Schumann v Schumann: a surprise victor in Vienna concerto play-off

By Mark Pullinger, 12 February 2026

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“with soft hands and wrists, although there are flashes of steel when required”

Reviewed at Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Vienna on 11 February 2026

Schumann C., Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.7

Mayer, Symphony no. 4 in B minor

Schumann, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54

Chopin, Mazurka in A minor, Op.17 no.4

Alexandra Dovgan, Piano

Basel Chamber Orchestra

Delyana Lazarova, Conductor

Handel's somewhat rare oratorio Susanna in the Halle Handel Festival

Sandra Bowdler, 14th June

Handel's oratorio Susanna is often considered to be less than consistently dramatic and this performance in the Halle Handel Festival did little to dispel that view.

***11

Swish playing from a Swiss orchestra

Dominic Lowe, 20th November

Heinz Holliger conducted a fine interpretation of Schubert's Ninth, but it was Stephen Hough's performance of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 that really made the evening.

****1

Daniel Hope and the Basel Chamber Orchestra

Mark Valencia, 18th April

Hope can spin high-lying musical phrases with a sweetness and suspension that few of his contemporaries can match.

****1

Sol Gabetta a stylish soloist with the Basel CO

David Larkin, 29th November

The final stop on the Basel Chamber Orchestra's Australian tour at the Sydney Opera House saw Sol Gabetta in fine fettle as soloist in Cello Concertos by Saint-Saëns and the Latvian Vasks.

***11

Mozart disappoints, but Rameau and Bizet compensate

David Pinedo, 25th July

It was an evening for showing off. The Basel Chamber Orchestra (being Bartoli and Scholl’s frequent partners) performed Bizet and Rameau, plus a Mozart concerto with conductor Christian Zacharias directing from the piano.

***11

Mozart concert arias from Rolando Villazón fail to engage

Aksel Tollåli, 6th May

Rolando Villazón and kammerorchesterbasel failed to impress in a programme of Mozart's concert arias for tenor.

**111

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Mark Pullinger

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.

Schumann v Schumann: a surprise victor emerges between piano concerto play-off