A lively, muscular account of Stravinsky's Violin Concerto by Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang while Măcelaru conducts a convincing Manfred Symphony by Tchaikovsky.
Performing both works for the first time, the RCO capered crisply through Shostakovich’s Suite from The Nose and played sumptuously in Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, with captivating songstress Wende.
Cristian Măcelaru and the Hallé give exemplary accounts of Fauré's Dolly Suite and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, whilst Mozart's “Jeunehomme” Concerto with soloist Heejae Kim is variable and lacks instrumetal balance.
On this Montréal concert, visiting conductor Cristian Măcelaru presented Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs to mark the 70th anniversary of World War II
Cristian Măcelaru brought his pedigree as a conductor to the CBSO with Sibelius, Rachmaninov and Nielsen. How would he fare in Birmingham with such a varied programme?
Pierre Boulez builds a deceptively brilliant program featuring works by Stravinsky, Debussy, and Ravel, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra follows through on its execution.
As a title for the opening performance of MusicNOW’s 2013-2014 season, “Vaporized” is somewhat misleading. It comes from the evening’s first piece, and it makes for a tidy, catchy branding for a new music concert. Yet the other two works are steeped in a density and concreteness that are counterintuitive to the abstract, amorphous implications of that title.
