Birtwistle perplexes, but Aimard shines

By Gavin Dixon, 07 December 2014

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“Real fireworks from the keyboard here, fast, supple and dexterous throughout”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 6 December 2014

Stravinsky, Symphonies of Wind Instruments

Birtwistle, Responses: Sweet disorder and the carefully careless for piano & orchestra

Messiaen, Oiseaux exotiques, for orchestra

Stravinsky, Orpheus

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Vladimir Jurowski, Conductor

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

Karabits and Szeps-Znaider carouse with the LPO

Christopher Woodley, 8th April

The sparkle of Max Bruch's Fecond Violin Concerto and the drama of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony overcome the gloom of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s dark forebodings.

****1

Portraits and pictures from Ibragimova, Gardner and the LPO

Roy Westbrook, 1st April

From Three Screaming Popes to Pictures at an Exhibition, a pair of works inspired by paintings frame a violin concerto by Béla Bartók at London's Southbank Centre.

****1

Ticciati and the LPO deliver epic Sibelius plus lively Wennäkoski

Nick Boston, 25th March

Sibelius' Kullervo receives a dramatic performance from Ticciati and the LPO, with strong turns from Shenyang, Miina-Liisa Värelä and the YL Male Voice Choir.

****1

Paavo Järvi marks his new LPO appointment in Tchaikovsky and Sibelius

Mark Valencia, 4th March

Paavo Järvi demonstrates just why the London Philharmonic Orchestra has chosen him as its next Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor.

*****

Canellakis, Mutter and the LPO at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 24th February

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s commanding presence meet the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s exceptional adaptability, yielding a concert that balances tradition-steeped authority with modern transparency, rhythmic vitality and the orchestra’s own electrifying spontaneity.

****1

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Gavin Dixon

Gavin Dixon is a writer, journalist and editor specialising in classical music. He writes for publications such as Gramophone, Classical Music and BBC Music Magazine. Gavin has a PhD on the symphonies of Alfred Schnittke and is a member of the editorial team for the “Alfred Schnittke Collected Works” edition. His website is here.

Birtwistle perplexes, but Aimard shines in Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques