Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Jennifer Johnston

Edward Gardner takes the long view in Mahler's Eighth at the Southbank

By Peter Quantrill, 26 April 2025

Sacred and secular, operatic and symphonic dimensions united in a thrilling climax to the London Philharmonic Orchestra's season.

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London

28 Apr 2025

Edward Gardner takes the long view in Mahler's Eighth

By Peter Quantrill

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An all-encompassing Mahler 3 from Domingo Hindoyan and the RLPO

By Rohan Shotton, 29 March 2025

A Mahler 3 from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, worth every minute of the five-year wait for this early Covid-casualty.

*****

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*****

Liverpool

31 Mar 2025

An all-encompassing Mahler 3 from Domingo Hindoyan and the RLPO

By Rohan Shotton

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Cleveland

Klaus Mäkelä guides Cleveland Orchestra through monumental Mahler

By Sam Jacobson, 17 October 2024

Klaus Mäkelä helms Mahler’s Third Symphony, the composer’s longest work, in a journey to remember with inspired playing from instrumentalists and vocalists alike.

*****

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*****

Cleveland

20 Oct 2024

Mäkelä guides Cleveland Orchestra through monumental Mahler

By Sam Jacobson

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Birmingham

Joy triumphs as Kazuki Yamada enthuses Birmingham with Beethoven’s Ninth

By Robert Gainer, 19 September 2024

“Go big or go home!” A new season opens with the CBSO and Chorus giving an epic Beethoven Ninth at Birmingham's Symphony Hall.

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Birmingham

20 Sep 2024

Joy triumphs as Yamada enthuses Birmingham with Beethoven

By Robert Gainer

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Hamburg

Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

By Alexander Hall, 11 April 2024

Doing justice to the vast scale of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" is itself the mightiest of tasks. Semyon Bychkov and his NDR forces only partially succeed.

***11

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***11

Hamburg

12 Apr 2024

Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

By Alexander Hall

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An unexpected bride in English National Opera’s Duke Bluebeard's Castle

By Dominic Lowe, 21 March 2024

A semi-staging of Bartók's tale of doors and brides at the Coliseum is saved from disaster when Jennifer Johnston steps in to sing Judith at very short notice, with the part gamely acted by Crispin Lord.

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London

22 Mar 2024

An unexpected bride in ENO’s Duke Bluebeard's Castle

By Dominic Lowe

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Amsterdam

The definition of love: Mäkelä conducts Mahler 3 at the Concertgebouw

By Clare Varney, 14 September 2023

Klaus Mäkelä and Jennifer Johnston forge a meeting of minds with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

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Amsterdam

16 Sep 2023

The definition of love: Mäkelä conducts Mahler 3 at the Concertgebouw

By Clare Varney

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Glyndebourne

Joélle Harvey is outstanding in Glyndebourne's incendiary Semele

By Roy Westbrook, 23 July 2023

Adele Thomas makes a good case for Semele's operatic credentials in her production which makes effective nods towards Baroque opera’s devotion to spectacle.

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Glyndebourne

24 Jul 2023

Joélle Harvey is outstanding in Glyndebourne's incendiary Semele

By Roy Westbrook

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Edinburgh

Heaven can wait: the RSNO end their season with an earthbound Verdi Requiem

By Simon Thompson, 09 June 2023

Thomas Søndergård conducts a Verdi Requiem in Edinburgh's Usher Hall where the component parts rarely cohere as a whole.

**111

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**111

Edinburgh

10 Jun 2023

Heaven can wait: the RSNO ends season with an earthbound Verdi Requiem

By Simon Thompson

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UK premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's exciting Phantasma in Liverpool

By Peter Connors, 04 May 2023

Jennifer Johnston, the RLPO and Vasily Petrenko combine to give a radiant Mahler song cycle.

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Liverpool

05 May 2023

UK premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's exciting Phantasma

By Peter Connors

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Vasily Petrenko and the RPO fill the Royal Albert Hall with Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony

By David Karlin, 30 March 2023

Superb vocal performances cap a finely crafted and uplifting performance of Mahler's Second Symphony.

***11

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London

31 Mar 2023

Vasily Petrenko and the RPO fill the Royal Albert Hall with Mahler 2

By David Karlin

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Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” raises the Royal Albert Hall roof

By David Truslove, 23 October 2022

A cast of hundreds – if not a thousand – assembles under Vasily Petrenko for a performance of grandeur and power in the Royal Albert Hall.

