Pulling out the stops in Poulenc and Saint-Saëns

By Mark Pullinger, 27 March 2014

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Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 26 March 2014

Poulenc, Organ Concerto in G minor, FP 93

Berlioz, Les Nuits d'été, Op.7

Saint-Saëns, Symphony no. 3 in C minor "Organ Symphony", Op.78

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Conductor

Dame Sarah Connolly, Mezzo-soprano

James O'Donnell, Organ

Paavo Järvi marks his new LPO appointment in Tchaikovsky and Sibelius

Mark Valencia, 4th March

Paavo Järvi demonstrates just why the London Philharmonic Orchestra has chosen him as its next Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor.

*****

Canellakis, Mutter and the LPO at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 24th February

Anne-Sophie Mutter’s commanding presence meet the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s exceptional adaptability, yielding a concert that balances tradition-steeped authority with modern transparency, rhythmic vitality and the orchestra’s own electrifying spontaneity.

****1

Phoenix Lands: the London Philharmonic blazes with energy

Charlotte Gardner, 4th February

Edward Gardner’s Bacewicz, Martinů, Lutosławski and Janáček set the Royal Festival Hall ablaze.

****1

Jurowski and the LPO’s Mahler cycle reaches a momentous climax

Peter Quantrill, 24th January

Retrospection held at bay by the conductor’s unusual choice of Rudolf Barshai's completion to Mahler’s last symphony.

****1

Explosive performances from Vladimir Jurowski and the LPO

Chris Garlick, 21st January

Jurowski took a full-on approach in the first movement, grinding through the discords without shame and only pulling back in those rare moments in the score where everyone is catching their breath.

****1

Beth Taylor’s commanding Sea Pictures with the London Philharmonic

Nick Boston, 26th November

The dream team of Edward Gardner and the LPO are joined by Beth Taylor for a glorious evening of Elgar at the Royal Festival Hall.

*****

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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.