While Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony failed to gel, the German soprano's Mozart turned the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s first concert of the season into a real celebration.
The Bamberg sound remains particularly noticeable in the unanimity and broad, rich beauty of the strings and the sublimely eloquent woodwinds, and the musical authority that lies in the roots of its history.
Joining Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and the musicians of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra for a tour across the United States, Chen headlined a pops concert of Austro-German music, complete with a riveting interpretation of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and an sufficient performance of Mahler’s Fifth.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted his hometown Orchestre Métropolitain in a concert Hollywood couldn’t have scripted better nor the Cirque du Soleil made more fantastic.
The Flanders Symphony Orchestra performed music by Mozart and Beethoven, with Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko joining them for Chopin's Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor.
Hall One of Sage Gateshead was packed for a characteristic Thomas Zehetmair programme, with Mozart, Bartók, a world première and a trademark Beethoven symphony to mark the end of his tenure as musical director of Royal Northern Sinfonia.
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's visit to Reading featured music by Mozart, Brahms and Elgar, and the crowds of schoolchildren in attendance seemed entranced.
A concert like this could have three possible outcomes: one, frustration at catching just a glimpse of a multitude of operas without the benefit of character or plot development or the embellishment of sumptuous costumes or stage sets; two, inspiration to delve further into the world of opera, nudged by tantalising hints of dramatic tension and a world of emotions; or three, sheer escapism into a
Alzira, Verdi’s eighth opera, is something of a discarded child within his canon, not least because of Verdi’s own dismissal of it as “proprio brutta” (really ugly) after it was poorly received both in Naples and Rome.
It was an auspicious debut; a collaboration that, in time, would propel both orchestra and conductor to the very summit of the classical music world. On the stage of the old Philharmonic Hall in Downtown stepped a 24-year-old conductor at the very beginning of his world career.
Oliver Knussen’s music is all about exquisiteness and elegance – not words to describe Mahler’s at the best of times, but maybe his Seventh Symphony least of all, with its odd, lumbering structure, coarse trills and abrupt changes of pace.
How gratifying that James Conlon briefly introduced the rationale for this Philadelphia Orchestra concert, which turned out to be entirely divorced from the nostalgic ‘Memories of Prague’ that its title suggested. Instead, what I had presumed to be coincidental key signatures were in fact the link: an exploration of D minor (with a side of D major).
Une belle soirée proposée par l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande qui sous la direction de Jérémie Rhorer offrira des Mozart élégants, mais un Tchaïkovski qui n’eût de « Pathétique » que le nom : gommant la noirceur de cette fresque russe, il en souligne les détails et en étouffe le souffle épique.
Yuja Wang et du Malher Chamber Orchestra qui inaugurent leur tournée européenne à la Fondation Louis Vuitton. Un programme audacieux qui confronte l’esthétique néoclassique de Stravinsky avec le romantisme à fleur de peau de Chopin, et les plaçant dans l’héritage de Mozart et de Beethoven.
Après avoir ouvert le festival Piano aux Jacobins, la « dernière grande dame de l’école soviétique » retrouvait Tugan Sokhiev pour le lancement de la saison de l’ONCT à la Halle aux Grains.
Le pianiste argentin semble à peine tendu, bien qu'il doive jouer les deux concertos de Chopin ! Un exploit tant ces pièces exigent que l'instrumentiste mobilise toutes les ressources physiques dont il dispose.
Sous le caractère abordable des concertos de Mozart se cache un enjeu de taille : seule une exécution parfaitement limpide permet de restituer la présence sacrée du compositeur à son piano. Dans un programme où Mozart dramaturge était partout présent, l'interprétation de Jean-Claude Pennetier invitait à la foi et à l'optimisme.
