Reflections on fallen men: Mark Padmore at Wigmore Hall

By Mark Pullinger, 13 May 2016

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Reviewed at Wigmore Hall, London on 12 May 2016

Schumann, Liederkreis, Op.39

Wigglesworth, Echo and Narcissus

Janáček, The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Mark Padmore, Tenor

Victoria Simmonds, Mezzo-soprano

Ryan Wigglesworth, Piano

Sarah Platt, Soprano

Charlotte Schoeters, Soprano

Lotte Betts-Dean, Mezzo-soprano

Sarah Maxted, Mezzo-soprano

Helena Cooke, Mezzo-soprano

Debbi Steele, Mezzo-soprano

Revelatory Birtwistle and Beethoven from the BBC Scottish SO

Peter Quantrill, 28th July

A composer-conductor's insight yields lasting rewards in Earth Dances and the Eroica at the Royal Albert Hall.

*****

Scintillating Bruckner from Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish

Patrick Maxwell, 27th July

Ryan Wigglesworth conducts a premiere of his own work before steering the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra through a dextrous and fascinating performance of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.

****1

Alice Coote owns Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder at the BBC Proms

Alexander Hall, 25th July

Alice Coote imbues every word of Mahler’s deeply affecting song-cycle with expressive intensity. Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra struggle to match that achievement in Brahms and Schoenberg.

***11

BBC SSO triumphs in Bruckner and Unsuk Chin

Roy Westbrook, 20th June

At last, Bruckner conducting is no longer a specialism confined to a few Austro-German artists devoted to overcoming resistance to the composer’s greatness.

****1

Rejoicing spirits: a compelling new Magnificat by Ryan Wigglesworth

Peter Quantrill, 15th December

A concert journey from Ariadne's despair to Schumann's elation, and a compelling demonstration of Wigglesworth's gifts as both composer and conductor.

****1

Hymns ancient and modern from Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBCSO

Peter Quantrill, 22nd October

A major premiere from Romania and a Russian classic that’s forever new in a concert that struck out with a spirit of adventure at the Barbican.

*****

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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.