United States Aspen Music Festival (12): Gerstein plays Brahms concerto, American String Quartet plays Ravel, a new “West Side Story” showpiece for Sarah Chang and an unforgettable Quartet for the End of Time. 15.8.2011 (HS)
Stan
Grant Park Music Festival 2011 – An outstanding performance of Franz Schmidt’s ‘Book with Seven Seals’
United States Franz Schmidt, Book with Seven Seals: Grant Park Orchestra, William G. Spaulding (Guest Chorus Director), Edith Lienbacher (soprano), Christa Ratzenböck (mezzo soprano), Robert Künzli (tenor), Alexander Kaimbacher (tenor), Albert Pesendorfer (bass). Artistic Director and Principal Conductor: Carlos Kalmar, Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago. 13.8.2011. (JLZ)
A revelatory Porgy and Bess in Seattle
United States Gershwin, Porgy and Bess : Seattle Opera, soloists. Conductor: John DeMain, McCaw Hall, Seattle. 12.8.2011. (BJ)
Prom 43 – A fine young pianist and a Bax symphony make their debuts
United Kingdom Copland, Bax, Barber, Bartok, Prokofiev: Yuja Wang (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton. Royal Albert Hall, London 16.8.2011 (RB)
Solid Fare from Mozart and Mendelssohn, Goulash from Dvořák: the Takács Quartet at New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival
United States Mostly Mozart Festival (4): Takács Quartet, Andreas Haefliger (piano), Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, 7.8.2011 (SSM)
Buxton Gilbert and Sullivan Festival Fringe:Australians deliver an impressive Edwardian musical
United Kingdom Gilbert & Sullivan Festival Fringe, Lionel Monkton, The Arcadians: Soloists and Chorus of Victorian Opera (Australia), Paxton Theatre, The Pavilion, Buxton. 13.8.2011 (RJW)
Edinburgh International Festival 2011 (3) – Montreal orchestra makes a splash
United Kingdom Debussy, Tan Dun, Beethoven: Wang Beibei (percussion), Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Kent Nagano (conductor), Usher Hall, 16.8.2011. (SRT)
Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Williams’ Beethoven sonata cycle “a revelation.”
United Kingdom The Beethoven Concert Series at Greyfriars Kirk (2) – Llŷr Williams (piano), Greyfriars Kirk, 16.8.2011 (SRT)