Le Barbican Hall transfiguré par le BBC Symphony Orchestra

By Nicolas Schotter, 22 October 2015

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“L’orchestre sait forcer le trait, amener les fins d’arpèges avec humour. La musique s’y prête.”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 21 October 2015

Mozart, Serenade no. 10 in B flat major for Winds, “Gran Partita”, K361 (K370a)

Schoenberg, Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op.4

Strauss R., Der Rosenkavalier, Op.59: Suite

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Sakari Oramo, Conductor

Sakari Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 26th March

Yeol Eum Son’s Britten Piano Concerto formed the evening’s centre of gravity, played with lucid line, structural command and sudden fire. In Brahms’ Second Symphony, Sakari Oramo found conviction, proportion and a warmth that felt earned rather than applied.

****1

Sakari Oramo and Yeol Eum Son summon up vivid landscapes

Christopher Woodley, 13th March

Yeol Eum Son's superb performances of Bartók and Finzi are matched by intense and heady readings of Stravinsky and Weir by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo.

****1

From snow to sludge: Icelandic music at the Barbican Centre

Marat Ingeldeev, 22nd February

A bewildering evening at the Barbican, where ambitious Icelandic programming collapses under its lofty ambition of defying genres and making music more appealing to a wide variety of audiences.

**111

Fine Lindberg and Stravinsky double bill from the BBC Symphony

Roy Westbrook, 6th February

After a performance of Magnus Lindberg’s First Violin Concerto by Lisa Batiashvili at the Barbican, Stravinsky’s Perséphone stands the test of time.

****1

UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth impresses on scale, not substance

Susannah Moody, 23rd January

Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.

**111

Sir James MacMillan delights with his Christmas Oratorio

David Karlin, 19th December

MacMillan's large scale choral work offers a rich variety of texts and musical ideas, the composer conducts the BBC Symphony with unerring precision.

*****

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Nicolas Schotter

Ancien élève du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris dans les classes d'Histoire de la musique et d'Esthétique, Nicolas Schotter est ancien éditeur de la version francophone du site Bachtrack. Il continue par ailleurs ses recherches musicologiques sur l'évolution des pratiques musicales liturgiques au XXe siècle.