Verdi's fresco in sound brought vividly to life

By Stephen Pritchard, 14 October 2019

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Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 12 October 2019

Verdi, Messa da Requiem

Edward Gardner, Conductor

Iulia Maria Dan, Soprano

Ekaterina Gubanova, Mezzo-soprano

Robert Murray, Tenor

Gábor Bretz, Bass

London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Choir

Neville Creed, Choirmaster / chorus director

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

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Stephen Pritchard

Stephen Pritchard began singing as a treble at the age of eight and progressed to become a tenor in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, the Gibbons Consort and now the English Chamber Choir. Writing about music has been at the core of his 40-year career in journalism, chiefly at the Observer. He has been known to play a pretty mean jazz double bass.