| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 18-Apr-2013 Queen's Hall, Edinburgh | Scottish Chamber Orchestra celebrate Britten with Purcell |
 Endeavouring to travel lightly through the world, I tend not to collect programme notes. However, such was the quality of Jo Kirkbride’s notes for this SCO Britten centenary celebration that scanning them for e-posterity is tempting. They prompted a consideration of the whole idea of programming. A structured evening’s listening is an entirely different thing from an evening’s will-o’-the-wisp home listening, and it can be greatly enhanced by coherent notes from a single source.
Read full review... | |
| 5-Apr-2012 Walt Disney Concert Hall | LAPO and John Adams perform West coast premiere of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 9 |
 As Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 9 ground to a halt last Thursday night, cellos and basses trailing off into silence, a few things came into focus. First, there was no missing the irony that Philip Glass, once among the outsiders of the musical world, should nearly a half century later find himself one of the American school of composition's most revered composers; perhaps its dean.Read full review... | |
| 25-Feb-2011 Douai Abbey | 20th Century Masters |
 Imagine the first meeting between two young lovers, a couple who will eventually marry. As they walk through a forest in the moonlight, the girl reveals to her new friend that she is pregnant by another man. How would you react in this situation?Read full review... | |
| 17-Aug-2010 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 42: Gardner conducts Shostakovich 5th Symphony |
 Shostakovich's 5th symphony is a work of great power, great variety and uncertain meaning. Written in 1937 when the composer was in fear for his life after Stalin's violent reaction to his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, there is no way of knowing for sure the extent to which the music is infused by irony or pain. If there was irony, Stalin didn't spot it. As a result, different conductors can approach the work very differently. As Edward Gardner, last night's conductor, puts it: "you have to make decisions about this piece in almost every bar".
Read full review... | |
