Concert Reviews

The complete list of posted concert reviews

Heyward and Gillam shine in debuts at Cleveland’s Blossom Festival

by

United StatesUnited States Blossom Music Festival 2025 [3]: Jess Gillam (soprano saxophone), Cleveland Orchestra / Jonathon Heyward (conductor). Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, 26.7.2025. (MSJ)

Jonathon Heyward conducts the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Festival © Kevin Libal/TCO

Read more

Pastéis, passion and the ‘Trout’: Verão Clássico’s Schubert Fest in Lisbon

by

PortugalPortugal Verão Clássico Festival 2025 [2] – Schubert Fest: Anna Samuil (soprano), Stephan Picard, Lena Neudauer (violins), Muriel Razavi (viola), Gary Hoffman (cello), Rui Pedro Rodrigues (double bass), Milana Chernyavska, Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro (piano). Centro Cultural de Belém, Pequeno Auditório, Lisbon, 26.7.2025. (LV)

Anna Samuil singing Schubert with Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro at the piano © Andreia Carvalh

Read more

Ryan Wigglesworth leads a strangely disappointing Birtwistle and Beethoven Prom

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [7] – Birtwistle and Beethoven: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ryan Wigglesworth (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 28.7.2025. (MB)

Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra © BBC/Mark Allan

Read more

Mellow Mozart and Bruckner from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom BBC Proms 2025 [6] – R. Wigglesworth, Mozart and Bruckner: Mariam Batsashvili (piano), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ryan Wigglesworth (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 27.7.2025. (KW)

Pianist Mariam Batsashvili, conductor Ryan Wigglesworth and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra © BBC/Mark Allan

Read more

The 2025 Three Choirs Festival premieres Richard Blackford’s The Black Lake 

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom 2025 Three Choirs Festival [2] – Pärt, Elgar, Britten, Blackford: Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Betsan Llwyd (narrator), Steffan Rhodri (narrator), Three Choirs Festival Chorus, BBC National Orchestra of Wales / David Hill (conductor). Hereford Cathedral, 27.7.2025. (JQ)

Soprano Elizabeth Watts, narrators Betsan Llwyd and Steffan Rhodri, conductor David Hill, Three Choirs Festival Chorus and BBC NOW © Dave Hodgetts

Read more

Death of Classical: Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra’s resplendent debut in New York

by

United StatesUnited States Various: Franco Fagioli (countertenor), The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra / Stefan Plewniak (conductor). Printemps at 1 Wall Street (21.7.2025) and L’Alliance New York (23.7.2025), New York. (RP)

Conductor Stefan Plewniak and The Versailles Royal Opera Orchestra at Printemps New York © Kevin Condon/Death of Classical

Read more

Fine revival of an important work by William Mathias at the 2025 Three Choirs Festival

by

United KingdomUnited Kingdom 2025 Three Choirs Festival [1] – Smyth, Dvořák, Mathias: Eleanor Dennis (soprano), James Oxley (tenor), Malachy Frame (baritone), Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Hereford Cathedral Choristers, Philharmonia Orchestra / Geraint Bowen (conductor). Hereford Cathedral, 26.7.2025. (JQ)

Geraint Bowen conducts the Three Choirs Festival Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra, soprano Eleanor Dennis and baritone Malachy Frame © Dale Hodgetts

Read more