One year on from her Wigmore Hall debut, and following the release of her highly praised album of the songs of Samuel Taylor-Coleridge, Heart & Hereafter, soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn returned…
Category: Recitals/Concerts
Polished performances from Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Bach & Handel
There’s no denying the energy and precision Sir John Eliot Gardiner can still coax from the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, founded by him over fifty years ago. In…
Tristan und Isolde: the London Philharmonic rise to epic heights, an inspired conductor … and two Tristans
I’m often left wondering with a great performance of Tristan und Isolde whether the true emotion of the work comes from the orchestra rather than the singers. There were moments…
Light from Darkness: Live from London Summer 2021 closes in celebratory style
As gentle as you have lived,have you died,too holy for sorrow!Let no eye shed a tearfor the spirit’s heavenly homecoming. The words of Friedrich Haug, commemorating the death of the…
I Fagiolini: Au naturel
I Fagiolini like a ‘hook’, and they’re expert at devising one. On this occasion it was a painting, or, rather, a series of paintings – The Four Seasons by Pieter…
Handel’s Heroes and Heroines: Mary Bevan and Barnaby Smith, Live from London
The now-familiar Live from London format was slightly revised for this recital of sinfonias, arias and duets from Handel’s oratorios and operas, titled Handel: Heroes and Heroines. VOCES8 were represented…
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra celebrates Stravinsky at the Proms
When Stravinsky’s ‘one-act ballet with songs’, Pulcinella,was first performed in 1920 – by Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, with choreography by Léonide Massine and designs by Pablo Picasso – the music was…
A very special Schumanniade, hosted by Bostridge, Coote and Drake, closes a season to cherish at Wigmore Hall
After keeping the music alive and the song flowing during an incredibly challenging 2020-21 season, Wigmore Hall’s artistic and executive director, John Gilhooly, offered one final feast of lieder to…
A New Day: The King’s Singers, Live from London
The King’s Singers’ Live from London Summer programme was titled, optimistically, A New Day, reflecting the series’ theme of renewal and regeneration, and drawing together music ‘with a focus on…
Seven Ages: a magical and consoling journey through life’s hopes, fears and humility
I hate to fall back on cliché, but this really was a ‘dream-team’ recital at Middle Temple Hall, in which tenor Mark Padmore, baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Julius Drake…