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London

25 Oct 2022

Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” raises the Royal Albert Hall roof

By David Truslove

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Back with a bang: Verdi's Requiem opens the BBC Proms season in grand style

By Mark Pullinger, 15 July 2022

A huge hall, a huge orchestra and a huge chorus letting rip with a monster of the choral repertoire… We've missed this.

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London

15 Jul 2022

Back with a bang: Verdi's Requiem opens the BBC Proms season

By Mark Pullinger

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Domingo Hindoyan ushers in a new era in Liverpool

By Rohan Shotton, 16 October 2021

Domingo Hindoyan has a bright future in Liverpool, as he conducts his new orchestra in Beethoven's Ninth.

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Liverpool

17 Oct 2021

Domingo Hindoyan ushers in a new era in Liverpool

By Rohan Shotton

Puccini’s Il trittico: a successful revival in Munich

By Laura Servidei, 11 June 2021

Ermonela Jaho steals the scene as Suor Angelica in a very successful revival of Lotte de Beer’s production.

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Munich

13 Jun 2021

Puccini’s Il trittico: a successful revival in Munich

By Laura Servidei

Poole

Sunny Brahms, but musical tensions minimised in Bournemouth Symphony performance

By Edward Sava-Segal, 10 March 2021

David Hill conducted the orchestra in a programme under the heading "Love Lost and Found".

***11

***11

Poole

11 Mar 2021

Sunny Brahms, but musical tensions minimised in Bournemouth

By Edward Sava-Segal

Jennifer Johnston shines in a Respighi rarity in Liverpool

By Peter Connors, 03 December 2020

Jennifer Johnston shone in Respighi's glorious Il tramonto and the RLPO showed off their solo skills in Ginastera's Variaciones concertantes.

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Liverpool

04 Dec 2020

Jennifer Johnston shines in a Respighi rarity in Liverpool

By Peter Connors

Jakub der Maler: every detail of the Resurrection painted by Hrůša and the Philharmonia

By David Karlin, 20 February 2020

Mahler's Second Symphony receives an unforgettably committed and detail-rich performance at the Royal Festival Hall.

*****

*****

London

21 Feb 2020

Mahler's Resurrection painted by Hrůša and the Philharmonia

By David Karlin

Manchester

Beethoven 250: Eroica and curiosities from the BBC Philharmonic

By Rohan Shotton, 06 February 2020

Ben Gernon conducts the BBC Philharmonic in an all Beethoven programme centered around the monumental Third Symphony.

****1

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Manchester

09 Feb 2020

Beethoven 250: Eroica and curiosities from the BBC Philharmonic

By Rohan Shotton

It was all a dream: an absorbing production of Korngold's Die tote Stadt in Munich

By Matthew Rye, 22 November 2019

With an unsurpassed cast, devoted conducting and a brilliantly imaginative staging, the Bavarian State Opera's new production of Korngold's Die tote Stadt is a triumph.

*****

*****

Munich

23 Nov 2019

It was all a dream: an absorbing Die tote Stadt in Munich

By Matthew Rye

Superb Britten Gala opens Wigmore season

By Roy Westbrook, 13 September 2019

I wanted to hear more from Louise Alder, but that was true of each of the four singers.

*****

*****

London

14 Sep 2019

Superb Britten Gala opens Wigmore season

By Roy Westbrook

Prom 1: Karina Canellakis opens the 2019 BBC Proms season in style

By Mark Valencia, 19 July 2019

Canellakis is an elegant conductor who invests so much in the music and inhabits its lilts and thrills with her whole demeanour.

****1

****1

London

20 Jul 2019

Prom 1: Karina Canellakis opens the 2019 BBC Proms season in style

By Mark Valencia

Winding journeys of song at Queen Elizabeth Hall

By Gus Mitchell, 20 January 2019

The Aurora Orchestra performed and supported a teeming program that took in Norwegian/Appalachian folk music, Mahler and a world premiere.

****1

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London

22 Jan 2019

Winding journeys of song at Queen Elizabeth Hall

By Gus Mitchell

Dublin

Trevino leads powerful Mahler Second in Dublin

By Michael Roddy, 14 September 2018

If there's any way to characterise Trevino's approach to Mahler, it is that he is neither bashful nor shy.

