Reviews
The marvellous Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli produced and sang in this remarkable festive semi-staged performance of Rossini’s timeless comedy La Cenerentola. She started her career at the age of 19 with the music of Rossini and it is with this composer that her gifts are most closely allied. In
Reviews
Last but by no mean least was the turn of the London Philharmonic - a beautifully streamlined sound and a high level of musicality. This performance had a special glow to it not least because of conductor Marin Alsop’s mercurial direction. She chose her own arrangement of the Suite
Reviews
25th August 2018 saw the 100th birth anniversary of American composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein. The Boston Symphony Orchestra chose for their two successive Lucerne Festival concerts Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium and Mahler’s Third Symphony a composer much associated with him. The Serenade is scored for violin,
Reviews
It was now the turn for three evenings with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle their new Music Director. I attended the first two of these evenings – Messiaen on the 9th and Ravel on the 10th. The first concert was shared with the Lucerne Festival
Music Education
Zane Dalal traces the life and music of Rachmaninoff and Stravinksy – iconic contemporaries with the same roots, whose lives intersected, but whose music could not have been more different. If any of our ON Stage readers remember the Norman Jewison comedy from 1966 with Carl Reiner and Eva Maria Saint
News
Dear Pakru, I see that you are baffled and deeply anxious on where your favourite human, Satish Kamath, has abruptly vanished. Yes, it baffles me too. Not just me, a lot of people in Trivandrum and rest of the world are with you, in wondering what just happened. You remember
Reviews
A week into Beethovenfest, the magic has failed to subside. The air is still abuzz with excitement with concerts taking place regularly, providing much on offer for, and tailored to, the varied, musical inclined population of the city of Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthplace. This time, we shift to
Interviews
A Steinway artiste, Volodin is set to perform two concerts at the NCPA this month. Acclaimed for his highly sensitive touch and technical brilliance, Alexei Volodin is in demand by orchestras at the highest level. Volodin studied at Moscow’s Gnessin Academy and later with Eliso Virsaladze at the Moscow
Reviews
After two successive evenings with the Royal Concertgebouw it was the turn of the Vienna Philharmonic. What great orchestras they both are but sounded very different in tone quality; the former with much warmth and gravitas, the latter more streamlined and brilliant. On the first night we heard Haydn’s
Reviews
Quintessence is defined as the exemplar of a quality or class. In the context of the second day of Beethovenfest, the Russian National Orchestra (RNO), under the accomplished baton of director and conductor Mikhail Pletnev, presented three works from three different composers, which are regarded as the quintessence of the
Reviews
It was with great applause that the audience welcomed the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam to the Lucerne Festival. The works for their two concerts were by the great Austrian masters of the late 19th century Bruckner and Mahler. Also framing these works were masterpieces by Alban Berg of the
News
ABRSM’s new Guitar syllabus and books are out today! The new ABRSM guitar syllabus from 2019 is out today. For the first time Guitar Exam Pieces books at Grades 1-5 will also be available. The new syllabus includes a variety of styles and includes duets for Grades 1–5.