| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 1-Mar-2013 Musikverein: Großer Saal | Cornelius Meister's Sibelius at the Vienna Musikverein doesn't quite take flight |
 Jean Sibelius is purported to have written part of his Symphony no. 5 after having witnessed a large flock of swans take flight from his home in rural Finland. Whether this story is apocryphal or not, the “swan theme” has become part of the Western musical subconscious, with quotations showing up in jazz and pop music for much of the last century. In this performance, Cornelius Meister, conducting the ORF RSO, made individual moments in this work sing, without really giving a good sense of its overall shape.
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| 20-Apr-2012 Barbican Centre: Hall | John Storgårds conducts the BBCSO with Truls Mørk |
 A very interestingly programmed concert, this. Two Finnish and two English composers, all represented with pieces that to a greater or lesser extent are programmatic. First we heard Delius' "Walk to the Paradise Garden" from his opera A Village Romeo and Juliet (here arranged by David Lloyd-Jones). The languidly intoxicated eroticism of this piece is absolutely extraordinary, aching with Debussian impressionistic warmth, but always in a recognisably English language.Read full review... | |
| 2-Mar-2012 Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage | Maazel and the Vienna Philharmonic: Sibelius Symphonies |
 Throngs of the well-dressed faithful came for their periodic worship of the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on Friday night. Lorin Maazel led the players in a backwards tour of three Sibelius symphonies, beginning with the single-movement Seventh, moving on to the inimitable Fifth, and ending with the more traditional First. The delicious program and the distinguished orchestra promised an evening of musical transcendence. But the collaboration fell short of what it could have been.
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| 18-Nov-2011 Usher Hall | RSNO Naked Classics: Sibelius' Fifth Symphony |
 Naked Classics is the RSNO's live equivalent of Radio 3's Discovering Music. A single work - in this case Sibelius' Symphony no. 5 - is explored in the hope of heightened enjoyment of the performance which follows. I have been a keen devotee of this format for years but had never had the opportunity to experience a live version. Specifically, I was keen to see what dimensions being present, as opposed to simply near the radio, might add.Read full review... | |
