Performer: Philippe Herreweghe

Despite distancing, the members of Collegium Vocale Gent filled the Queen Elisabeth Hall with an impressively cohesive sound, transparent and powerful at the same time. 

While Herreweghe’s approach wasn’t always a successful one, when it was the results were marvelous – particularly in the Jupiter Symphony and Isabelle Faust’s take on the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Philippe Herreweghe reveals a crisp and precise Philharmonia in Schubert’s Fifth Symphony as Thomas Zehetmair provides reflection and breadth in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

There are multiple ways of approaching Bach's Mass in B minor, from the one-to-a-part advocated by Joshua Rifkin to a more conventional large choral approach, and everything in between.

Herreweghe’s lifelong artistry of concentration, clarity and intimacy was nowhere better demonstrated than in an exalted account of Mozart's last symphony. 

Philippe Herreweghe deftly coordinated the four vocalists, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and his Collegium Vocale Gent through Beethoven’s challenging score.