In the week of remembrance, Sheku Kanneh-Mason played Elgar’s Cello Concerto with a level of British reverence, while Andrew Manze concluded with some exquisite Ravel.
Andrew Manze conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in two English choral pieces; Stephen Hough brought a fitting conclusion to his Beethoven concerto cycle as artist-in-residence.
Igor Levit gave a splendid account of Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major, and a performance of Brahms' Second Symphony was played with enthusiasm by the visiting NDR Radiophilharmonie.
Marking his debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester, Andrew Manze nails his colours to the mast with Purcell and Vaughan Williams as well as accompanying Alban Gerhardt in Walton.
Somewhere in the region of 180 singers and instrumentalists faced Andrew Manze as he took the podium at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. Could he handle them? There was never any doubt.
Sometimes the small details make all the difference. They certainly did in this rendition by the CBSO and Steven Osborne under the baton of Andrew Manze that won you over with an unpretentious and all the more captivating performance.
In this Nordic year, a rediscovery of Wilhelm Stenhammar's First Symphony is a fascinating benchmark. Meanwhile, Steven Osborne completes the Beethoven Piano concerto cycle in a thoughtful performance.
Vaughan Williams' Pastoral Symphony is anything but "lambkins frisking", drawing on the composer's experiences in the First World War. In this poignant concert, it was partnered by a trio of works by composers - from both sides of the trenches - who died in action.
What better start to a near capacity crowd concert than Mendelssohn's rousing Overture in C Major, Op101. It contains everything required to suggest a promising evening's music: pace, sparkling orchestration, energising counterpoint, dramatic dynamics and panache.
Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote nine symphonies. Tonight, the middle three were lined up in an engrossing triptych, written by a mature composer who, in his sixties and seventies, showed no lack of energy. Andrew Manze, Associate Guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, took a relaxed approach to all three allowing the emotion written into the score to emerge unrepressed.
In advance of a nationwide spate of celebration concerts, here was an all-British programme that didn’t so much as mention the Jubilee or the Olympics. And a great job the CBSO made of it, under guest conductor Andrew Manze. His expressive hands not only encouraged beautiful music, but they were a joy to watch too.
For Friday’s late night prom, Andrew Manze and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra brought a decidedly quirky programme. The Brahms thread continued on from the early evening concert by Haitink and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, but this was Brahms with a strong twist. The only authentic Brahms in the programme were the two Intermezzi from op.
Andrew Manze, der Cellist Andreas Brantelid und die Bamberger Symphoniker waren mit Elgar und Vaughan Williams auf Konzertreise durch symphonische englische Landschaften.
