Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Bruch

Burnished Beethoven: Andrés Orozco-Estrada leads a pristine Eroica

By Sophia Lambton, 02 December 2016

The Colombian conductor leads the London Philharmonic in an evening of Weber, Bruch and Beethoven where classical discipline comes out on top.

***11

Operatic drama in Saint-Saëns' “Organ Symphony " from Jean-Luc Tingaud and the RPO

By Dominic Lowe, 29 November 2016

Bruch’s Violin Concerto bo. 1 had a delicate soloist, but an outspoken orchestra, while Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony” struck all the right notes.

***11

Natural wonders: Pappano and the LSO scale Strauss' Alpine odyssey

By Mark Thomas, 24 November 2016

A lively William Tell Overture from Pappano and lyrical Bruch from LSO leader, Roman Simović, preceded a majestic performance of Strauss' Alpine Symphony.

****1

Stiffly obedient: Pablo Heras-Casado delivers straight readings with the NY Philharmonic

By Sophia Lambton, 27 October 2016

Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the New York Philharmonic in a performance that provides many a musical lesson, but not much fuel to the imagination.

**111

Cheltenham

Callum Smart makes stunning debut with the RPO

By Clive Peacock, 20 September 2016

Callum Smart, playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor, and conductor Matthew Halls made very successful debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at a packed Cheltenham Town Hall.

****1

Still going strong at 70: the RPO celebrates in style

By Alexander Hall, 19 September 2016

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, its Music Director Charles Dutoit, Principal Guest Conductor Pinchas Zukerman and Martha Argerich party in style with Rossini, Schumann, Bruch and Stravinsky.

****1

Prom 15: Max Bruch and Vaughan Willams end on a high

By Chris Garlick, 26 July 2016

A varied concert of new music by Anthony Payne, Max Bruch's 1st Violin Concerto with Ray Chen, a Tchaikovsky rarity and a rousing early work by Vaughan Williams

****1

Alpesh Chauhan impresses with Mendelssohn's Italian in Birmingham

By Robert Gainer, 08 June 2016

Mendelsohn's Italian Symphony is a perenial and popular favourite, but perhaps one with which we are over-familiar. Could young Alpesh Chauhan do something fresh with it?

****1

Manchester

Schumann's Spring Symphony crowns the Hallé's concert of German music

By Peter Connors, 21 January 2016

The Romantic fervour of Brahms' Haydn Variations and Schumann's Spring Symphony brought out by Cristian Mandeal and the Hallé, plus Sophia Jaffé's glorious performance of Bruch's Scottish Fantasy.

****1

Thrilling Beethoven but a surfeit of cello adagios with the ACO

By Simon Holden, 08 November 2015

An evening of Adagio cello concertante works in Auckland was enlivened by a stirring Beethoven Fifth.

***11

Henning Kraggerud's Bruch fits the “Virtuoso Violin” bill in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 08 October 2015

There was a consistent sense of fun in the solo part, matched by the ebullient conducting of Bellincampi.

****1

Amsterdam

San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra impresses greatly with Mahler's Fifth at the Concertgebouw

By David Pinedo, 05 July 2015

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra revealed itself at the Concertgebouw as an important part of the future of classical music in the United States.

****1

Bělohlávek resurrects Mahler at Birmingham's Symphony Hall

By Robert Gainer, 24 April 2015

The Czech Philharmonic performing Mahler’s Second Symphony at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall equals great expectation. The composer and symphony have historical links to the orchestra and venue alike. Could Bělohlávek deliver?

****1

Poole

Finzi's Intimations of Immortality from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

By Phil Smith, 18 March 2015

An unusual programme of music from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, viewing the passing of youth through a lens of nostalgia and sadness but, at the same time, also dreaming of the sheer joy and exuberance of youth.

****1

San Diego

Jahja Ling opens the San Diego Symphony season with Scottish fervor

By Erica Miner, 11 October 2014

Coupled with its exquisite landscape, the mystery and legend that permeate Scotland’s atmosphere and history have inspired poets, artists and composers to capture its magic and distinctive folklore in evocative works of art.

****1

Berlin Philharmonic launches Carnegie Hall Gala with vodka rather than Champagne

By Jacob Slattery, 01 October 2014

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic kicked off their eight-day residency at Carnegie Hall with vodka instead of champagne.

