| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 19-Apr-2012 Barbican Centre: Hall | Colin Davis conducts Weber's Der Freischütz at the Barbican |
| While Weber is widely acknowledged as being of historic importance as the link in the German operatic tradition between Beethoven and Wagner, his operas are rarely staged in England, and even in concert remain a relative novelty. Curious because this is music of the utmost vitality and beauty and at times he surely borders on genius. Not the same level of genius as those two masters that flank him, but an extraordinary ear for sonority, a very pleasing classical sense of form, and an unquestionable gift for vocal writing make him a very interesting and likeable composer. Read full review... | |
| 27-Jan-2012 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden | Miller's no-frills Mozart is back: Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House |
 PERSSON.jpg) The last opera of the Mozart/Da Ponte cycle – the second of the composer’s operas to be performed in this Mozart-dominated season at the Royal Opera House – Così fan tutte pivots on two pairs of young lovers whose affection is put to the test by an old ‘philosopher’, Don Alfonso. Women, the old man argues, are all the same: never constant in their love, never loyal to their men. It takes three hours of musical comedy and a long list of artfully arranged expedients to demonstrate the sage’s maxim.Read full review... | |
| 13-Dec-2011 Barbican Centre: Hall | A triumphant conclusion to Uchida's Beethoven cycle |
 If he could, would Beethoven have chosen Mitsuko Uchida to première his final piano concerto? They certainly seem to inhabit the same creative plane, at once revelling in the innovative – nay, revolutionary – features, whilst enjoying the grand connections with their historical precedents too. This was the first concerto that Beethoven himself could not perform, his deafness having become all too severe by 1811; and to this end, there is perhaps more 'Beethoven' in this concerto than in any of his previous – a strong compositional stamp in place of his own playing.
Read full review... | |
| 4-Dec-2011 Barbican Centre: Hall | Mitsuko Uchida in perfect harmony with the London Symphony Orchestra |
 With his Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, the centerpiece in the concert with the London Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Beethoven took the classical concerto format he had inherited into uncharted waters. The work opens with a series of piano chords, which the orchestra takes up, develops and kneads into riveting thematic material before the soloist returns. In addition to this role reversal between soloist and orchestra, the work also explores new dimensions in their relationship.
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