A Ninth lacking freshness: Haitink and the LSO

By George Slater-Walker, 23 June 2015

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“Lustre was certainly the word for the orchestral sound”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 21 June 2015

Beethoven, Leonore Overture no. 2, Op.72a

Beethoven, Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) for chorus, Op.112

Beethoven, Symphony no. 9 in D minor "Choral", Op.125

London Symphony Orchestra

Bernard Haitink, Conductor

Erin Wall, Soprano

Karen Cargill, Mezzo-soprano

Steve Davislim, Tenor

Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Baritone

London Symphony Chorus

Simon Halsey, Choirmaster / chorus director

Pappano and the LSO: a thrilling collision between heaven and hell

Charlotte Gardner, 16th April

Vilde Frang joins Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican for transcendent Korngold alongside darker fare.

****1

Han Kang’s The White Book takes on a compelling new life

Peter Quantrill, 5th March

At the Barbican, Laura Bowler's new work for Barbara Hannigan translates Han Kang's novel into a soundscape of icy stillness

****1

A curious evening from Noseda, Kopatchinskaja and the LSO

Mark Valencia, 26th February

Good, bad, but never ugly, a curious evening unfolds at the Barbican, inspired at times, ill-judged in places.

***11

Borodin steps into the symphonic limelight: Noseda and the LSO

Mark Pullinger, 15th February

Seong-Jin Cho continues his Artist Portrait series with the LSO by performing Chopin's poetic Second Piano Concerto.

****1

Rattle and the LSO sell a travel package to Hungary and Spain

Roy Westbrook, 18th January

Opening her LSO Artist Portrait series, Patricia Kopatchinskaja plays Béla Bartók’s Second Violin Concerto before Rattle and the LSO whisk the audience to Falla’s Andalusia.

****1

Rare Vaughan Williams from Pappano and the LSO

Chris Garlick, 7th December

Tchaikovsky and Vaughan Williams make rare bedfellows, but Pappano's grip on these disparate scores impresses, with the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra on wondrous form.

****1

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George Slater-Walker

George recently graduated with a BA in Music at Magdalen College Oxford and is now pursuing the life of a horn player in London and elsewhere. His particular interest lies in fin-de-siècle Austro-German music and art.

A Ninth lacking freshness: Haitink and the LSO in Beethoven's Choral Symphony