Ebullient Mahler 1 crowns Pappano’s opening salvo with the LSO

Sir Antonio Pappano

Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra

Yuja Wang

By Mark Pullinger, 20 September 2024

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“the smell of the greasepaint was never far away from this staggering Mahler 1”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 19 September 2024

Szymanowski, Concert Overture in E major, Op.12

Chopin, Piano Concerto no. 2 in F minor, Op.21

Boulez, Notation no. 6

Rachmaninov, Prelude in G minor, Op.23 no.5

Glass, Étude no. 6

Mahler, Symphony no. 1 in D major "Titan"

Yuja Wang, Piano

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Denis Kozhukhin: captivating storytelling with the London Symphony

Clare Varney, 1st May

At the Konzerthaus Dortmund, Sir Antonio Pappano and the LSO are joined by Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin to plunge into the depths of despair in Bernstein’s melancholic The Age of Anxiety.

***11

A dream of a Gerontius from Pappano, the LSO and Chorus

Roy Westbrook, 21st April

Giving their 27th performance of the oratorio, the London Symphony Chorus excel as angelic angels and demonic demons.

****1

Pappano and the LSO: a thrilling collision between heaven and hell

Charlotte Gardner, 16th April

Vilde Frang joins Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican for transcendent Korngold alongside darker fare.

****1

Han Kang’s The White Book takes on a compelling new life

Peter Quantrill, 5th March

At the Barbican, Laura Bowler's new work for Barbara Hannigan translates Han Kang's novel into a soundscape of icy stillness

****1

A curious evening from Noseda, Kopatchinskaja and the LSO

Mark Valencia, 26th February

Good, bad, but never ugly, a curious evening unfolds at the Barbican, inspired at times, ill-judged in places.

***11

Borodin steps into the symphonic limelight: Noseda and the LSO

Mark Pullinger, 15th February

Seong-Jin Cho continues his Artist Portrait series with the LSO by performing Chopin's poetic Second Piano Concerto.

****1

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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.

Ebullient Mahler 1 crowns Pappano’s opening salvo with the London Symphony Orchestra