Work: Litanies

Here's a winning formula to pack a concert hall for a Saturday night organ recital: book one of the country's best-known actor-managers to front the evening, invest in televisual effects, and write a good script. 

For its last classical concert of 2011, Perth welcomed back international trumpet virtuoso Alison Balsom to St John’s Kirk, this time with David Goode on organ, for an imaginative and challenging programme of music. Balsom, awarded Best Female Artist at this year’s Classical Brit Awards, is no stranger to the town, and a sizeable crowd filled the church for this recital.

The enormous organ of the Royal Albert Hall had a busy Sunday. In the evening Prom, it was due to add even more volume to Havergal Brian’s monumental ‘Gothic’ Symphony, whilst during the afternoon it was given to the charge of Stephen Farr, one of the UK’s most compelling organ recitalists, for a solo recital.