| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 21-Apr-2013 University of Southampton: Turner Sims | Birmingham Contemporary Music Group play Britten at Turner Sims |
 Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, and as it does so it is marking the anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth. BCMG is touring a programme of Britten’s early compositions, the second stop of which was at Turner Sims in Southampton.
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| 17-Feb-2013 Wigmore Hall | Markus Schäfer sings Lieder at Wigmore Hall |
 The intimacy of Schubert’s Lieder almost guarantees that no words can be missed. In comparison to say, a 100-strong choir competing with a full orchestra, the poetic element of Lieder is unmissable, and thus it occupies a larger part of the concertgoer’s attention. Schubert of course recognised this, and selected his wordsmiths carefully. Had he had the ability to to hand-pick tenors to sing those words in generations to come, he may well have chosen Markus Schäfer.Read full review... | |
| 27-Jan-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | Adams conducts Adams at the Barbican with the LSO and St Lawrence String Quartet |
 Inspiration for a composition can come in many forms; a letter from Clara Schumann, the brutality of Stalin's police, growing deaf or hearing birdsong. The final concert of John Adams’ short residency at the Barbican focused on a more reverent strain of influence, however: the peculiar tendency for living composers to want to reference dead ones.
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| 30-Dec-2012 Kings Place: Hall One | Florilegium unwrap Bach at Kings Place |
 Seasonal concert programmes come in all shapes and sizes. Reflecting the many sides of Christmas, they range from the commercial to the spiritual, from bombastic celebrity endorsement to the simplicity of choristers by candlelight. Florilegium’s concert at Kings Place was most appropriate for the restorative days that fall after the excitement of Christmas and before the Strauss of New Year’s. It gave a balanced, sober nod to seasonality and opened a new concert series which is set to extend well into December 2013; Bach Unwrapped.Read full review... | |
| 27-Nov-2012 University of Southampton: Turner Sims | The Elias String Quartet begin their Beethoven cycle at Turner Sims |
 Music fans love to get the whole picture. We consume box-sets, bootlegs, alternate takes, and artist interviews – all in the name of completeness. Some people say a good CD library should have at least three Eroicas and five Fifths to be complete, while music magazines might recommend more. Of course, live music venues have their own shot at completeness when they schedule a “cycle”. Cycles promise to show us the whole of something, as long as we’re willing to show up to the venue, buy tickets, and pay attention – a very appealing notion.Read full review... | |
| 15-Nov-2012 University of Southampton: Turner Sims | The Wihan Quartet play Dvořák, Ravel and Mozart at Turner Sims |
 The Wihan Quartet was formed in 1985 in Czechoslovakia. Since then they have developed an impressive international career, often visiting the UK and being broadcast on its airwaves. Among their achievements is a published recording of Dvořák’s String Quartet no. 11, and it was this recording, not their continued and celebrated presence in the UK, that first brought them to my attention. So when I finally did get to hear them play, at Turner Sims in Southampton on a damp November evening, I was pleased to see that Dvořák’s 11th was billed as the main attraction.Read full review... | |
| 11-Oct-2012 University of Southampton: Turner Sims | Borodin String Quartet: Tchaikovsky and Brahms in Southampton |
 The Borodin String Quartet has been playing serious, heavyweight programmes since 1945, making it the quartet world’s most senior ensemble, and giving it a global reputation for high technical standards and musicianship. Back in the immediate post-war period the group developed a close relationship with Shostakovich, which stimulated their particular affinity with the Russian repertoire that continues to this day. That affinity was clear for all to hear at their recent appointment at Turner Sims in Southampton, where they played two of Tchaikovsky’s early works for string quartet.
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| 4-Aug-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 28: Ulster Orchestras with Sir James Galway and JoAnn Faletta |
 It is a cliché in music commentary to say that youth orchestras bring vitality, fearlessness and chutzpah to the programmes that they play. But as with most clichés, it does appear to be based in truth, and that is perhaps one reason why the BBC Proms continue to give such support to young players as well as young composers. The Ulster Youth Orchestra opened Prom 28 with an energetic performance of Emmanuel Chabrier’s España: Rhapsody for orchestra.Read full review... | |
| 18-Jul-2012 Royal Albert Hall | Prom 6: BBC Symphony Orchestra with Kirill Gerstein and Sakari Oramo |
 It’s a fairly poor show that I hadn’t been to a Prom in years. Since it is all online and on the radio, there is the tendency to stay home and listen – but this concert was a reminder of quite how worthwhile it is to attend concerts in person. The power of live musical performance was exemplified by this varied programme, performed in a most varied and adaptive way. Prom 6 began with a BBC-commissioned world première: Fung Lam’s Endless Forms.
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| 12-Jul-2012 St George's Bristol | Soloists of Oxford Philomusica: Baroque music at St George's Bristol |
 Baroque music is pretty old, isn’t it? But the great thing is, you don’t have to have the advanced years of a Brandenburg Concerto to put it on. The Oxford Philomusica has been active for little more than a decade – and they rushed through the pouring rain to play at the similarly young St George’s Bristol. Both institutions have earned a solid reputation within the challenging commercial landscape that is “arts outside London”, and with a damp audience who were likely very familiar with the programme, I was glad to be in safe hands.
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| 16-May-2012 Colston Hall: Hall 2 | Elektrostatic Focuses on Flutes in Bristol |
 The Elektrostatic Concert Series has been one of Bristol’s most reliable sources of contemporary classical music events in recent years. This year, the curators have been working with Arcomis, an arts commissioning organisation, and have successfully arranged a pair of highly ambitious concerts, each dedicated to a single instrument. Having already enjoyed the first of these concerts, I made my way to the Colston Hall’s rather hip back room with very high expectations, and an appetite for the flute.
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