Reviews
On the last day of the first half of this year, 30th June 2019, two young musicians, unsponsored by any supporting organisation or individual, with the gleam of artistic ardour in their eyes, and armed with the optimism of the young, presented an evening of entertainment to a small but
Reviews
When I moved to Bangkok almost 4.5 years ago, the first thing I did was scour the music and arts scene, an essential component for me when it comes to any of the cities I’ve lived and worked in. Beijing’s classical music scene was growing when I
Reviews
31ST MARCH German diva Diana Damrau in her last slated concert of her Strauss LSO residency was to appear on 31st March at the Barbican. She had programmed the world premiere of Iain Bell’s song cycle The Hidden Place (2009) and the closing scene from Strauss’ conversation piece Capriccio.
Reviews
Forty-six year old Lima-born celebrity tenor in his much-awaited London recital was accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sascha Goetzel. Opening the concert on 29th March at the Royal Festival Hall with the overture to Rossini’s opera “La gazza ladra” (The thieving Magpie), the conductor set the
Reviews
The long-awaited opening night of the hottest ticket in arguably the season in the operatic world finally arrived. La Forza del Destino was written by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave had its premiere in St. Petersburg in 1862. There after it underwent some revisions receiving its
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The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a resident British orchestra at the Southbank Centre in London. Although its leadership is rotated between three musicians it was formed by a group of period instrumentalist players and has no principal conductor or music director. This gives the flexibility to
Reviews
There is no doubt that Maurizio Pollini at age 76 remains one of the world’s great piano virtuosos. This was manifestly proven in the March 12 sell-out concert in the international piano series here in the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London. Pollini has had a long
Reviews
Partnerships between composer and librettist are an essential complexity in the composition of successful opera. Some examples in its history include Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte, Verdi and Arrigo Boito, Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal and of course Gilbert and Sullivan. The pairing of Mozart and his Italian librettist produced
Reviews
Three star singers appeared on stage together in a unique and intelligently devised programme. The three singers were English soprano Sophie Bevan, Welsh mezzo soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Welsh bass-baritone Neal Davies. And the raison d’etre? These three singers happened to be in Mumbai to sing in Beethoven’s
Reviews
The Symphony Orchestras of India’s tour of the UK concluded on Monday evening at London’s Cadogan Hall with an exuberant program of Weber, Bruch and Rachmaninov, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. The SOI’s Associate Music Director Zane Dalal made a surprise appearance at the beginning of the evening.
Reviews
Symphony Orchestra of India Cadogan Hall, London, 20 February 2019 Zane Dalal, conductor Zakir Hussain, tabla. Hector Berlioz, Roman Carnival Overture Zakir Hussain, Concerto for Tabla and Orchestra ‘Peshkar’ Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 24 February 2019 Martyn Brabbins, conductor Marat Bisengaliev, violin Carl Maria von Weber, Oberon Overture
Reviews
The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) began their inaugural tour of the UK at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on 19th February 2019. The programme included a UK-premiere of Zakir Hussain’s tabla concerto, Peshkar (2015), sandwiched between two ever-popular works for symphony orchestra – Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture (1844) and
