| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 13-Feb-2013 Théâtre Rialto | Classical music revisited with Collectif 9 |
 The string nonet Collectif 9 offers its public something truly as valuable as it is rare: classical repertoire “revisited with passion and fearlessness”. They are a group of very young and fiercely talented string players, many of whom play in the city’s professional orchestras. They enthusiastically align themselves with the growing movement called Classical Revolution which seeks to bring “art music” to a variety of venues and audiences with the goal of obliterating the stigmas of musty conventionalism and tradition far too often associated with the genre.
Read full review... | |
| 2-Feb-2013 Leeds Town Hall | A bracing experience: The Bergen Philharmonic at Leeds Town Hall |
 The young Christian Ihle Hadland should have performed on this stage at Leeds Town Hall before, as a finalist in the Leeds International Piano Competition. Why not? Similar fond musings must have wafted into the minds of other audience members as they watched and listened to him playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor with one of the world’s oldest-established orchestras (250 years) as the centrepiece of this concert: his slightly tousled appearance belies his excellent control, delicacy and poetic sensibility.Read full review... | |
| 4-Aug-2012 Blossom Music Center | Daniil Trifonov and the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom |
 It was sweltering at the Blossom Music Center, summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, on Saturday evening, August 4. Normally an oasis of coolness, the temperatures were hovering in the high 80s (31°C) at the 8:00 concert time. Even the orchestra members dispensed with their usual white formal jackets and ties. But the heat did not prevent brilliant music-making, with James Gaffigan as the guest conductor.Read full review... | |
| 17-Feb-2012 Usher Hall | RSNO Naked Classics: Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet |
 If asked to single out one moment which illustrates the value of dynamic contrast in music, I might choose 'Montagues and Capulets' from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. As a prelude to this 'Naked Classics' exploration the RSNO played a short extract of the movement. Within seconds, even a stranger to the story could have identified two key ingredients: tension, leading to explosive violence (exemplified through crescendi soon culminating in huge, dissonant chords); numbing, heart-breaking tragedy (portrayed by near-directionless, yet unmistakably grave harmonies).Read full review... | |
