Trio Mediaeval at LSO St Luke's

The title for this Barbican event certainly threw up some interesting questions. Having failed to attend a riotous dinner party that was characterised by one attendee as “a scream and an outrage”, Nico Muhly set about curating a series of concerts under this title. However, no screams or outrages occurred this weekend.

It's not often in classical music that the performers themselves are the main focus of our attention; more often than not they are at the service of the composer. But this evening was an exception to the rule, showcasing the multi-talented Joanna MacGregor and Arve Henriksen.

The Academy of Ancient Music poses the question what might have been in Leipzig with stunning performances of Bach and his competitors to be the new Thomaskantor. 

Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder provide an apt, if somewhat unexpected, partner to Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. 

Leonard Slatkin returns to the Prague Symphony Orchestra with one of his own pieces, a Schubert tribute that steals the show.

As part of St Luke’s ‘Visionary Sounds’ series, Kinan Azmeh joined the chamber ensemble to play a variety of his own compositions.