Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

By Alexander Hall, 12 April 2024

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“but nothing hits you in the solar plexus, leaves you gasping for breath”

Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 11 April 2024

Mahler, Symphony no. 8 in E flat major "Symphony of a Thousand"

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

NDR Vokalensemble

Rundfunkchor Berlin

Prague Philharmonic Choir

Knabenchor Hannover

Carolyn Sampson, Soprano

Camilla Tilling, Soprano

Miriam Kutrowatz, Soprano

Stefanie Irányi, Contralto

Jennifer Johnston, Mezzo-soprano

Andreas Schager, Tenor

Nathan Berg, Bass-baritone

Adam Plachetka, Bass-baritone

Semyon Bychkov, Conductor

A searingly powerful Duke Bluebeard's Castle at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 9th February

Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester partner first Igor Levit, and then Michelle DeYoung and Gerald Finley, in a night of outstanding music-making devoted to the music of Bartók.

*****

Two Sergeis with Vinnitskaya and Valčuha at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 14th September

Rachmaninov and Prokofiev not only shared a first name. In their individual ways they helped define Russianness too. Anna Vinnitskaya, Juraj Valčuha and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester are here the exponents.

***11

Music that makes the flesh creep: Kochanovsky's powerful Prokofiev 6

Alexander Hall, 20th April

Three diverse works written within 15 years of each other, by Kodály, Poulenc and Prokofiev, given with panache by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the amazing Jussen brothers and Stanislav Kochanovsky.

****1

Operatic Wagner and symphonic Shostakovich in the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 15th September

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

***11

Death and what comes after: Alan Gilbert's Mahler 2 in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 2nd September

Opening the new season, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester send out a clear message in Mahler's Second Symphony, both lyrically shaped and dramatically inflected.

****1

Impressions of Suffolk, Andalusia and the Rhineland in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 12th May

Robert Louis Stevenson was clear in the advice he gave: “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” Pablo Heras-Casado, Bertrand Chamayou and the house orchestra of the Elbphilharmonie embark on musical journeys, but with mixed results.

**111

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.