Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, having spent a lifetime writing in some form or other: fiction, academic research, educational materials and professional translations. He has been an avid concert-goer from his teenage years with fond memories of many of the giants of the past, including Klemperer, Karajan, Böhm, Bernstein and Carlos Kleiber. For him the symphony orchestra is one of the greatest artistic creations of all time.
Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the LPO offer an eclectic and unusual mix of works which, despite commendable playing, never quite added up to a satisfying whole.
Neither the conductor, Lionel Bringuier, nor the soloist, Valerij Sokolov, bring much intensity of expression in this RPO concert to a pair of 20th-century Russian masterworks.
Powerful and impressive playing from the LSO and Jaime Martín in a Spanish-themed first half (also featuring Christian Tetzlaff), with a more nuanced array of Stravinskian colour in the second half.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karina Canellakis and with Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist, offer a scenic tour to territories once visualised by Sibelius, Dvořák and Bartók.
Commendably fine playing from the LPO conducted by Thomas Adès, and with Kirill Gerstein as soloist, three less than familiar works throw up overwhelming volumes of energy.
The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Liebreich and soloist Szymon Nehring serve up works by four Polish composers in celebration of the centenary of Poland regaining its national independence.
The European Union Youth Orchestra confirms its exceptional quality in Zubel and Tchaikovsky. In Chopin, Seong-Jin Cho shows why he is a rising star of distinction.
The ubiquitous cycle of life and death was explored in two contrasting works by Musgrave and Brahms in Richard Farnes’ debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Contrasts are fine but they don’t always work: in a programme with a strongly Germanic flavour John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic stretch the boundaries.
Stephen Gould is less than convincing in the lead role of Tannhäuser, but excellent ensemble work under Ádám Fischer's inspired direction offers compensations.
A long four-movement concerto and a long symphonic work by two close musical friends, given by Pablo Heras-Casado, Francesco Piemontesi and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester.
