Guide to Bohuslav Martinů

Is there any instrument more bittersweet than the viola? The violin does the acrobatics, the cello is more conventionally beautiful, but the viola sits in the middle of the orchestral palette like no other instrument. Neither high nor low, it’s perfectly placed to embody the contradictory and the conflicted, ideal for a sense of desire denied or of fulfilment deferred.

Top notch musicianship from the Schubert Ensemble in their final appearance at King’s Place. 

Conductor Tomáš Netopil combines the best of two worlds at the Dvořákʼs Prague festival.

The effervescent conductor took six little-known Czech works into another ether: one in which the footprints are invisible.

It was a successful program that showed off the considerable range of a talented and charming troupe.

Ludovic Morlot and Seattle Symphony wrap up their two-year Beethoven cycle with a new perspective on the Fifth, by way of Bohuslav Martinů and a thrilling Bartók Second Piano Concerto featuring Bertrand Chamayou.

Cellist Gautier Capuçon and pianist Frank Braley are artists I have previously admired in many chamber ensemble concerts, but their recital at Kings Place was the first time I heard them as a duo.

The Czech Philharmonic brings The Epic of Gilgamesh to life with audacity and flair.