United Kingdom Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Royal Opera Chorus and Extra Chorus (chorus master: Renato Balsadonna), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Maurizio Benini (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 4.3.2013 (MB)
Stan
Offbeat Openings and Experiments with Form
United States Beethoven, Brahms, Samuel Carl Adams: Yuja Wang (piano), Samuel Carl Adams (electronica), San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor), Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco. 6.3.2013 (HS)
Vienna Phil at Carnegie (I and II): A Tinge of Instability
Suppé, R. Strauss, Dvořak, Schubert, Widmann: Herbert Lippert (tenor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst (conductor), Carnegie Hall, New York, 1.3.2013, 2.3.2013 (DA)
Kaleidoscopic Bach and Hyper-Romanticised Schubert
United Kingdom Bach, Schubert, Mahler: Matthias Goerne (baritone), Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Robin Ticciati (conductor), Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 07.03.2013 (SRT)
Mitsuko Uchida: A Compelling Recital
United Kingdom Bach, Schoenberg, Schumann. Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Royal Festival Hall, London, 6.3.2013 (RB)
Vienna Phil at Carnegie (III): Busman’s Holiday for “Two B’s”
United States Berg and Bruckner: Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Welser–Möst (conductor), Carnegie Hall, New York City. 3.3.2013 (BH)
Compelling Concert Tristan Torso
United States Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, Prelude to Act I, Act II (concert version): Linda Watson, soprano (Isolde); Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano (Brangäne); Stefan Vinke, tenor (Tristan); Sean Panikkar, tenor (Melot); John Relyea, bass-baritone (König Marke); Daniel Eifert, baritone (Kurwenal); Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor). Symphony Center, Chicago, 22.2.2013 (JLZ)
Has-Been, Would-Be and If-Only-If
Italy Elio Pandolfi at the Teatro Ghione, Rome. 05.03.2013 (JB)