Russian spring breaks early in the Crucible Playhouse

By Phil Parker, 12 January 2025

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“piano playing at its most brutal and visceral”

Reviewed at Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield on 10 January 2025

Shostakovich, Concertino for two pianos in A minor, Op.94

Rachmaninov, Suite no. 1 "Fantaisie-Tableaux" for Two Pianos, Op.5

Stravinsky, Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)

Tim Horton, Piano

Ivana Gavrić, Piano

Symmetries in Sound: Ensemble 360 explores music and maths

Phil Parker, 13th February

Forwards? Backwards? Upside down? All three at once? From Machaut to Pärt, Ensemble 360 considers the relationship between musical structures and varieties of mathematical pattern.

****1

Powerful performances by the Leonore Piano Trio in Sheffield

Phil Parker, 30th September

The ninth instalment in the Leonore Piano Trio’s ‘Romantic Piano Trios’ series serves up a Chopin rarity alongside Mendelssohn’s impassioned late C minor Trio.

****1

Leonore Piano Trio: effortlessly impeccable in Sheffield

Phil Parker, 8th October

Slow movements steal the show in the Leonore Piano Trio’s superlative Music in the Round recital in Sheffield.

*****

Grief and joy vie for supremacy in Ensemble 360’s season opener

Phil Parker, 18th September

Ensemble 360 offer a game of two halves at the Sheffield Crucible Playhouse, pairing works by Pavel Haas and Leoš Janáček.

****1

Ensemble 360 – and guest – in a Russian troika

Phil Parker, 20th March

48 hours in the life of a guest cellist: Adrian Brendel saves the day for Ensemble 360 in performances of stunning passion and imagination.

*****

Ligeti in context: Ensemble 360 offers a superb centenary tribute

Phil Parker, 30th September

A centenary celebration of György Ligeti from Ensemble 360 in a concert of vibrant 20th-century music from Eastern Europe.

****1

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Phil Parker

Phil is a retired A-level English teacher who is now able to devote his life to things he really wants to do with his time. These include, but are not limited to: writing short fiction (his first collection, Girl with Fan, was published in late 2023), singing, creating programme notes for his choir’s concerts, volunteering, cooking, reading, and attending all home games at his beloved Manchester City. Alongside these is listening to classical music (live, on disc and on the radio), a lifetime’s love of which was sparked at the age of 11 when he discovered Haydn.