| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 26-Jan-2013 Lincoln Center: Avery Fisher Hall | Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic in Tchaikovsky, Lutoslawski and Shostakovich |
 I often think of Lorin Maazel as the American equivalent of Sir Colin Davis – they are both in their eighties and they both deliver steady, reliable interpretations that let the music speak for itself. Maazel’s return performance with the New York Philharmonic on Saturday re-affirmed my view.
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| 18-Jan-2013 Lincoln Center: Avery Fisher Hall | Bronfman, Maazel and the New York Phil in seamless interpretations of Brahms and Sibelius |
 Johannes Brahms was a Romantic with a capital R. Born six years after Beethoven’s death, Brahms was so determined to continue the composer’s colossal musical legacy that he labored over his First Symphony (often nicknamed “Beethoven’s Tenth”) for over a decade. He spent nearly as much time laboring over his Piano Concerto no. 1 in D minor, an all-engrossing display of raw passion that explores virtually the entire spectrum of human emotion in less than an hour.
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| 13-Dec-2012 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall | Maazel, Trifonov and the Philharmonia play Russian works at the Royal Festival Hall |
 If the graphic design of a concert programme can be said to shape our expectations of the event then the Philharmonia Orchestra’s 2012/13 booklet, on which the press verdict “blazing originality” is encircled by red-hot flames, had perhaps set its sights rather high. Thursday’s concert, however, did not disappoint. Its explosive selection brought together Igor Stravinsky’s suite L’oiseau de feu (“The Firebird”, 1919), Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto no.Read full review... | |
| 25-Mar-2012 Southbank Centre: Royal Festival Hall | Musical Monument, Monumental Music: Britten’s War Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall |
| Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is a monumental piece of music: literally, architecturally and aesthetically. It is a literal monument because of its creation for Coventry Cathedral, that architectural testament to the creative and destructive powers of man. Housing many works of contemporary art in its walls of brick and glass, this impressive building has as its frontispiece the ruins of the medieval cathedral, shelled to near nothingness in the bombings of World War Two. Read full review... | |
