Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Grosse Fuge - fugue for string quartet in B flat major, Op.133

A boldly curated programme, showcasing two ambitious orchestral works premiered during the last two years, proved to be a most stimulating evening. 

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra electrifies with spirited performances of Bach and Beethoven, while four violins delight in Bacewicz's lithe Fourth Quartet.

Rebecca Tong made her debut with the RLPO in a delightful programme of Sibelius, Beethoven and Schubert in the Philharmonic Hall.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra presents a superb programme executed with power and urgency to herald the return of public music-making at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

This was a true tour de force and a fitting climax to a rather miraculous examination of counterpoint through musical history.

Prelude – Skydiving from a Dream from Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance: mesmeric choreographed Bach and Lutosławski with a blistering performance of Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue played from memory and on the move. Thrilling, daring and exciting.

A line-up of well-matched vocal soloists and a chorus in top form, along with passionate conducting by Franz Welser-Möst made for a memorable closing concert of this important milestone season.

The Borodin Quartet seemed safely in their comfort zone with a selection of staple works from Shosatkovich and Beethoven. 

Sometimes the creations of humans, no matter how artistic, can’t compete with the drama of nature. Such was the case this past Saturday evening at Blossom Music Center, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra (about a 45-minute drive south of Cleveland) in their first weekend of concerts for the season.

There are only a handful of composers whose music can provide enough variety to last a whole program. Beethoven is one of those composers. Not only that, but even today, some 200 years after his lifetime, his music continues to inspire, delight and challenge modern audiences. That is part of Beethoven’s enduring genius and legacy.The opening piece of the concert, the Grosse Fugue Op.

This creative SCO programme offered two works in either half, performed in reverse chronological order. Virtuoso violinist Alexander Janiczek directed the first of each pair, beginning with Schubert’s 1817 Overture in D major “In the Italian Style”, D.590.

Franz Welser-Möst’s programme was rather eclectic for this Carnegie Hall visit from the Cleveland Orchestra. Matthias Pintscher’s static, ethereal new work, Chute d’Étoiles (“Falling Stars”), found itself sandwiched between two of Beethoven’s busiest works, the Fourth Symphony and the Grosse Fuge, both of which are in the key of B flat major.

Deux concerts radicalement différents se succédaient en 24h au festival monégasque : d'abord les Vêpres de Monteverdi à la Cathédrale, puis la Seconde école de Vienne en quatuor au One Monte-Carlo.

Emocionante recorrido por la música para cuarteto de cuerda con Ligeti y Lachenmann que, enmarcando la impresionante Gran fuga de Beethoven, conformaron una sofisticada velada de música de cámara en manos del Quatuor Diotima.

La Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid dirigida por Gordan Nikolić, que ejerció de concertino y director, interpreta un programa con rememoraciones estivales.

La ejecución de la integral de los cuartetos de Beethoven es una manera magnífica de celebrar los veinte años del Cuarteto Casals, y hacerlo además introduciendo obras de compositores contemporáneos en los respectivos programas de todo el ciclo, es un ulterior aliciente porque nos permite comprender el sentido trascendental de esta forma musical tan célebre enigmática.