| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 17-Feb-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | Trenchant Beethoven and Bruckner from Haitink, Pires and the LSO |
 The London Symphony Orchestra presented the themes of the first movement of Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto very nicely indeed, benefiting from the clarity, moderation and wisdom with which a lifetime of experience has endowed their conductor for this concert. The string sound was beautiful and full but with plenty of room for detail, and the woodwinds gave their gentle interjections with perfectly judged crescendos. All was right with the world and it sounded as though we were in for a nice, comfortable concerto as a prelude to the mighty Bruckner symphony to follow.
Read full review... | |
| 14-Jun-2012 Barbican Centre: Hall | Funeral music from Purcell and Bruckner frames Pires' magical Mozart |
 The brass, winds and percussion of the LSO opened the concert with a powerful, dramatic rendition of Purcell’s Music for the funeral of Queen Mary, arranged to sharpen the effect for modern ears by Steven Stucky. It is a piece for public mourning, and the great strokes on the timpani and bass drum bring to mind those fireman’s funeral strokes that introduce the finale of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, but with an added kaleidoscope of colours provided by xylophones, tubular bells and piano.Read full review... | |
| 18-May-2012 Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage | Maria João Pires and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall |
 The Philadelphia Orchestra was at Carnegie Hall this weekend, led by Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit and joined by pianist Maria João Pires, to perform works by Glinka, Chopin, and Ravel. After this season, American audiences will presumably be seeing less of Mr. Dutoit on this side of the Pond – his term in Philadelphia will be over, and he will continue in his position as Artistic Director of the Royal Philharmonic.Read full review... | |
| 27-Aug-2011 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 57: Perfect Pires, baffling Beethoven |
 Nothing quite made sense in this programme, but the confusion was impressive nonetheless. The opening, the UK première of Anders Hillborg's 'Cold Heat', was a prime example of post-minimalism: an eclectic assortment of styles, juxtaposed with consideration, but without much sense of unity for the work itself. The commission had come from David Zinman for a piece 'with NO slow music whatsoever', and Hillborg complied – on the whole.Read full review... | |
