Live, Video: Kritiken zu klassischen Konzerten, Opern, Ballett und Tanz finden | English Chamber Orchestra

Three of the world's best composers, who were friends and colleagues, but who rarely co-habit in concert, appear at Cadogan Hall. 

 Outstanding narration was the feather in this soldier’s cap

Warm Borodin and energetic Mendelssohn from the ECO players in an online experience which lacked occasion.

A trio of French works launch the English Chamber Orchestra's Sunday afternoon series, filmed in Beckenham Place Mansion.

A fantastic all-Tchaikovsky concert in which cellist Natalie Clein gave a magnificent rendition of the Rococo Variations.

Vilde Frang galvanises the English Chamber Orchestra, with the slow movement of Bach's E major violin concerto proving the highlight of the evening.

An evening of English repertoire at King's Place where the pleasures were flecked with disappointments. 

Serebrier and the ECO deliver fine performances of Haydn, Beethoven and Vaughan Williams.  

Gloucestershire is rich in musical heritage; well-known composers connected with the county include Parry, Vaughan Williams and Howells, but one name that is less familiar these days is that of Howells’ friend Ivor Gurney.

When a programme is well put together and nicely themed, it is quite easy to turn one’s attention away from the sound of music, and onto the history of music. PCM 4 at Cadogan Hall was breezily introduced by the BBC compere as a programme marking Britten’s centenary, exploring his relationship with his peers, and celebrating his friend Lutoslawski. Yes, it did all that.

With programming in the major opera houses dominated by Verdi and Wagner, bel canto fans have had a slightly thin time of it this year (Covent Garden’s La donna del lago is an exception). But others are filling some of the gaps, with Rossini’s Maometto II coming up at Garsington and Stephen Langridge’s production of Bellini’s I Puritani, which opened at Grange Park last night.

With his centenary year fast approaching, Saturday night’s concert was a celebration of all things Britten. The festivities have certainly begun in style in Oxford, with Nicholas Cleobury leading the Oxford Bach Choir, the English Chamber Orchestra and soprano Elizabeth Atherton in some truly outstanding music-making.

If your favourite part of opera is a soaring melody which stays in your head long after the opera is over, they don’t come much better than Un bel dì in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, in which our enraptured heroine sings of the day that her husband’s ship will reappear on the horizon. At Grange Park last night, Claire Rutter did it full justice.

Since its first performance in 1742, Handel's Messiah has become one of the world's most popular and widely performed oratorios. With a biblical libretto which tells the story of Jesus from the Nativity to the Ascension, and stunning, joyous choral parts that lend themselves equally well to small and large choirs, the Messiah has become a festive must-hear.

History has cast a complex light on Wagner’s music and on Wagner the man. But Tristan & Isolde (Wagner’s enormous vision of erotic love) is an opera that can still resonate today. Nietzsche referred to its “dangerous fascinations”, “spine-tingling and blissful infinity“ and “voluptuousness”. This was Grange Park Opera’s first foray into Wagnerian opera.