Work: Symphony no. 26 in D minor "Lamentatione"

An enticing Barbican programme from Barbara Hannigan, seeking light out of darkness in pieces spanning three different centuries, and an electrifying vocal performance by mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron. 

The program prominently featured compositions by Canadian composer Claude Vivier alongside works of Haydn and Busoni.

While this concert’s marketing was focused on Mozart’s Requiem, it was Haydn in the first half that made the greater impact, in the form of an ecstatically virtuosic performance of his Cello Concerto no. 1 with soloist Alban Gerhardt. Passagework was everywhere immaculately tuned and played with perfect dexterity, Gerhardt’s fingers dancing up and down the instrument with tremendous velocity.