****1

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Dublin

16 Sep 2018

Trevino leads powerful Mahler Second in Dublin

By Michael Roddy

Kirill Petrenko and a luxury cast grace Il trittico in Munich

By James Imam, 14 July 2018

Petrenko's Puccini is bracingly alert, filled with colour and has a romantic sweep that is utterly transporting.

*****

*****

Munich

18 Jul 2018

Petrenko and a luxury cast grace Il trittico in Munich

By James Imam

Cleveland

A brilliant Beethoven 9 marks The Cleveland Orchestra's 100th anniversary season closer

By Timothy Robson, 18 May 2018

A line-up of well-matched vocal soloists and a chorus in top form, along with passionate conducting by Franz Welser-Möst made for a memorable closing concert of this important milestone season.

*****

*****

Cleveland

21 May 2018

Brilliant 100th anniversary season closer from The Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson

Edinburgh

Memorable and epic Die Walküre at Edinburgh International Festival

By David Smythe, 06 August 2017

A sensational Die Walküre from Sir Andrew Davis and the RSNO at the Edinburgh Festival that will be talked about for years.

*****

*****

Edinburgh

07 Aug 2017

Memorable and epic Die Walküre at EIF

By David Smythe

Death, destroyer of worlds: John Adams conducts Doctor Atomic at the Barbican

By David Karlin, 25 April 2017

At the Barbican last night, Gerald Finley, John Adams and the BBC Symphony Orchestra combined to deliver the heaviest operatic punch I’ve been subjected to all year.

*****

*****

London

26 Apr 2017

Death, destroyer of worlds

By David Karlin

Startling gems: Stephen Hough the composer with The Prince Consort at Wigmore Hall

By Frances Wilson, 28 October 2016

Pianist, composer and polymath Stephen Hough joined The Prince Consort for an evening of intriguing and startling gems, and a world première of Hough’s own witty, intricate, intimate and beautifully arresting art songs.

*****

*****

London

29 Oct 2016

Startling gems: Stephen Hough the composer

By Frances Wilson

Milan

Blank canvas, dark projections: a brooding Turn of the Screw at La Scala

By Katherine Syer, 16 September 2016

Britten's The Turn of the Screw finally makes its debut at La Scala in Kasper Holten's eerie staging.

****1

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Milan

19 Sep 2016

A brooding Turn of the Screw at La Scala

By Katherine Syer

Salzburg

Going for gold: Strauss' Die Liebe der Danae returns to Salzburg

By Matthew Rye, 05 August 2016

Strauss' penultimate opera is treated to a lavish if superficial staging at the Salzburg Festival, but the real rewards come from the musical performance of this unjustly neglected work.

****1

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Salzburg

07 Aug 2016

Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae returns to Salzburg

By Matthew Rye

Gateshead

Happy endings: Sibelius and Mozart with Royal Northern Sinfonia

By Jane Shuttleworth, 10 June 2016

Lars Vogt and Royal Northern Sinfonia end their explorations of Mozart and Sibelius with the composers' final works.

****1

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Gateshead

11 Jun 2016

Happy endings: Sibelius and Mozart with RNS

By Jane Shuttleworth

Cleveland

A lyrical performance of Dvořák's Stabat Mater in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson, 26 May 2016

A very warm concert hall and problems with musical balances worked against what was otherwise a genial reading of this contemplative work.

***11

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Cleveland

28 May 2016

A lyrical performance of Dvořák's Stabat Mater in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson

Private and public grief: Shostakovich and Mahler in Liverpool

By Richard Ely, 21 May 2016

On a balmy evening in Liverpool, Vasily Petrenko led the RLPO in two works that explored differenet apsects of lamentation, preceded by a Straussian toboggan ride.

****1

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Liverpool

23 May 2016

Private and public grief: Shostakovich and Mahler in Liverpool

By Richard Ely

Manchester

A floor-shaking Mahler 2 from Sinaisky and the BBC Phil

By Rohan Shotton, 14 May 2016

Vassily Sinaisky returned to the BBC Philharmonic to conclude their 2016-17 season with Mahler’s monumental second symphony, with all the might of the CBSO Chorus thrown in for the final movement.

*****

*****

Manchester

16 May 2016

A floor-shaking Mahler 2 from Sinaisky and the BBC Phil

By Rohan Shotton

Leeds

Bursting with drama and hope: Tippett's A Child of Our Time in Leeds

By Julia Zupancic, 12 March 2016

Under the baton of Simon Wright, the RLPO and the Leeds Festival Chorus gave an exciting rendition of Tippett’s A Child of Our Time.

