The BBCSO graces the Lahti Festival

By Roy Westbrook, 05 September 2015

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Valse triste, opening with just the right degree of haunted empty ballroom eeriness”

Reviewed at Sibelius Hall, Lahti on 3 September 2015

Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47

Bartók, Sonata for Solo Violin, BB 124, Sz 117 (Presto)

Sibelius, Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.43

Sibelius, Valse triste, Op.44 no.1

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Okko Kamu, Conductor

Sergey Malov, Violin

More gold than corn: María Dueñas plays Korngold at the Barbican

Mark Pullinger, 22nd May

The young Spanish violinist proves an ardent advocate for a work originally dismissed as a “Hollywood Concerto” as the BBC Symphony Orchestra closes its Barbican season.

****1

Billy Childs' Saxophone Concerto sings a song of America

Eleanor Knight, 8th May

Billy Childs Diaspora receives its UK premiere at the Barbican, performed by saxophonist Steven Banks.

****1

Sakari Oramo, Yeol Eum Son and the BBC Symphony in Seoul

SangKwon Lee, 26th March

Yeol Eum Son’s Britten Piano Concerto formed the evening’s centre of gravity, played with lucid line, structural command and sudden fire. In Brahms’ Second Symphony, Sakari Oramo found conviction, proportion and a warmth that felt earned rather than applied.

****1

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

More reviews...

Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.