| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 16-May-2013 Colston Hall | Russians play Russian: The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra in Bristol |
 Everyone tells me that Russians play Russian music better than anyone else, but no-one seems to be able to put their fingers on the mysterious quality of Russianness Russians are meant to produce when playing Russian. Whatever its nature, it pulls in the punters, and I was among them for the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and conductor Pavel Kogan’s all-Russian appearance at Bristol’s Colston Hall.
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| 19-Feb-2013 Walt Disney Concert Hall | Dudamel and Paredes lead Colburn Orchestra in music by Revueltas, Copland, Tchaikovsky |
 Among the most memorable and exciting evenings of my concert-going experience have been some excellent performances by student orchestras. You would think there is a trade-off for this sort of experience and that often is the case: in exchange for that last degree of technical polish you’re recompensed with performances often more thrilling than those by their professional peers. A very fair price to hear music-making wrought boldly by musicians whose sensibilities have yet to be calloused by the dullness of age, routine, and careerism.
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| 29-Sep-2012 Birmingham Symphony Hall | Infectious Tchaikovsky and Bruch with Yossif Ivanov and the CBSO |
 This concert exploded into life with Weber’s overture from Euryanthe. Guest conductor Walter Weller displayed economy of movement but set the orchestra off at a cracking pace, creating an upbeat mood that was sustained throughout the evening. Although the opera is rarely heard in its entirety, the overture encapsulates the hero’s two great themes, with the drama of martial music from woodwind and brass giving way to the lyrical eloquence of legato strings.Read full review... | |
| 14-Aug-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 43: Delius, Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky with the RPO |
 If this year's Delius anniversary glut – he was born in 1862 – has taught us anything, it is how difficult his music is to capture: beautifully idiosyncratic at best, but plain boring if wrong. Not only is his structural approach unique, unbounded by schema or formal moulds, but so too is his harmonic language, and his method of evocation, no more so than in his nocturne Paris: The Song of a Great City.Read full review... | |
