Beautiful but underwhelming Ravel from Morlot and the BBC Philharmonic

Ludovic Morlot conducts the BBC Philharmonic (at Bridgewater Hall)

Bertrand Chamayou, Ludovic Morlot and the BBC Philharmonic (at Bridgewater Hall)

By Nick Butters, 23 February 2025

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“too much to digest, like a wonderful meal composed entirely of desserts”

Reviewed at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music: Sage One, Gateshead on 21 February 2025

Ravel, La Valse

Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales

Ravel, Piano Concerto in D major for the left hand

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

Ludovic Morlot, Conductor

Bertrand Chamayou, Piano

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

BBC Philharmonic’s bold but unbalanced Stravinsky and Adams

Leighton Jones, 1st May

Balance issues mar an otherwise compelling programme from John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

***11

Wagner and Strauss from Sarah Wegener and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 14th March

Celtic legends and dramatic landscapes fill Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in an evening of emotional and reflective music under conductor Nicholas Carter.

****1

Watery worlds, rhythmic fire from Brauß and Hickox with the BBC

Leighton Jones, 7th February

Elisabeth Brauß excels in Ravel with the BBC Philharmonic and brings and unexpected encore.

****1

BBC Phil's Bluebeard's Castle eclipsed by Boulanger and Kodály

Peter Connors, 24th January

Anja Bihlmaier conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a moving D'un soir triste and joyful Dances of Galánta. Bluebeard's Castle, despite some fine things. feels less satisfying.

****1

Questions, answers and city nights: Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 17th January

In three hugely different musical voices, John Storgårds with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra move from the intimacy of Ives to the exhilaration of Adams, taking in Beethoven on their way.

****1

John Storgårds leads the BBC Philharmonic through Shostakovich

Rohan Shotton, 15th November

The BBC Phil's chief conductor led a relentless account of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, paired with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

****1

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Nick Butters

Nick studied under Denis Matthews at Newcastle University in the 1970s. He has had a busy and varied career, working in classical music, musical theatre and jazz. As an educator he taught on the staff of ArtsEd London, GSA and LCM, and has been a visiting tutor at RADA, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Oxford School of Drama. After working in London for many years he took up a teaching post at the Conservatoire de la Dordogne in 2007. On returning to the UK he settled in the north-east of England. He teaches and is an accompanist at the Centre for Advanced Training at The Glasshouse ICM, Gateshead (formerly Sage Gateshead), and has recently retired as a lecturer and musical director at the Institute of the Arts, University of Cumbria. He is in demand as a choral and instrumental accompanist across the region.