A dusk chorus: Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux opens Musikfest Berlin

By Liam Cagney, 01 September 2019

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“Aimard’s lines were wonderfully clear and precise, limned with lightness and definition”

Reviewed at Philharmonie: Großer Saal, Berlin on 30 August 2019

Messiaen, Catalogue d'oiseaux, for solo piano

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano

Salonen leads an electrifying Boulez tribute in New York

Susan Stempleski, 3rd October

The Philharmonic continues its celebration of the composer-conductor’s centennial with pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist in an innovative program juxtaposing selections by the modernist maestro with pieces by Debussy.

****1

Reflections on Ravel: a three-course piano feast in Ciboure

Mark Pullinger, 2nd September

At the Festival Ravel, Bertrand Chamayou, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Hyunji Kim perform all the solo piano works at the Église Saint-Vincent, a stone’s throw from the house where Ravel was born.

****1

A novel take on a familiar tune: Tianyi Lu conducts Tchaikovsky 5

Ian Cochrane, 12th March

Tianyi Lu triumphs in her return to Montreal with a distinctive approach to Tchaikovsky's Fifth. Pierre-Laurent Aimard gives a spirited performance of Bartók's Third Piano Concerto.

***11

Dazzlingly dexterous Ravel from Aimard and Vӓnskӓ in Philadelphia

Cameron Kelsall, 7th March

The Philadelphia Orchestra's concert also served as a tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas, who was to have conducted the performance before withdrawing for cancer treatment.

****1

Passion and precision: Aimard plays Schoenberg and Ives

David Grundy, 2nd September

Revolutionary music, a century on: Pierre-Laurent Aimard excels in Schoenberg and Ives.

****1

Elim Chan and the RSNO thrill in three-concerto programme

David Smythe, 18th August

At the Edinburgh International Festival, Alison Balsom plays Wynton Marsalis's Trumpet Concerto, Pierre-Laurent plays Schoenberg's Piano Concerto before the RSNO plays Lutosławski's lively Concerto for Orchestra to finish.

****1

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Liam Cagney

Liam is a writer and musicologist based between Ireland and Berlin. He writes on contemporary and Twentieth Century music for Gramophone, and has also written for the Telegraph, the Irish Times, the TLS, Van, and other publications. He holds a PhD from City, University of London and is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music. His Twitter handle is @LiamCagney.