En direct, Vidéo: Rechercher des critiques de musique classique, opéra et ballet | Alwyn

Inattendue et instructive alchimie qu’un concert ! Et combien riche d’enseignements et d’émotions  peut se révéler ce précipité d’œuvres selon l’ordre de leur entrée en scène, de leur compatibilité et bien sûr de leur interprétation. 

A dynamic and dreamy concoction from the London Philharmonic under Lawrence Renes, with impeccable performances from harp virtuoso Xavier de Maistre and LPO Principal Flute Juliette Bausor.

William Alwyn's operatic take on Strindberg is rarely performed – a complete mystery considering this excellent concert staging at the Barbican by the BBCSO under Sakari Oramo.

This concert seemed to be an object lesson as to why Vaughan Williams is a great composer. It contained three contrasting pieces, each one demonstrating the composer’s ability to create atmosphere and capture the attention of audiences by the scruff of neck.

Hot on the heels of this year’s Hollywood Rhapsody Prom came its less glamorous, perhaps geekier sibling, the Film Music Prom. There was less of the fanfare and opulence here; this was about the silver screen (and by that, I don’t mean the sort that is coming back into use for 3D films) and sci-fi.

One of today’s foremost violists, Lawrence Power joined a Scottish Ensemble augmented by two horns and two oboes for this typically boldly-programmed concert. The centrepiece was a new work by Luke Bedford, first composer-in-residence at the Wigmore Hall, written for the same musical forces as Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, which ended the evening.

Violist Lawrence Power, appropriately enough, produces a powerful, beautiful sound. Many public speakers would envy his musical charisma; when he begins a phrase you simply have to hear how it ends. His appearance as guest of the Scottish Ensemble saw him as joint soloist in two works and soloist proper in another.