Articles by Madelaine Jones | by Bachtrack for classical music, opera, ballet and dance event reviews

Madelaine Jones

Madelaine is a pianist and writer studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. As a winner of the Gladys Puttick Improvisation Competition as part of a dance-piano duo, she has an active interest in cross-arts collaboration. Visit here to find out more.

Showing 19 items

The Rest is Noise: America – but not as we know it

By Madelaine Jones, 22 February 2013

When we think of America, Dvořák and Milhaud are not among the first set of composers to come to mind, but it turns out they deserve to be among the second.

****1

English exiles return to St John's Smith Square

By Madelaine Jones, 05 February 2013

While early English Baroque is not an area of music which generally comes to mind when we think of controversial composers, it seems that the scores of composers we now associate with purity and conventionalism had their own streaks of radicalism in their time, political and otherwise, and a fair few were exiled.

*****

From tragedy to pastoral scenes: RPO at Cadogan Hall

By Madelaine Jones, 28 January 2013

Brahms, Chopin, Beethoven: the programme of he Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's most recent Cadogan Hall concert, under the baton of Fabien Gabel, was unashamedly mainstream. The opening item of the programme was the Brahms Tragic Overture. The opening strident chords managed to be agitated yet pensive, interrupted silence hanging in the air as each note dissipated once more.

****1

Stephen Hough explores Brahms and Schumann at the Barbican

By Madelaine Jones, 22 January 2013

There are very few musicians who could lay claim to a MacArthur Fellowship, and even fewer pianists, but then it seems that Stephen Hough is no ordinary pianist: writer, composer and recognised polymath, Mr Hough’s phenomenal playing skills still find time to shine alongside his many other extraordinary talents, and his performance at this recital was no exception.

*****

A tour of British music: Clyne, Britten and Elgar with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

By Madelaine Jones, 14 January 2013

Britain is a country not often historically associated with great composers, repertoire or music: apart from the occasional early music programme peppered with Purcell or production of Peter Grimes, there is a great tendency to overlook British classical music, both past and present, in favour of its Germanic and Slavic cousins.

****1

Speech to song: The London Philharmonic Orchestra plays Brahms and Zimmermann

By Madelaine Jones, 05 December 2012

A German Requiem and two German composers sounds like your standard concert menu, but this concert was an interesting juxtaposition of two very different halves, the first filled by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s little-heard Ecclesiastical Action, and the second by the much-loved, much-performed German Requiem by Brahms.

****1

Mark van de Wiel and Endymion play Brahms

By Madelaine Jones, 26 November 2012

Whenever Brahms is mentioned, songs and symphonies often come straight to mind: after all, the man was the master of all things symphonic, even his piano sonatas being called “veiled symphonies” by his mentor, Schumann.

****1

Dances, variations and New Worlds with the RPO, Nowak and Julian Steckel

By Madelaine Jones, 07 November 2012

It is not often you can say that the conductor’s outfit was as ornate and charming as the billed programme, but the entrance of a silver-coated Grzegorz Nowak proved that even a conductor’s first bow can be the perfect aesthetic prelude to an evening of similarly silvery, charming music.

***11

Russian rue and revelry with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

By Madelaine Jones, 18 October 2012

Beginning with a work sprung from the minds of not one, but two great Russian composers, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Litton opened their latest distinctly Slavic programme at the Southbank Centre with Rimsky-Korsakov’s revised version of Mussorgky’s Night on Bare Mountain.

****1

Tragedy and triumph: Brahms and Szymanowski from the LSO

By Madelaine Jones, 17 October 2012

For the 2010/11 season, the London Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Valery Gergiev, made a point of extensively exploring the works of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Shostakovich and Shchedrin. For the 2011/12 season, it was Tchaikovsky and Stravinksy. This year, Gergiev has opted for a flavour of both Western and Eastern European music, juxtaposing the symphonic giant Brahms with another four-symphonied companion, the often overlooked Szymanowski.

****1

Fanfares and Finland: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall

By Madelaine Jones, 20 September 2012

What do you get when you cross Teutonic drama, Finnish sentimentality and Russian grandeur? The answer, it seems, as displayed by conductor Enrique Bátiz the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in their latest Cadogan Hall concert, is a vibrant and exciting evening of music.

****1

Pierre Fournier Award Winner's Concert at the Wigmore Hall: Mikhail Nemtsov

By Madelaine Jones, 15 September 2012

The memory of Pierre Fournier is one not many would dispute as anything but an inspiration to even the most well-established cellists on the scene today: the highly acclaimed cellist was, among other things, known for his supreme tone quality and musicality; he sadly passed away in 1986.

****1

Prom 56: Knussen conducts Knussen

By Madelaine Jones, 27 August 2012

In days gone by, if you went to see a Mahler Symphony, you wouldn't feel you’d had the full experience unless Gustav himself was waving the baton. Nowadays the privilege of watching a composer conduct his own work is a somewhat rarer one, though fortunately not yet a completely extinct practice, and watching Knussen’s Symphony No.

****1

Beijing comes to London: Beijing Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall

By Madelaine Jones, 31 July 2012

Mention Beijing in London at the moment and some allusion to opening ceremonies, sports or medals will undoubtedly follow (with an optional grumble about the transport system tagged on the end).

****1

Stephen Farr opens Westminster Abbey's Summer Organ Festival 2012

By Madelaine Jones, 19 July 2012

It is often said that the concert hall is the sanctuary of musicians and music lovers alike: frequent concertgoers flock to their favourite venues as regularly as Sunday service, dressed in their finest and observing the sacred rites and rituals of the classical concert.

****1

Monteverdi meets Stravinsky: Old and new at the Wigmore Hall

By Madelaine Jones, 09 July 2012

It is not often you find Monteverdi and Stravinsky snuggled side-by-side on the same programme, but that was exactly what was packed into the latest instalment of The Bostridge Project: ‘Ancient and Modern’ series at the Wigmore Hall.

***11

Valentina Lisitsa's Royal Albert Hall Debut

By Madelaine Jones, 22 June 2012

With more than 30 million YouTube channel views, there is simply no doubt that Valentina Lisitsa is already a classical music star to contend with.

*****

Trotovšek and Misumi: A duo to watch out for

By Madelaine Jones, 18 June 2012

‘Schubert’s A minor’ is a prefix that rolls off the tongue of concertgoers everywhere with the comfortable familiarity of a home-cooked meal.

****1

Conversation and Music with Karl Lutchmayer: Beethoven and his Legacy

By Madelaine Jones, 12 June 2012

Many musicians would be grateful enough to know that a concert would one day be held in honour of their music, let alone their shadow, but the legacy of the great Mr. Ludwig van Beethoven was deservedly the focus of the final Conversational Concert of this series with pianist and lecturer Karl Lutchmayer.

****1

Read about our authors here

Showing 19 items