Benjamin Grosvenor plays Pictures at an Exhibition at the Southbank

By Roy Westbrook, 25 October 2025

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“the pealing carillons too were played with bright-toned splendour”

Reviewed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 24 October 2025

Chopin, Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor 'Funeral March', Op.35

Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition

Benjamin Grosvenor, Piano

Petrenko’s searing Shostakovich overshadows Grosvenor’s Beethoven

Nick Boston, 3rd February

Stylish Beethoven from Benjamin Grosvenor and dramatic Ustvolskaya from Yuriy Yurchuk, but Petrenko and the RPO’s blistering Shostakovich steals the show.

****1

Sinfonia of London makes international debut at the Concertgebouw

Clare Varney, 25th November

British pianist Ben Grosvenor joins the Sinfonia of London in Amsterdam for Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto showcasing the very best of British talent

****1

Nail-biting Shostakovich from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Dominic Lowe, 15th August

Before a searing performance of Shostakovich's Thirteenth from Ryan Bancroft and his Welsh forces, Benjamin Grosvenor delivers a terrific performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.

****1

Benjamin Grosvenor’s Ravel sparkles in Montreal

Ian Cochrane, 1st May

The British are coming! An exciting evening of Ravel and Vaughan Williams with conductor Andrew Manze and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor in Montreal.

****1

High voltage Shostakovich 10 from Elim Chan and the BBCSO

Mark Pullinger, 28th February

In the 50th anniversary year of Shostakovich's death, you'll be hard pushed to hear a more thrilling rendition of the Tenth Symphony.

****1

Drama and passion from Grosvenor, Boreyko and the LPO

Christopher Woodley, 29th January

Mozart's “Elvira Madigan” Piano Concerto is played with grace and style by Benjamin Grosvenor; Andrey Boreyko and LPO gives gripping accounts of Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.

****1

More reviews...

Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.

Who needs an orchestra? Benjamin Grosvenor plays Pictures at an Exhibition