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)
International Concerts
All non-UK concert reviews
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)
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)
Quincena Musical San Sebastián 2011 (2) – Pan awakens for Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Spain Mahler: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Orfeón Donostiarra (chorus), Karen Cargill (mezzo), Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Auditorio Kursaal. 13.8.2011. (JMI)
Mahler: Symphony No.3
Notes from the 2011 Salzburg Festival ( 9 ) – Rossini, Haydn
Austria Haydn, Rossini: Anna Netrebko (soprano), Marianna Pizzolato (mezzo), Matthew Polenzani (tenor), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (bass), Antonio Pappano (conductor), Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 9.8.2011 (JFL)
Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra turn most of Istanbul into ‘believers’
Turkey Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Castellanos, Chavez, Stravinsky: Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel (conductor), Halic Convention Center, Istanbul, 8. – 9. 8.2011 (AM)
Notes from the 2011 Salzburg Festival ( 8 ) – Mahler Scenes 7
Austria Mahler, Schnittke, Strauss: Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Antonine Tamestit (viola), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), and Alexander Lonquich (piano), Grosser Saal, Mozarteum, Salzburg, 8.8.2011 (JFL)
Moritzburg Festival 2011 – Music making of breathtaking elegance and ferocity
Germany Purcell and Dvořák: Nicola Benedetti, Benjamin Schmid, Mira Wang (violin), Max Mandel (viola), Julian Steckel (cello), Antti Siirala, Andreas Haefliger (piano). Moritzburg Castle, Dining Hall, 12.08.2011. (LV)