Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major; Bartók – Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. Dorottya Láng, Judith; Krisztián Cser, Duke Bluebeard. Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer conductor This was a late choice of Prom – it was one I flagged up when booking, decided against, dithered, and finally bought a ticket for…..The BFO and Fischer are alwaysContinue reading “Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer. RAH, BBC Proms, 6/8/25”
Tag Archives: piano
Boulez / Mahler – BBCSO, Lintu. RAH, BBC Proms 4/8/25
Boulez, Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna; Mahler Das klagende Lied (original version, 1880). Natalya Romaniw soprano; Jennifer Johnston mezzo-soprano; Russell Thomas tenor; James Newby baritone. Constanza Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu conductor It is now 57 years since I went to my first Prom. I missed out on them for manyContinue reading “Boulez / Mahler – BBCSO, Lintu. RAH, BBC Proms 4/8/25”
Ning Feng, Wigmore Hall 16/7/25
Ning Feng, violin; Yeol Eum Son, piano. Stravinsky, Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss; Alfred Schnittke, Violin Sonata No. 1; Szymanowski, 3 Paganini Caprices Op. 40; Prokofiev, Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Op. 94bis This was another of those concerts I would never have made the effort to go to specially but went because IContinue reading “Ning Feng, Wigmore Hall 16/7/25”
Beethoven etc. Wigmore Soloists. Buxton Festival, St John’s Church, 15/7/24
F Berwald Grand Septet in B flat major. C Nielsen Serenata in Vano. L van Beethoven Septet in E Flat, Op. 2 Wigmore Soloists is intended to be a new super-group of chamber music players, led by the clarinettist, Michael Collins. It clearly has a flexible group of players – two of the musicians inContinue reading “Beethoven etc. Wigmore Soloists. Buxton Festival, St John’s Church, 15/7/24”
Evgeny Kissin, piano. Barbican, 25/6/25
Bach Partita No 2; Chopin Nocturne No 1, Op 27, Nocturne No 2, Op 21, Scherzo No 4. Shostakovich Piano Sonata No 2, Prelude and Fugue in D-Flat Major, Prelude and Fugue in D-Minor I wanted to go to this recital partly because Kissin is a very significant pianist, and I was keen to hearContinue reading “Evgeny Kissin, piano. Barbican, 25/6/25”
Song Recital, Wigmore Hall 20/6/25 7pm
Benjamin Appl baritone; Simon Lepper piano. Songs by Schubert, Kurtag, Brahms, Liszt and Eisler This was a recital I was looking forward to as a challenge – to explore works new to me. Appl, a much-praised young German singer, was the last student Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau took on, and so Appl has set up a European tourContinue reading “Song Recital, Wigmore Hall 20/6/25 7pm”
Mozart/Beethoven/ Elgar; Ensemble 360, Crucible, Sheffield, 24/5/25
Mozart Flute Quartet in D K285; Beethoven Quintet for Piano and Wind Op.16; Elgar Piano Quintet Op.84 It’s a pity I have been to so little of the Ensemble 360 annual Chamber Music Festival – a lot of good things to go and see (20 concerts) but in the event this was only the second and last I’veContinue reading “Mozart/Beethoven/ Elgar; Ensemble 360, Crucible, Sheffield, 24/5/25”
Ravel / Farrenc/ Durufle/ Schumann.: Ensemble 360, Crucible, Sheffield,19/5/25
Ravel (arr. Farrington) Mother Goose Suite ; Farrenc Sextet; DURUFLÉ Prélude, récitatif et variations; Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat Op.44 This was a varied and interesting programme, with the best definitely last…..The Ravel piece I know from its full chamber orchestra version – here it had one each of strings, woodwind, horn and percussion,Continue reading “Ravel / Farrenc/ Durufle/ Schumann.: Ensemble 360, Crucible, Sheffield,19/5/25”
R. Strauss, An Alpine Symphony. Halle / Elder – Bridgewater Hall, 10/5/25
Halle Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder conductor. Huw Watkins, Concerto for Orchestra (world premiere); R. Strauss An Alpine Symphony This was Mark Elder’s one concert with the Halle in this, the first year after he retired from being music director. It was billed as a big deal on Halle’s Facebook page – it also had aContinue reading “R. Strauss, An Alpine Symphony. Halle / Elder – Bridgewater Hall, 10/5/25”
Shostakovich: Symphony no 7 “Leningrad”: RPO, Petrenko. RFH 27/4/25
Sibelius Finlandia; Weill Four Walt Whitman Songs; Shostakovich Symphony No.7, ‘Leningrad’ (with film). Vasily Petrenko Conductor. Roderick Williams Baritone; Kirill Serebrennikov Art Director; Ilya Shaglov Video Artist. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra I didn’t spot this concert as an upcoming event until a week before it happened. Vasily Petrenko is a conductor I always enjoy hearing but, somehow, I don’t always get newsContinue reading “Shostakovich: Symphony no 7 “Leningrad”: RPO, Petrenko. RFH 27/4/25”
John's musical journey 