Prom 48: Rattle and the LSO play Ravel

By Mark Valencia, 19 August 2018

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“a diaphanous performance of the orchestral version of Ma Mère l’Oye... a burnished pleasure”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 18 August 2018

Ravel, Ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose)

Ravel, Shéhérazade

Ravel, L'Enfant et les sortilèges

Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor

Elizabeth Watts, Bat, Owl, Shepherdess

Jane Archibald, Fire, Nightingale, Princess

Anna Stéphany, Cat (female), China Cup, Squirrel, Chair

Patricia Bardon, Dragonfly, Mother, Shepherd

David Shipley, The armchair, Tree

Magdalena Kožená, The Child

Sunnyboy Dladla, Little old man, Tree frog, Wedgwood teapot

Gavan Ring, Cat (male), Clock

London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Chorus

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 Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.