Chanda is a pianist, vocal coach, recording artist, accompanist, eBook creator, masterclass organizer, teacher and PhD candidate who lives, works and plays in Vienna, Austria. For more on Chanda and all her many crazy projects, click here.
Whether one prefers more raw emotion and large-scale architecture or is thrilled by perfectly sculpted individual masterpieces, this was undeniably chamber music of the highest order.
Osborn absolutely lives the part; he negotiated formidable heights, intricate passage work and the sheer volume of notes with style and clarity as well as colour and nuance.
Despite some fascinating, impressive and often beautiful moments, the consistent refusal to give the audience time to applaud, pause and digest what they had just heard turned the evening into a wash of death songs.
Grimaud married incredible precision and rigour with moving sensitivity and ease. She led the listener clearly through the score without dropping a detail, but never gave the feeling that she was micro-managing.
Hagen, the first chapter in the Theater an der Wien's reimagining of The Ring, features music from Das Rhinegold and Götterdämmerung woven seamlessly together, telling the story from the perspective of Hagen, son of Nibelung dwarf, Alberich.
Hannigan plays with expectations, opening with a single spotlight after a complete stage blackout to dramatic effect, and I am pretty sure she was rocking slippers on stage.