****1

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Leeds

13 Mar 2016

Bursting with drama and hope: A Child of Our Time

By Julia Zupancic

Petrenko's stormy Alpensinfonie

By Rohan Shotton, 04 October 2015

Vasily Petrenko conducts a darkly coloured Alpensinfonie in Liverpool, alongside music by Tchaikovsky and Canteloube

****1

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Liverpool

06 Oct 2015

Petrenko's stormy Alpensinfonie

By Rohan Shotton

Prom 20: BBC Philharmonic taxing and arresting in Schubert, Bedford and Bruckner

By Jack Johnson, 01 August 2015

The première of a bold new work by Luke Bedford was the highlight in a Prom concert that otherwise lacked impact and focus.

***11

***11

London

03 Aug 2015

BBC Philharmonic taxing and arresting at the Proms

By Jack Johnson

Milan

CO₂ at La Scala: a challenging truth by Giorgio Battistelli

By James Imam, 22 May 2015

The auditorium's lights flared up, drawing a blinking audience back into the room. The fourth wall was well and truly broken, and each of us was given no option but to acknowledge our responsibility for the planet.

****1

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Milan

25 May 2015

Battistelli's CO₂ at La Scala: a challenging truth

By James Imam

Munich’s uneven Ring finishes with a strong Götterdämmerung

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 20 March 2015

The Bayerische Staatsoper's Ring cycle has been full of ups and downs. It ended on an up, thanks to Petrenko's brilliant conducting, a strong cast, and a fun staging.

****1

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Munich

21 Mar 2015

A strong Götterdämmerung to finish the Munich Ring

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Munich's Rheingold: beautiful, but leaves many questions

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 20 February 2015

Kriegenburg's staging of Wagner's Ring cycle begins with a visually appealing but intellectually empty Rheingold.

***11

***11

Munich

22 Feb 2015

Munich's Rheingold: beautiful, but leaves many questions

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

An unconventional Guillaume Tell in Munich has no heroes

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 18 January 2015

Both the music and the plot are heavily revised in Nunes' imagining of Rossini's final opera. But great performances and a coherent concept earned this unusual production a well-deserved standing ovation.

****1

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Munich

20 Jan 2015

Guillaume Tell in Munich has no heroes

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz

"Better late than never": Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts Beethoven at a late night Prom

By David Fay, 26 August 2014

Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir in a late night performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at the BBC Proms.

****1

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London

27 Aug 2014

"Better late than never": Missa solemnis

By David Fay

Worcester

An exultant Mahler "Resurrection" Symphony in Worcester Cathedral

By Holly Harrison, 28 July 2014

As the majestic horn calls echoed around the vaulted ceiling and full orchestral tuttis shook the very walls, Mahler brought the very heart of Christianity to Worcester's magnificent Cathedral in his truly remarkable “Resurrection Symphony”.

****1

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Worcester

29 Jul 2014

An exultant Mahler "Resurrection" Symphony in Worcester Cathedral

By Holly Harrison

A birthday gift for Accrington's finest: Gawain at the Barbican

By Chris Garlick, 16 May 2014

As a very generous birthday present for ‘Accrington’s Finest’, Harrison Birtwistle, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Martin Brabbins pulled out all the stops to give a revelatory performance of the composer’s most Wagnerian opera, Gawain.

*****

*****

London

18 May 2014

A birthday gift for Accrington's finest: Gawain at the Barbican

By Chris Garlick

Bach Unwrapped Finale: Mass in B minor

By Julia Savage, 21 December 2013

J S Bach's opus ultimum, the Mass in B Minor, was also the opus ultimum of the year-long Bach Unwrapped series at Kings Place. Unfortunately, it proved not to be the crowning glory it might have been.

***11

***11

London

29 Dec 2013

Bach Unwrapped Finale: Mass in B minor

By Julia Savage

Prom 71: Introspection and heartache from Górecki, Vaughan Williams and Tchaikovsky

By Philip May, 04 September 2013

For years now, Henryk Górecki’s Third Symphony has been at the head of my bucket list of works to hear in concert – and this Prom with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Osmo Vänskä gave me the chance.

****1

****1

London

06 Sep 2013

Prom 71: Introspection and heartache from Górecki, Vaughan Williams and Tchaikovsky

By Philip May