St Louis Symphony in a dazzling performance of Adès, Shostakovich and Rimsky-Korsakov

A performance of John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary good enough to convert even the most conservative listener to the Church of New Music.

On 3 September 1912, in a Proms concert which also featured a comedy overture by Granville Bantock and excerpts from Délibes’ ballet Coppélia, Henry Wood and his Queen’s Hall Orchestra gave the world première of Arnold Schoenberg’s Five Orchestral Pieces, a landmark work in atonal expressionism which drew hisses from the hall audience.

If only every orchestral concert were as thoughtfully programmed as the Saint Louis Symphony’s last Saturday. David Robertson led his orchestra in Debussy’s Printemps, an ingratiating early work; the Carnegie Hall premiere of Quatre Instants by Kaija Saariaho with the irrepressible soprano Karita Mattila; and the full-length version of Stravinsky’s Firebird.

L’Orchestre symphonique de Toronto prenait d’assaut la Maison symphonique en déployant un arsenal pour le moins impressionnant : Leon Fleisher (90 ans !) dans le Concerto pour piano n°12 de Mozart et la puissante Symphonie n°8 de Bruckner.

Le RSNO a clôt sa saison samedi soir avec un programme Beethoven/Strauss. 

The Seattle Symphony co-commissions a new work, Jan Lisiecki plays Mozart with religious fervor, and Stravinsky's Sacre still creates an uproar.