BBCSO finds common threads in Berlioz, Rebel and Dusapin

By Danny Riley, 20 July 2017

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“Alisa Weilerstein’s cello traded blows with the bass clarinet on an austere drone”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 19 July 2017

Rebel, Les Élémens: Chaos

Dusapin, Outscape (BBC co-commission, UK première)

Bartók, 44 Duos for 2 Violins, Sz.98, BB104 (no.44: Transylvanian Dance)

Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Op.14

Alisa Weilerstein, Cello

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Joshua Weilerstein, Conductor

Sakari Oramo and Yeol Eum Son summon up vivid landscapes

Christopher Woodley, 13th March

Yeol Eum Son's superb performances of Bartók and Finzi are matched by intense and heady readings of Stravinsky and Weir by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo.

****1

From snow to sludge: Icelandic music at the Barbican Centre

Marat Ingeldeev, 22nd February

A bewildering evening at the Barbican, where ambitious Icelandic programming collapses under its lofty ambition of defying genres and making music more appealing to a wide variety of audiences.

**111

Fine Lindberg and Stravinsky double bill from the BBC Symphony

Roy Westbrook, 6th February

After a performance of Magnus Lindberg’s First Violin Concerto by Lisa Batiashvili at the Barbican, Stravinsky’s Perséphone stands the test of time.

****1

UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s unEarth impresses on scale, not substance

Susannah Moody, 23rd January

Wolfe's climate-change oratorio, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, already feels out of date.

**111

Sir James MacMillan delights with his Christmas Oratorio

David Karlin, 19th December

MacMillan's large scale choral work offers a rich variety of texts and musical ideas, the composer conducts the BBC Symphony with unerring precision.

*****

Ermonela Jaho gives a tragic twist to Puccini's La rondine

Peter Quantrill, 5th December

A new edition of Puccini's score springs to life in a meticulously prepared Opera Rara concert performance at the Barbican.

****1

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Danny Riley

Danny Riley worked as Bachtrack's content creator from 2017-2018 and is now a freelance contributor. Having also written for sites such as The Quietus and Bandcamp, he loves music of all genres, with a particular fondness for folk and minimalism, and recently completed a PhD on representations of sound in contemporary British poetry.

Prom 7: Primordial sludge: BBC Symphony finds common threads in Berlioz, Rebel and Dusapin