****1

Sir Neville Marriner revisits a celebrated Walton film score in Prom 32

By David Truslove, 10 August 2014

Neville Marriner conducts Christopher Palmer’s arrangement of a Walton film score, while Joshua Bell delivers magic with Max Bruch and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

****1

Detroit

Detroit Symphony in a triumphant return to Meadow Brook Music Festival

By Brian Wigman, 24 July 2014

The Detroit Symphony triumphantly returned to its summer home tonight after many years away, ending the 2013-14 season with a flourish.

****1

Perth

The sun shines on the NYOS Junior Orchestra Summer Concert

By David Smythe, 11 July 2014

The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland Junior Orchestra's summer concert: one hundred talented 8-13 year-olds from all over Scotland have fun taking their first orchestral steps.

****1

Tokyo

NBA Ballet's Triple Bill

By Naomi Mori, 22 June 2014

NBA Ballet performed an ambitous triple bill consisting of three 20th century masterpieces of American Ballet, Great Galloping Gottschalk, The Leaves are Fading and Bruch Violin Concerto No.1. At Melpark Hall.

****1

Disappointing Bruch mars APO's Violin Fantasy concert

By Simon Holden, 05 June 2014

Nikki Chooi makes something less than a fantasy out of Bruch but the Auckland Philharmonia shine in Schumann.

***11

Bristol

Chloë Hanslip with Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Bristol

By Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 15 November 2013

On walking into the foyer of Colston Hall, I was greeted by the sound of a jazz band playing The Girl from Ipanema. This was not quite what I expected from the Colston Hall’s “Symphony Project”, but nevertheless a tasteful and welcoming opening, that created a cheerful atmosphere.

***11

Manchester

Noseda returns to Manchester and Beethoven

By Rohan Shotton, 08 November 2013

Former chief conductor Gianandrea Noseda made a well-received return to the BBC Philharmonic, conducting a popular programme of Verdi, Bruch and Beethoven.Noseda and the BBC Phil attracted widespread attention in 2006 when they offered free downloads of their entire Beethoven symphony cycle. Demand was huge, with some 1.6 million copies downloaded.

***11

Lomeiko, Bringuier and APO make winning combination in Bruch and Brahms

By Simon Holden, 17 October 2013

Of the two major orchestras performing in Auckland, the Auckland Philharmonia consistently has the more interesting programming (in recent reviews I’ve praised them in everything from Messiaen to Bach). It was interesting, then, to hear them in the bread-and-butter symphonic repertoire of Bruch and Brahms.

*****

Liverpool

Mahler 5 from Dausgaard and the RLPO

By Rohan Shotton, 10 October 2013

Thomas Dausgaard conducted energetic performances of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, producing a great deal of fine playing though occasionally at the expense of long structure.Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud was soloist for the Bruch.

***11

Edinburgh

Edinburgh International Festival: City Noir with the RSNO, Peter Oundjian and Pinchas Zukerman

By Alan Coady, 27 August 2013

Pinchas Zukerman shares a category in my mind with Stevie Wonder. I recall seeing their names on so many LPs in my youth that they had been filed as being of a certain vintage. Investigation revealed both protégés to be much nearer my own age than I could have believed. In this performance of Bruch’s 1886 Violin Concerto no.

****1

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Intense Bruch and powerful Bruckner from Orchestra of the Canongait

By Ken Ward, 18 August 2013

Despite the accolades heaped upon the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle’s performance and recording of this version of Bruckner’s 9th symphony with its unfinished finale, performances worldwide remain few and far between.

****1

Prom 31: BBC Philharmonic and John Storgårds play coronation music, Bruch and Korngold

By Julia Savage, 06 August 2013

Prom 31 seems to have been loosely based around a royal theme, with two of several nods at this year’s Proms to the Coronation anniversary: explicitly, in the case of William Walton’s Orb and Sceptre march, which he wrote for the 1953 ceremony, and obliquely by way of Edmund Rubbra’s Ode to the Queen, which the BBC commissioned for the Coronation celebrations.

****1

Dublin

An all-German Romantic programme at Dublin's NCH

By Andrew Larkin, 17 May 2013

Though the visitation of the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra happened just over a week ago, we have a more permanent influence from that part of the world in the person of Alan Buribayev, the Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, who hails from Kazakhstan.

***11

Istanbul

A family affair: Mischa, Lily and Sascha Maisky mesmerize Istanbul

By Alain Matalon, 02 May 2013

Mischa Maisky, the de-facto romantic cellist, gave the Istanbul audience a triple treat of passionate cello playing in Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Bruch, but surprisingly enough he was in most uninhibited during the Haydn concerto.Mr Maisky’s vibrato is excessive, a trait inherited from his longtime teacher and mentor Gregor Piatigorsky, but it never gets in the way of music.

