silver hair suggesting he might briefly have…

FRIDAY 15TH JANUARY 2010 STRAUSS “ELEKTRA” London Symphony Orchestra/ Gergiev Barbican Hall Watching and hearing Valery Gergiev conduct Strauss’ Elektra was truly an unholy collusion of neurotic natures. The overwhelming exposure of the London Symphony Orchestra across…

SATURDAY 9TH JANUARY 2010 BORODIN QUARTET **** Wigmore Hall The Borodin Quartet brings a lot of history to the table – 60 years, to be precise. Personnel may come and go, the balance of personalities may shift,…