| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 22-Sep-2012 Wigmore Hall | The Nash Ensemble: Dreamers of Dreams at the Wigmore Hall |
 As I took my seat at Saturday’s concert by the Nash Ensemble, one in a series entitled “Dreamers of Dreams” put on as part of their residency at the Wigmore Hall, I wondered what I was about to let myself in for. That the Nash Ensemble had chosen to present the works of early 20th-century composers was not especially surprising – after all, they are known for unusual, inventive programming – but among the composers represented in Saturday’s concert were names such as Roger Quilter, Percy Grainger and Arthur Bliss, often regarded as second-rate.Read full review... | |
| 13-Nov-2011 Sage: Hall Two | Beyond the country garden: a fascinating introduction to Percy Grainger's folk songs |
| Percy Grainger, the Australian composer of Country Gardens, was a highly original musician, but is often overlooked. This year, however, to mark the 50th anniversary of his death, Northern Sinfonia have put on several performances of his work, first at the Proms, and now a weekend of concerts at the Sage. Tonight’s concert of folk song arrangements by Grainger and his friends, performed by members of the Northern Sinfonia Chorus, gave a fascinating insight into the composer’s life and work.
Read full review... | |
| 10-Sep-2011 Royal Albert Hall | Balloons, Lang Lang and Jerusalem: it must be The Last Night of the Proms |
 BBC Chris Christodoulou-1.jpg) The Last Night of the Proms isn't really a concert: it's more like going to the cast party for the Proms season. The choir, orchestra and a fair bit of the audience are in tail coats and brightly coloured evening dresses, there's an abundance of balloons, party poppers and things making rude noises, and the hall is transformed by the waving of literally thousands of flags (between numbers, of course, there's proper hush during the music). Not much point in doing a sober, serious, musicological review, then, so here are a dozen memories, in no particular order.
Read full review... | |
| 2-Aug-2011 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 24: Elgar, Grainger and Strauss |
 On paper, Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche seems a non sequitur to choral and orchestral works by Elgar and Grainger. In Proms 24, Elgar’s part-song There is sweet music and Violin Concerto in B minor were at home next to Grainger’s setting of Londonderry Air and likeable In a Nutshell suite. But Strauss’ fifth symphonic poem dwarfed the rest in its capacity to excite, a much-needed dose of exhilaration.
Read full review... | |
