Simone Lamsma dazzles in Britten with the Liverpool Phil

By Leighton Jones, 03 October 2025

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“a rendition that was not only masterful, but transformative”

Reviewed at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool on 2 October 2025

Copland, El Salón México

Britten, Violin Concerto, Op.15

Simon, Four Black American Dances

Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte

Ravel, La Valse

Simone Lamsma, Violin

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Alpesh Chauhan, Conductor

Frank Dupree’s Liverpool debut has the audience crying out for more

Glyn Mon Hughes, 14th May

Frank Dupree’s debut with the RLPO celebrates the 250th anniversary of the USA, with Liverpool audiences treated to sumptuous Copland and barn-storming performances of Gershwin and Duke Ellington.

*****

Era-defining string sound in the Liverpool Phil’s Mahler 9

Rohan Shotton, 10th May

Domingo Hindoyan nears his five-year anniversary at the RLPO with Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

****1

Dazzling Prokofiev from Alim Beisembayev and the RLPO

Peter Connors, 26th April

In an all-Russian programme in Liverpool, Alim Beisembayev gives a breathtaking performance of Prokofiev's fiendishly difficult Second Piano Concerto.

****1

Dependable Mozart and Mendelssohn from the RLPO

Glyn Mon Hughes, 16th April

Aurel Dawidziuk and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra explore darkness and light, although the drama does not always bringing the audience to the edge of its collective seat.

***11

Paul Lewis balances delicacy with power in understated RLPO Beethoven

Glyn Mon Hughes, 12th March

Understatement is key in Paul Lewis' interpretation of Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Adam Hickox.

***11

Domingo Hindoyan's warm Bruckner 6 beguiles Liverpool

Peter Connors, 5th February

Schubert and Saint-Saëns provide an elegant first half before a change of tone and pace with Bruckner's Sixth Symphony.

****1

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Leighton Jones

Leighton has extensive teaching experience from early years to postgraduate level music. Currently he works as a primary music specialist, visiting instrumental teacher and examiner. As a pianist, he was inspired to play after hearing Moura Lympany at a young age and has a large collection of her recordings. Leighton’s postgraduate studies focussed on his interest in 20th-century English orchestral music, with particular study of Britten, Rawsthorne, Walton and Vaughan Williams. A keen choral singer he has developed a comprehensive knowledge of chiefly British choral music.

Simone Lamsma dazzles in Britten as Chauhan brings sunshine to a stormy Liverpool