Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 15 in A major, Op.141

Soprano Helena Juntunen does her best in Sibelius’ songs but finds little support from Osmo Vänskä and the CBSO. 

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France impress mightily under the baton of their new Principal Guest Conductor. Gidon Kremer disappoints in Weinberg.

Two incongruent journeys conclude as Dame Mitsuko Uchida and the Boston Symphony meet in New York. 

Wit, tragedy, and the weight of history in Santtu-Matias Rouvali's program of Prokofiev and Shostakovich at the Wu Tsai Theater. 

A superb evening of vivid and involving performances of Mozart, Vasks and Shostakovich, showcasing the very best of this South Coast orchestra.

Nikita Boris-Glebsky, Narek Hakhnazaryan and Georgy Tchaidze are joined in Vienna by a trio of percussionists to unlock the secrets behind Shostakovich's enigmatic final symphony. 

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

Carolina Eyck uncovers the dark art of playing the theremin and John Storgårds conducts Kaija Saariaho's Vista and Shostakovich's enigmatic final symphony. 

In this performance of Shostakovich's final symphony, the ‘Fate’ motif from Wagner’s Ring suggested the LSO brass had been moonlighting in Bayreuth.

The wonderful acoustics of Milton Court proved to be the ideal setting for dramatic performances of rarely performance repertoire. With Igor Levit at the helm the evening was both technically challenging and artistically stimulating for audience and performers alike.

Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony play a charged final symphony of Shostakovich and a compelling Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with soloist James Ehnes

In its chamber music textures, Shostakovich's 15th couldn’t provide greater contrast to Rachmaninov’s rainforest of notes in this Slavic double bill from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony. 

Seattle audiences welcomed Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison to Benaroya Hall this past weekend with the west coast premiere of his work, What Do We Make of Bach? for orchestra and obbligato organ.

Nearly a century after his birth, Weinberg's final completed symphony is given its UK premiere by the CBSO and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.

The UK première of Shchedrin's Dialogues with Shostakovich was followed by powerful Shostakovich. 

Sir Mark Elder conducted the LSO through a series of inimitable Russian works while the star player veered off course to formulate her own new genre – quite deliciously.

The Grim Reaper swept the aisles of the Royal Festival Hall in Vladimir Jurowski's latest programme in the Southbank Centre’s “Belief and Beyond Belief” series which explores faith and spirituality. 

A moving first half of Vaughan Williams and Tchaikovsky and a mysterious Shostakovich 15 in the second half. Andreas Brantelid's superlative musicianship wowed.

Pin sharp playing and pin sharp acoustics combine to form a high quality reading of Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 27 and Shostakovich's Symphony no. 15, one of the quirkiest of symphonies.

As Birmingham-born Alpesh Chauhan builds his reputation towards becoming a conductor much in demand, so the CBSO finds itself in the fortunate position of securing the services of Mirga Gražytė-Tyla as Andris Nelsons’ successor as Music Director, with a chance to grow Chauhan as Assistant Conductor.

Sir Mark Elder conducted the Hallé in a fine Shostakovich 15 following moving performances of Rachmaninov's The Isle of the Dead and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, expertly sung by Roderick Williams.

Not having appeared with the CSO since 1999, Gennady Rozhdestvensky made a much anticipated return with the first and last symphonies of Shostakovich.

An eclectic mix of Debussy, Mozart with the doyenne of the Russian school Elisabeth Leonskaja and the riddle that remains Shostakovich's final symphonic statement.

“A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”. That description could apply to Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Symphony. It would also describe Valery Gergiev’s conducting.

What a fine Mozart orchestra the LSO became under the benevolent gaze of Sir Colin Davis, and with Bernard Haitink on hand as a regular guest conductor, what a fine Mozart orchestra they shall continue to be. Their annual concerts at Lincoln Center this year paired Mozart with Shostakovich, the latter a composer in whose music it would be easy to forget that Haitink has considerable experience.

The orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and its conductor-in-chief, Donald Runnicles, made an appearance above stage level this week, performing a program of concert pieces at Musikfest Berlin a week before the opera season takes off.

Britten’s Death in Venice suite, arranged by Steuart Bedford, is a continuous piece of music taken from the opera. As such, it is an extremely scenic work and even though it has its moments, I could not help but long for the actual opera rather than these excerpts (thankfully it will be performed by ENO later this year).

Ein Berliner Traum-Konzert mit Firsova, Schumann und Schostakowitsch.

Was das Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest an diesem Abend unter seinem Ehrendirigenten Valery Gergiev hören ließ, war ein Konzert der Extraklasse.

Un año más la cita con Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester se revela imprescindible: por la madurez en la elección del repertorio, por la naturalidad con la tocan con grandes maestros y solistas, por el alto nivel de la ejecución.

Bajo la dirección de Jaime Martín, la BOS respaldó el inigualable sonido del Stradivarius que Ray Chen hizo vibrar con el magnífico concierto de Sibelius; la descriptiva Tres pinturas velazqueñas de Jesús Torres y la última y compleja sinfonía de Shostakovich completaban un programa estimulante.

La Sinfónica de Galicia estrenaba en España Four Iberian Miniatures del compositor Francisco Coll, la violinista Chloë Hanslip se erigió en auténtica protagonista de la interpretación de esta obra ecléctica y dinámica. Hanslip continuó en el escenario con el concierto de Britten, para dar paso a otra obra llena también de desolación, la despedida sinfónica de Shostakovich.

La Camerata Vocal Universidad de Chile y la Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile realizaron la primera interpretación en el país del Requiem de Alfred Schnittke, complementada por la Sinfonía núm. 15 de Shostakovich, sorteando con éxito el tremendo desafío de juntar ambas obras.

Francesco Piemontesis Interpretation war betont impulsiv, vorwiegend legato, vorwärtsgerichtet und flüssig, mit Sicherheit und ausgezeichneter Technik, seine Linke gestaltete speziell im Staccato sehr differenziert.

Dans la Salle Pierre-Boulez de la Philharmonie de Paris, Simon Rattle et les Berliner Philharmoniker défolklorisent deux symphonies de Chostakovitch et les propulsent dans un XXe siècle plus radical, plus novateur qu'on le pense si souvent.

Pour les clarinettistes, le concerto de Mozart constitue sans hésitation le classique des classiques. D’où la difficulté pour ses interprètes d'y glisser un vent de fraîcheur. Difficulté dont Martin Fröst fait fi : car il est de ces musiciens qui ne se sentent à l’aise que dans un univers sonore minutieusement construit et extrêmement personnel.

La programmation invitait à s’interroger sur le rapport de Mozart et Chostakovitch aux autres artistes de leur temps ou de l’histoire de la musique en général.

Im Rahmen des zweiten internationalen Musikfestes spielten die Philharmoniker Hamburg unter ihrem Dirigenten Kent Nagano seltener gespielte Werke zweier großer Komponisten.