Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra marked the opening of the 2018-2019 season with a blast. Literally, for Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s new piece Donum Simoni MMXVIII was an explosion of brass — four trumpets, trombones, horns and tuba, bursting into the Barbican Hall. When Sir Harry makes a statement, he makes it big and bold !
Author: Anne Ozioro
Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem – BBC Prom 41
Prom 41 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Edward Gardner conducting the BBCSO in Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem, Elgar’s Cello Concerto (Jean-Guihen Queyras) and Lili Boulanger . Extremely perceptive performances that revealed deep insight, far more profound than the ostensible “1918” theme
Rock solid Strauss SalomÈ- Salzburg
Richard Strauss SalomÈ from the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Franz Welser-Mˆst, a powerful interpretation of an opera which defies easy answers, performed and produced with such distinction thast it suceeds on every level. The words “Te saxa Loquuntur” (The stones are speaking to you) are projected onto the stage. Salzburg regulars will recognize this as a reference to the rock foundations on which part of the city is built, and the traditions of excellence the Festival represents. In this opera, the characters talk at cross-purposes, hearing without understanding. The phrase suggests that what might not be explicitly spoken might have much to reveal.
Heavenly choruses – Mahler 8th at the BBC Proms
BBC Prom 11 Mahler Symphony no 8 in E flat major at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with Thomas S¯ndergÂrd conducting the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and a huge cast. The nickname “Symphony of a Thousand” wasn’t Mahler’s choice but the invention of promoters eager to market it as a showpiece.
Vintage Audi — Parsifal, Kaufmann, Pape
From the Bayerisches Staatsoper Munich, Wagner Parsifal with a dream cast – RenÈ Pape, Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme, Christian Gerhaher and Wolfgang Koch, conducted by Kirill Petrenko, directed by Pierre Audi. The production is vintage Audi – stylized, austere, but solidly thought-through.
Superb Schoenberg Gurrelieder – Salonen, Philharmonia, London
Schoenberg Gurrelieder at the Royal Festival Hall, with Esa-Pekka Salonen, demonstrating how well the Philharmonia Orchestra has absorbed Schoenberg’s idiom. A blazing performance, formidably dramatic, executed with stunning assurance. Salonen has made his mark on the Philharmonia through in-depth explorations of the 20th century repertoire he loves so well.
Dangerous Liasions : Music and dance in the French Baroque
Dangerous Liasions with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Joined by Les Corps …loquents (Hubert Hazebrouq, choreographer, IrËne Feste and Romain Arreghini), the OAE surpassed even their own high standards, demonstrating the link between music and dance in the French baroque.
Les Arts Florissants : An English Garden, Barbican London
At the Barbican, London, Les Arts Florissants conducted by Paul Agnew, with soloists of Le Jardin de Voix in “An English Garden” a semi-staged programme of English baroque.
Pan-European Orpheus : Julian PrÈgardien
“Orpheus I am!” – An unusual but very well chosen collection of songs, arias and madrigals from the 17th century, featuring Julian PrÈgardien and Teatro del mondo. Devised by Andreas K¸ppers, this collection crosses boundaries demonstrating how Italian, German, French and English contemporaries responded to the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Le Concert Royal de la Nuit – Ensemble Correspondances
Le Concert Royal de la Nuit with Ensemble Correspondances led by SÈbastien DaucÈ, the glorious culmination of the finest London Festival of the Baroque in years on the theme “Treasures of the Grand SiËcle”. Le Concert Royal de la Nuit was Louis XIV’s announcement that he would be “Roi du Soleil”, a ruler whose magnificence would transform France, and the world, in a new age of splendour.