Basque music in the Pays Basque: Ensemble Hegiak at the Festival Ravel

Ensemble Hegiak

By Roy Westbrook, 03 September 2024

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“this evening’s specialist Regional event was its quintessential piece of festival programming”

Reviewed at Couvent des Récollets, Ciboure on 2 September 2024

Various, Chants et musiques traditionnels basques

Ensemble Hegiak

When time stands still: the Philharmonia revisits Strauss

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The Philharmonia, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Benjamin Grosvenor shine in the recreation of an all-Strauss extravaganza that was conducted in 1947 by the composer himself.

****1

Ambition meets the Philharmonie: Peltokoski and Kantorow in Paris

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Two prodigies, with a surplus of imagination and more interest in the moment than in creating long arcs of music, join the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in Paris.

****1

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Mengguang Huang, 2nd June

From the earthy joy of Meistersinger to the sublime textures of Debussy, Daniele Gatti channels the Dresdeners' legendary, layered warmth into an unforgettable evening of pure acoustic luxury.

****1

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Edward Sava-Segal, 31st May

Solomon Rosowsky, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky form a matinee programme whose deeper connections gradually came into focus.

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Jurowski marks Hans Werner Henze’s centenary at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 31st May

Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin deliver a lean, razor-sharp exploration of captivity and survival, balancing Beethoven’s and Brahms’ structural clarity against the devastating, high-fidelity distortion of Henze’s Ninth Symphony.

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Mischievous Pan at Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s French May

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French clarinettist Raphaël Sévère unearths beauty in Nielsen’s concerto and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta impress in two settings of Pan’s antics at the French May Festival.

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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.