A Leonard Bernstein celebration in Manchester

By Peter Connors, 11 October 2015

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 9 October 2015

Britten, Peter Grimes, Op.33a: Four Sea Interludes

Bernstein, Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"

Beethoven, Symphony no. 7 in A major, Op.92

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Juanjo Mena, Conductor

Tasmin Little, Violin

Reality television: ENO’s Angel’s Bone in Manchester

Lawrence Dunn, 12th May

Kip Williams and ENO mount an extraordinary new production of Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s multifaceted opera, with performances of great emotional directness broadcast live on camera.

*****

BBC Philharmonic’s bold but unbalanced Stravinsky and Adams

Leighton Jones, 1st May

Balance issues mar an otherwise compelling programme from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

***11

Wagner and Strauss from Sarah Wegener and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 14th March

Celtic legends and dramatic landscapes fill Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in an evening of emotional and reflective music under conductor Nicholas Carter.

****1

Watery worlds, rhythmic fire from Brauß and Hickox with the BBC

Leighton Jones, 7th February

Elisabeth Brauß excels in Ravel with the BBC Philharmonic and brings and unexpected encore.

****1

BBC Phil's Bluebeard's Castle eclipsed by Boulanger and Kodály

Peter Connors, 24th January

Anja Bihlmaier conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a moving D'un soir triste and joyful Dances of Galánta. Bluebeard's Castle, despite some fine things. feels less satisfying.

****1

Questions, answers and city nights: Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 17th January

In three hugely different musical voices, John Storgårds with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra move from the intimacy of Ives to the exhilaration of Adams, taking in Beethoven on their way.

****1

More reviews...

Peter Connors

Peter has been attending concerts and operas enthusiastically since his parents took him to see The Mikado in Liverpool when he was a boy of ten and to a “family concert” given by the RLPO a year or so later. Peter studied Modern Languages at Worcester College, Oxford and Law in Manchester. After spending twenty years as a pensions lawyer in Manchester, he retrained as a teacher of English as a foreign language, which took him to Germany and to Serbia. With the onset of the pandemic he returned to the UK and now works online and frequents concert halls and theatres in the North West of England.

Bernstein's Serenade a highlight of the BBC Phil's celebration