The week in classical: CBSO/ Gražinytė-Tyla; LSO/Rattle; Harlem Quartet – review
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO hit the road with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, also performed by the LSO and Simon Rattle
The Genesis Suite: LSO/Rattle review – the most fascinating work you’ve never heard of
With Stravinsky and Schoenberg among its composers, Simon Rattle made a convincing case for this stirring collaborative work
Joyce DiDonato, Brentano String Quartet; Christmas Oratorio; Wonderful Town – review
With a string quartet for company, Joyce DiDonato was at her intimate best. Plus, a blast of Bach and Bernstein
LSO/Rattle review – celebrating Bernstein’s irrepressible versatility
The Leonard Bernstein centenary tribute ranged from his profoundly serious symphony The Age of Anxiety to the frothy, uncomplicated Wonderful Town
LSO/Pappano review – refinement, energy and drama
An all-Liszt programme showed the best of the LSO, magnificent under Pappano, while soloist Alice Sara Ott played with thrilling accuracy and involvement
CBSO/Gražinytė-Tyla; LSO/Alsop; LPO/ Renes review – the Sheku and Mirga show
The remarkable young cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the CBSO’s irresistible music director are a dream double act
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande CD review – luxury casting and vivid performances under Rattle and Sellars
The LSO’s January 2016 performances of Debussy’s opera at the Barbican in London, conducted by Simon Rattle and semi-staged by Peter Sellars, have been beautifully transferred to CD, and the result is a credit to the LSO’s own record label. … Continue reading
LSO/Rattle; Adès Curates review – Berlioz’s Damnation polishes halo for star conductor
Simon Rattle’s Faust was seamless and vivid, with astonishing precision from the LSO’s Chorus; Adès’s selection for Guildhall students was rather piecemeal
This Is Rattle; La bohème review – a rigorous, uplifting kick-off
His long-awaited homecoming is a triumph for Simon Rattle and the LSO. Plus, Richard Jones’s stylish new Bohème
Auspicious start to LSO’s new era of Simon Rattle
The opening concert of This is Rattle, a 10-day festival in honour of the conductor’s return to the UK, was superbly played
Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder review – size does matter in this magnum opus
The supersize scale did not disappoint as Simon Rattle lead the LSO and a superb lineup of soloists in Schoenberg’s answer to Tristan and Isolde
A Trip to the Moon review – majestic mystery in moonish
Simon Rattle navigates the LSO’s community choir through rocket crashes, kidnapping aliens and the terrific singing of a lyrical lunar language, in this family-friendly space opera
LSO/Haitink review – an unblinkingly direct and compelling reading of Mahler 9
The 88-year-old conductor brought objectivity and power to Mahler with a faultless performance of his 9th symphony by the London Symphony Orchestra
Mozart: Gran Partita CD review – a virtuosic live recording
LSO Wind Ensemble (LSO Live)
LSO/Noseda review – first-rate playing but Mahler’s 7th remained an enigma
Gianandrea Noseda’s performance of Mahler’s seventh symphony delivered moments of subtle majesty, even if his interpretation did not always convince