Brahms wrote four of the greatest works in the clarinet repertoire for his friend Richard Mühlfeld. The indefatigable Michael Collins performed three of them in the latest recital in Stephen Hough's Brahms residency.
This Cheltenham Festival concert featured three British string quartets by Hugh Wood, Michael Nyman and Giles Swayne. Swayne and Wood were both present at the concert and gave an introductory talk providing context for their works. Swayne said in the talk that ‘music should be unpredictable to keep the listener interested’.
Hell holds no fury like a woman scorned, and it was certainly so in Greek mythology, celebrated in this outstanding Aldeburgh Festival performance by the Britten Sinfonia and Helen Charlston.
Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.
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