A dream of an evening with the West-Eastern Divan

By Mark Pullinger, 19 August 2015

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“crouched, poised, ready to strike; a veritable panther of the percussion”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 18 August 2015

Schoenberg, Chamber Symphony no. 1 in E major, Op.9

Beethoven, Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op.56

Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op.36

Sibelius, Valse triste, Op.44 no.1

Glinka, Ruslan and Lyudmila: Overture

Carli, El Firulete

Guy Braunstein, Violin

Kian Soltani, Cello

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor, Piano

Joy and hope from Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Chris Garlick, 4th November

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra are on fire with the joy of music-making to the delight of a very sympathetic and enthusiastic audience at London's Southbank Centre.

*****

Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan return to the BBC Proms

Asher Rubenstein, 11th August

Marking 25 years of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim returns to the Proms with violin legend Anne-Sophie Mutter.

***11

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra shows its stars at the Salzburg Festival

Alexander Hall, 13th August

Daniel Barenboim offered an unusually Germanic take on César Franck, while section leaders Michael Barenboim and Kian Soltani pulled double duty as soloists in Brahms' Double Concerto.

****1

BTHVN 2020 celebrated in Bonn by Barenboim and the WEDO

Zoltán Szabó, 17th December

A mixed performance from Bonn, but there was magic from Barenboim's fingers in the Third Piano Concerto.

***11

Resounding: Barenboim brings music back to the Pierre Boulez Saal

Hugo Shirley, 14th August

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra presents a superb programme executed with power and urgency to herald the return of public music-making at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

*****

Bluster and conviction from Argerich and Barenboim

Mark Thomas, 12th August

There was vibrancy and subtlety in these cultured performances of Schubert and Lutosławski, with Martha Argerich still showing how it’s done with ‘that’ Tchaikovsky 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.

Prom 44: Barenboim as Bottom? A dream of an evening with the West-Eastern Divan