Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Leila Josefowicz

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s colorful program included the first Chicago performance of John Adams’ Scheherazade.2 with dedicatee Leila Josefowicz, along with works of Debussy and Stravinsky.

Canny programming very much shone the spotlight on the performance of John Adams recent ‘dramatic symphony’ Scheherazade.2, preceded by Bartok and Stravinsky rarities.

A new work by Anthony Cheung based on the Orpheus legend and thrilling excerpts from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung rounded out this week’s program.

John Adams' Scheherazade.2 is chalking up performances around the world. Would it live up to expectations? 

John Adams conducts his Scheherazade.2, giving a strong depiction of the oppression of women in extreme religious societies. It makes for a fascinating evening.

Exquisite Boulez and Francesconi from Mälkki and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, before the conductor pushed the ensemble to its limits in The Planets.

John Adams conducted the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in works ranging from the frothy to the very serious, including his latest composition, Scheherazade.2.

The influence of words and storytelling is apparent from Mr Adams’ dense score to Scheherazade.2, which broods throughout with cinematic yet unpredictable intensity.

Appearing at Milton Court, Leila Josefowicz enclosed three short utterances from the 20th century with two works by Schubert. After a shaky start to the evening, Josefowicz turned out an impressive performance full of fire and flair, excelling in Stravinsky’s Duo concertant.

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto "Out of Nowhere" received its long overdue UK première by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Leila Josefowicz. Flanked by Sibelius’ Pohjola’s Daughter and Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 5, this was an exciting programme played brilliantly under Sakari Oramo.

My big night out this week was spent at the New York Philharmonic’s Tuesday evening concert, surely the case for most other 23-year-olds. (I kid, and yet over the past couple of years I have noticed a decided increase in young faces at Avery Fisher Hall.) I had intended to sit anonymously in the audience and get swept into the music like a leaf in the autumn wind.

When a conductor decides to lead a performance without a score, it really means two things. One is obvious: a deep and intimate familiarity with the music. Less obvious, though, is the implication of trust in the musicians of the ensemble. On Friday, young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado delivered a spectacular interpretation of Mendelssohn’s Symphony no.

One of the most well-known pieces of the twentieth-century classical repertoire is of course Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring.

As Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 9 ground to a halt last Thursday night, cellos and basses trailing off into silence, a few things came into focus. First, there was no missing the irony that Philip Glass, once among the outsiders of the musical world, should nearly a half century later find himself one of the American school of composition's most revered composers; perhaps its dean.

When a guest conductor arrives for a few concerts with an orchestra, he or she doesn’t have very much time to shape his or her interpretation. On some occasions the orchestra successfully adopts the visitor’s style; on others they just play like they always do.

On December 1st, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra welcomed guest conductor Andrey Boreyko to guide them through a journey of "Russian Gems." Boreyko made his debut with the TSO in October 2003 and has had a prolific career through guest conducting and as a music director.

I had extremely high expectations for this evening of music at the Concertgebouw; I’m a huge Thomas Adès fan and ever since I’d seen Leila Josefowicz play Esa-Pekka Salonen’s violin concerto I was more than impressed with her. Three Dutch premières of Thomas Adès’s music, as well as his debut as a conductor for the Concertgebouworkest certainly made an inspiring billing.

This evening’s programme showed us two aspects of Prokofiev’s output – his serious concert works for the stage and on the other hand his more populist music composed for film. Both were highly exciting, colourful works, and both typical of Prokofiev in different ways.The First Violin Concerto was a curious mixture of the ethereal and rustic.

Un bien beau concert en ouverture du Festival de la Bâtie : rien de moins que du John Adams par John Adams. En prime, son concerto, servi par une des interprètes qui connaissent le mieux ce répertoire, nous a permis de goûter aux délices des mélopées orientalistes de Scheherazade.2 ! Un must ! 

Das Finnische Radio-Sinfonieorchester unter Hannu Lintu beginnt seine Tournee mit einer österreichischen Erstaufführung.