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

As Esa-Pekka Salonen reaffirmed in his brief introductory statement, “nothing can replace the ritual of a live event”.

Its theme of the passing of everything from cherry blossom to opera houses made this a programme for the artistic perils of our time. 

A warm, accomplished Metamorphosen needing a notch or two more anguish, followed by precision in Mozart's Gran Partita.

An unforgettable concert: the Belgrade Philharmonic and Gabriel Feltz were on top form in Strauss' Metamorphosen and Beethoven's “Eroica” Symphony.

Pared-down forces of the ACO performed pared down masterpieces, in a brilliantly conceived programme which included works by Wagner, Strauss and Mozart.

Conceptually, the programme of descending and rising fourths offered a real treat: in practice, the musicians' skill was in danger of being lost as they attempted to recover from their opening gimmickry.

After a shaky start with Metamorphosen, the Oslo Philharmonic embodies the evening's theme of transformation by ending on a stonker of a Petruskha, via the perenially fabulous Lise Davidsen.

Rattle and the LSO give hundreds of moments of individual brilliance in this most symphonic of song cycles, but with both soloists giving grounds for reservation.

Impeccable musicianship from the string soloists of the Oxford Philhamonic in stirring accounts of Brahms' String Sextet in G major and Strauss' Metamorphosen.

In a concert of two halves, Worcester Cathedral experiences unforgettable pain and pleasure in works by Strauss, Rasch and Janáček.

High wire Beethoven from Nicolas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra, truly live in every sense, with an entertaining deconstructed introduction from Collon with Tom Service.

A declamatory Bruckner Te Deum made up for a less exciting first half of Barry and Mahler. 

Contrasts abounding in serenades by Mozart and Strauss. 

In this last concert in the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Riccardo Chailly’s brief residency at the Barbican, all concerned were on top form. 

The second week of the Seattle Chamber Music Society's 2015 Summer Festival offered up an unusual juxtaposition of instrumental and vocal pieces, with a beautifully somber mood prevailing.

The RSNO shine in Strauss' and Bartók's contrasting responses to war, dislocation and loss, Metamorphosen and the Concerto for Orchestra.

Pianist Louis Schwizegebel's captures Mozart's subtlety. But the same virtue was sorely missing in Strauss' profound Metamorphosen.

Pre-concert talks need not brim with revelation to be rewarding. Another’s perspective can be enough to alter perception of a programme and resonance thereafter. Such was the case with Dr. Elaine Kelly's talk before this SCO concert entitled “The Pity of War”. Key to reflections on the relationship between war and music was diversity of approach.

The City of London Festival this year is ambitiously programmed, with a number of common themes running through the events.

The Mariinsky Orchestra are great, because Valery Gergiev arranges a schedule that only the great could sustain. In the two weeks before they arrived in Toronto, his musicians played six performances of Swan Lake in Berkeley, California. Then Gergiev took them back to St Petersburg (October 15–23) to play the operas Boris Godunov and Aida.

Pairing Richard Strauss’ Metamorphosen with Mahler’s mighty Resurrection Symphony made for an emotionally exhausting season opener in Birmingham, taking a packed Symphony Hall from anguished lamentation to fist-clenched fury and, ultimately, shattering resolution.Strauss’ unique work for 23 solo strings is widely accepted as being a reflection on 1940s violence.

Composed in under a month in 1945 against the backdrop of a burning, war-torn Dresden, Strauss’ Metamorphosen provided the perfect opening to a concert which explored themes of desolation and mourning. Commissioned by Swiss conductor Paul Sacher, Metamorphosen is a composition for 23 strings, inspired by Goethe’s poem ‘Niemand wird sich Selber kennen’ (‘No one can know himself’).

The concert to open the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 80th Anniversary Series was very much one of contrasts. With the promise of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the season seemed to be opening in celebratory style. However, the entire first half was devoted to Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen, a piece which is a far cry from the triumphant finale of the Beethoven.

Edo de Waart, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, chose for his contribution to the 2011 Arts Festival works by two Germanic composers spanning the late Romantic and early modern periods who were almost exact contemporaries. Richard Strauss coincidentally was born seven years before and died seven years after Alexander von Zemlinsky.

Romantische Stationen von Schubert zu Strauss beim spannungsreichen Konzert des Sinfonieorchesters Basel.

Die Streicher des LCO spielten engagiert und hatten sichtlich Spaß am Auf und Ab Graham Fitkins Komposition.

Vor der neuerlichen Schließung des Hauses schwelgen die Philharmoniker noch einmal in musikalischen Erinnerungen.

Se inaugura la temporada de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife con un concierto dirigido por el titular Antonio Méndez y para el que contaron con la soprano Elsa Dreisig.

De Strauss à Rihm, la clôture du Festival Présences à Radio France est riche en émotions. Hilary Hahn joint son violon au hautbois d'Hélène Devilleneuve pour un Bach énergique !

L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, en co-production avec le Festival La Bâtie, explore avec bonheur et conviction une modernité sombre mais aux fulgurances lumineuses, autour du thème de la transe. 

Le London Symphony Orchestra et Sir Simon Rattle étaient invités à la Philharmonie de Paris pour un programme aux accents funèbres, voire apocalyptiques. Récit d'une soirée miraculeuse.

Bei den Metamorphosen waren die leisen Stellen total verinnerlicht, und in den intensiven Partien schien das Klangbild demjenigen der vollen Besetzung in nichts nachzustehen.

Le programme de la saison musicale à Mulhouse s'est enrichi le 12 novembre d'un nouveau concert. L'orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse sous la direction de Patrick Davin était associé à des invités qui comptent. Le compositeur allemand  Johannes Schöllhorn, les Neue Vocalsolisten de Stuttgart, enfin le violoniste Nemanja Radulovic dont l'originalité le dispute à la virtuosité.

La OSG ofreción un interesante y variado programa en una velada más que agradable, con la presencia del magnífico Javier Perianes como broche de oro.

La venue à la Philharmonie de Paris pour trois concerts de l’Orchestre du Gawandhaus de Leipzig et de son directeur musical, Riccardo Chailly, était un événement très attendu. Comme les deux précédents, ce dernier concert était consacré à Richard Strauss et Mozart. Cette troisième soirée fut tout à fait exceptionnelle.

Anlässlich Richard Strauss' 150. Geburtstag heizte das Bayerische Staatsorchester dem Publikum am heißesten Pfingstmontag aller Zeiten noch zusätzlich ein und bot ein rauschendes musikalisches Fest.

Es gibt immer wieder außergewöhnliche Plätze, an denen klassische Konzerte veranstaltet werden. Mit vier Veranstaltungen im Kesselhaus der Kulturbrauerei präsentiert sich „Klassik im Kessel“, eine neue Reihe des Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchesters Berlin für Kammermusik.