Composers turn to the sonnets in Manchester

By Pamela Nash, 25 April 2016

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“a score infused with animal energy and visceral drive”

Reviewed at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on 23 April 2016

Coult, BBC Commissions

Chou, The Tongue

Kidane, BBC Commissions

Whiteman, BBC Commissions

Parker, BBC Commissions

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: excerpts

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Andrew Gourlay, Conductor

Wagner and Strauss from Sarah Wegener and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 14th March

Celtic legends and dramatic landscapes fill Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in an evening of emotional and reflective music under conductor Nicholas Carter.

****1

Watery worlds, rhythmic fire from Brauß and Hickox with the BBC

Leighton Jones, 7th February

Elisabeth Brauß excels in Ravel with the BBC Philharmonic and brings and unexpected encore.

****1

BBC Phil's Bluebeard's Castle eclipsed by Boulanger and Kodály

Peter Connors, 24th January

Anja Bihlmaier conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a moving D'un soir triste and joyful Dances of Galánta. Bluebeard's Castle, despite some fine things. feels less satisfying.

****1

Questions, answers and city nights: Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic

Leighton Jones, 17th January

In three hugely different musical voices, John Storgårds with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra move from the intimacy of Ives to the exhilaration of Adams, taking in Beethoven on their way.

****1

John Storgårds leads the BBC Philharmonic through Shostakovich

Rohan Shotton, 15th November

The BBC Phil's chief conductor led a relentless account of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony, paired with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

****1

Thunderous Mahler from Elena Schwarz and the BBC Philharmonic

Rohan Shotton, 8th November

Elena Schwarz conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Mahler's First Symphony, Debussy's La Mer and a rare outing for a trombone concerto.

****1

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Pamela Nash

Pamela Nash, a Harkness Fellow, studied the piano and harpsichord in London, Paris and the USA and holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. She has curated several contemporary harpsichord music events, and was the director of the British Harpsichord Society's International Composition Competition in 2014. Pamela has contributed articles and reviews for Harpsichord and Fortepiano, Contemporary Music Review and Sounding Board and was the producer for the recently-released recording of contemporary works for harpsichord, "Shadow Journey", on the Prima Facie label.

Inspired by Shakespeare: composers turn to the sonnets in Manchester