After many years as a musician – conducting choirs, singing as a lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral and an involvement in education, David now writes programme notes, occasionally composes and enjoys a busy schedule of reviewing.
Once more Kirill Karabits turned eastwards for inspiration and delivered persuasive renditions of two seldom heard works prefaced by a startlingly new work of arresting sonorities.
A memorable evening of superb music-making at the Royal Festival Hall, illuminating two well-known Vaughan Williams scores and shining a light on a seldom performed rarity.
Works by Mahler and Stravinsky bookend this Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert, but the world premiere shakes the dust off a century-old concerto by Feodor Akimenko.
A mixed bag of performances at Covent Garden, but with an outstanding Butterfly who brings ample rewards to an evening where the emotional temperature eventually soars.
A world premiere, a rarely performed concerto and a slice of late Rachmaninov formeda well-conceived programme that also featured the internationally renowned Labèquesisters.
Hard driven and, at times, uncompromising ferocity for Mahler's Sixth Symphony, coupled with an engaging and sensitive account of Elgar's Sea Pictures.
The American conductor led strong, characterful performances of Britten and Shostakovich that prompted some misgivings by their execution but made a powerful impression overall.
Mixed performances that highlighted Francesco Dego's riveting account of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, bookended by Berlioz's ground-breaking symphony and a rare overture by Louise Farrenc.
A mainly French programme of Chabrier, Saint-Saëns and Franck drew mixed performances, but it was a memorable performance of the latter's Symphony in D minor that crowned the evening at Poole's Lighthouse.
Exhilarating performances from The Philharmonia in a trio of Russian composers brought to life by Alpesh Chauhan, with Jess Gillam as a distinguished soloist.
Sounding under-rehearsed and unloved, these performances of two great works made for a frustrating evening that could have been so much more inspiring.
Alpesh Chauhan presides over stylish accounts of Grieg and Sibelius and gives solid reasons why we should hear more performances of Sibelius' Third Symphony.