*****

Birmingham Philharmonic and Byron Parish's Bruch and Bruckner marathon

By Ken Ward, 24 February 2013

The citizens of Birmingham were queueing up at the door when I arrived in good time for this concert, and the hall was nearly full when the concert began. All seats were unreserved and at the same price wherever you sat – an arrangement that has always appealed to me.

***11

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra charms and delights at Carnegie Hall

By Kay Kempin, 15 February 2013

Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall is by no means a modest-sized concert stage, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra seemed to take up every square inch of it. The sheer size of the orchestra is initially what struck me, until the opening lines of Rolf Martinsson’s Open Mind, Op. 71.

***11

Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Joshua Bell in Birmingham

By Rohan Shotton, 14 October 2012

Though often played with far greater forces, the Beethoven and Mendelssohn played in this concert were well suited to the small size and immediacy of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Directed energetically from the leader’s chair by Joshua Bell, they gave crisp and clear performances which highlighted the chamber-style aspects of these works.

****1

Infectious Tchaikovsky and Bruch with Yossif Ivanov and the CBSO

By Katherine Dixson, 29 September 2012

This concert exploded into life with Weber’s overture from Euryanthe. Guest conductor Walter Weller displayed economy of movement but set the orchestra off at a cracking pace, creating an upbeat mood that was sustained throughout the evening.

***11

Prom 76: A very special Last Night

By Matthew Lynch, 08 September 2012

The Last Night of the Proms isn’t really a concert at all; it’s two very different concerts put on one after the other. The first is something like what we’re used to from a Prom, with big-name soloists performing alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Chorus in world premières and classic works from the repertoire.

Perth

National Youth Orchestra of Scotland with Nicola Benedetti: A winning combination in Perth

By David Smythe, 01 August 2012

From Canonbie a mile north of the border to Brae in the Shetland Isles, and all points in between, a few days ago 128 top young instrumentalists and their tutors arrived in Perthshire for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s summer school, to rehearse for their summer concert, which this year they are taking to the Proms in London, where they will be joined by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orc

****1

Cheltenham

Three Pieces from 1918 at the Cheltenham Music Festival

By Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres, 13 July 2012

Red, white and blue bunting, with matching lighting, adorned the balconies of Cheltenham Town Hall, setting a patriotic scene for a concert of music from the year that World War I ended. Television presenter Julia Somerville opened the evening sat at a vintage newsdesk with her own careful research, for which she can be highly commended.

****1

Barcelona Ballet brings a taste of Spain to New York

By Stephanie Sirabian, 19 April 2012

From the traditional choreography to exploring new ideas, Spain’s only classical ballet company presented a diverse program at the New York City Center. The relatively new company was founded in 2008 by former American Ballet Theater principal Ángel Corella and originally called Corella Ballet.

***11

The Romance of the Clarinet: Trios at the Lincoln Center

By Amanda Keil, 31 January 2012

It’s difficult to find criticism for a concert like this. Three venerable musicians who are familiar colleagues meet over three gorgeous pieces of music – what’s not to love? And a program of three clarinet trios is like a three-course meal of desserts.

***11

Prom 62: Magical music

By Tom Hancox, 01 September 2011

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra knew the difficulties they would face. Accordingly, they kept the proportions of this programme modest out of pragmatism rather than an expectation for encores, as richly deserved as they would have been.

*****

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – light, sweet and refreshing

By Alan Yu, 05 August 2011

The New York based Mostly Mozart Festival is easily overshadowed by Tanglewood Summer Season at the same time in Massachusetts, but it would be careless to underestimate its quality. The programme on August 5th, 2011 banished any doubt about its ability to live up to world standards.Conductor for the evening was Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado.

*****

Lomeiko-Zhislin Russian violin duo perform a challenging Romantic programme

By Hannah Gill, 10 January 2011

In this programme packed with Romantic intensity, the Russian Lomeiko-Zhislin duo demonstrated their versatility and ingenuity in crafting a programme of varied instrumental combinations.

First they were joined by pianist Katia Skanavi for three pieces by Bruch, whose skill as a miniaturist was reminiscent of Grieg and Dvorak in its persuasive lyricism. This was an ideal appetiser, opening with a beautifully phrased piano introduction and dark viola sonorities contrasting with the fleeting, almost weightless central piece in the trio. The brooding intensity reached a climax in the third piece, with repeated piano chords and a strident unison from violin and viola.