Bachtrack logo
What's on
All eventsConcertsOperaDanceKids eventsMasterclassesCompetitionsFestivals
Reviews
All reviewsConcert reviewsOpera reviewsDance reviews
Articles
All articlesFeaturesInterviewsOpinionPlaylists
News
Video
Video homeAll videoStreamed eventsConcertsOperaDanceKids eventsMasterclassesPublishers
Site
About usContact usLink to usConditions of useCookiesPrivacy
Young artists
Travel
EventsReviewsArticlesVideo

Baroque intimacy and imperial splendour in the LPO's traversal of the four seasons

By John Johnston, 25 November 2017
Loading, please wait...
See full listing
“a collegiate performance rather than a showcase for a star virtuoso”
Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 24 November 2017
Programme
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione), Op.8 no. 1-4
Kabalevsky, Symphonic Poem: Vesna (Spring), Op.65
Glazunov, The Seasons
Performers
Marius Stravinsky, Conductor
Pieter Schoeman, Violin
London Philharmonic Orchestra
More Concert reviews
Karabits and Szeps-Znaider carouse with the LPO
Christopher Woodley, 8th April
The sparkle of Max Bruch's Fecond Violin Concerto and the drama of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony overcome the gloom of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s dark forebodings. 
****1
Portraits and pictures from Ibragimova, Gardner and the LPO
Roy Westbrook, 1st April
From Three Screaming Popes to Pictures at an Exhibition, a pair of works inspired by paintings frame a violin concerto by Béla Bartók at London's Southbank Centre. 
****1
Ticciati and the LPO deliver epic Sibelius plus lively Wennäkoski
Nick Boston, 25th March
Sibelius' Kullervo receives a dramatic performance from Ticciati and the LPO, with strong turns from Shenyang, Miina-Liisa Värelä and the YL Male Voice Choir.
****1
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
More reviews...
Read reviews of
Alexander Konstantinovich GlazunovAntonio VivaldiDmitry Borisovich KabalevskyLondon Philharmonic OrchestraMarius StravinskyPieter SchoemanThe Four Seasons (Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione), Op.8 no. 1-4The Seasons
Related articles
Loading image...
A walk to the Southbank Centre: London’s cultural riverside
Loading image...
Paavo Järvi to become next Chief Conductor & Artistic Advisor at London Philharmonic
Loading image...
Willingness to take risks: Jesús Herrera joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Loading image...
Big birthdays: Philharmonia Orchestra celebrates 80 years in 2025–26
John Johnston
John Johnston

John Johnston was a contributor to Bachtrack 2017-19. John was a true gentleman and lifelong opera "nut" who frequently travelled across Europe to catch performances, making regular pilgrimages to the Bayreuth Festival among others. His supreme knowledge and appreciation of voices meant he took to reviewing like the proverbial duck to water. We enjoyed his style and his insatiable appetite for catching rare operas and new productions wherever he could.