A glimpse down the corridors of time

By Aaron Davies, 13 December 2016

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Reviewed at Royal Northern College of Music: Concert Hall, Manchester on 12 December 2016

Couperin, Concert Royal no. 4 in E minor "Le Grand"

Quantz, 2 Capricci

Benda, Flute Sonata in E minor

Bach, Flute Sonata in E minor, BWV1034

Duphly, Pièces de clavecin, livre no. 3: La Forqueray

Philidor, Suite no. 5 in E minor for flute and basso continuo

Bach, Flute Sonata in A major, BWV1032

Mahan Esfahani, Harpsichord

Adam Walker, Flute

Masterly Boulez from Shibe and friends at the BBC Proms in Gateshead

Nick Butters, 27th July

Intimate playing from Sean Shibe, a deconstruction of Maria Callas’ vibrato and a deeply committed Boulez mid 20th-century masterpiece.

****1

Albéric Magnard steals the show in all-French recital at Wigmore Hall

Nick Boston, 15th November

How many of Albéric Magnard's 22 works do you know? Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and the Orsino Ensemble perform his Quintet in D minor to Wigmore Hall and it becomes the sixth star of the evening.

*****

From Cornwall to the Malverns: John Wilson leads a musical tour

Mark Pullinger, 16th July

The Sinfonia of London excels in works by British composers at the BBC Proms, launching some of the season's themes.

****1

Bostridge's Shakespeare Songs at Wigmore Hall

Louise Flind, 14th November

Shakespeare songs turned out to be more of a Shakespeare feast starring Antonio Pappano, Ian Bostridge and the exceptional Eve Best.

***11

Profundity and musical freshness: Huw Watkins world première

David Fay, 23rd February

The LSO, under Daniel Harding, gives the world première of Huw Watkins’ impressive Flute Concerto, before offering a spectacular performance of Mahler’s Symphony no.1.

*****

20th-century concerti with Tadaaki Otaka and BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Philip May, 28th March

“Three concertos and an epitaph” is how the Wales Millennium Centre summed up tonight’s concert. Not only did the selected programme focus almost exclusively on three composers’ essays in the concerto genre, but it also spanned a narrow period of time within the mid 20th-century: 22 years in total, or 38 if one includes Andrzej Panufnik’s Katyn Epitaph.

*****

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Aaron Davies

A lifelong aficionado of classical music in all its various guises, Aaron spent his formative years studying musical composition whilst playing a number of instruments. Today, his day job involves running an international technology business. He derives particular pleasure from expanding his “virtual” music library via the use of online streaming services. If pressed to compile a desert island disc, he would most likely select works from the catalogues of Beethoven, Schumann, Rachmaninov and Gershwin.

A glimpse down the corridors of time with Adam Walker and Mahan Esfahani in Manchester