James Ehnes makes a dazzling EIF debut

By Simon Thompson, 23 August 2018

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“The violin line barely shuddered into audibility in the work’s spectral opening”

Reviewed at Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, Edinburgh on 23 August 2018

Brahms, Violin Sonata no. 3 in D minor, Op.108

Prokofiev, Violin Sonata no. 1 in F minor, Op.80

Debussy, Violin Sonata in G minor

Prokofiev, Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, Op.35bis

Ravel, Tzigane

Prokofiev, Violin Sonata no. 2 in D major, Op.94a (Andante)

James Ehnes, Violin

Steven Osborne, Piano

Turangalîla underwhelms at the Southbank’s Multitudes festival

Roy Westbrook, 23rd April

Serious music ill-matched by filmic limitations as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tackles Messiaen’s epic “symphony” as part of the Southbank’s cross-genre festival.

**111

Kazuki Yamada and the CBSO stir up swelling seas with Scheherazade

Robert Gainer, 4th March

In the CBSO Benevolent Fund concert, the orchestra tells the timeless story, set in Persia, of Scheherazade who, through her storytelling, brings about peace.

****1

Heft and delicacy: Philharmonia makes Lammermuir Festival debut

Simon Thompson, 10th September

Bringing the Philharmonia is the most ambitious thing the Lammermuir Festival has ever done, yet it felt like a natural next step for a festival that's growing in stature.

****1

Gardner and the LPO scale Alpine heights with majestic ease

Nick Boston, 21st February

Majestic Strauss and effortless Grieg from Edward Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

****1

Exquisite Mozart from Steven Osborne with the Ulster Orchestra

Leighton Jones, 14th February

Championing British musicm the Ulster Orchestra also performs a seldom heard work by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

***11

The stars shine brightly: Morlot conducts Messiaen in Manchester

Leighton Jones, 12th December

In a rare performance of Des Canyons aux étoiles, Ludovic Morlot and Steven Osborne plunge the depths of Utah’s canyons and ascend to celestial plains.

*****

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Simon Thompson

Simon lives and works in Edinburgh, and teaches History and Modern Studies at a local high school when he is not writing about music. Born an Irishman, he is an enthusiastic adopted Scot, and has lived in the capital for fifteen years since university days, making the most of its many avenues for classical music. He spends his spare time enthusing about music, theatre, art and literature to anyone who will listen, including his long-suffering students, who have no choice.