Concert Reviews – Page 3 – Seen and Heard International

The Canton Symphony, Ohio’s hidden gem, shines in Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony

30/04/202529/04/2025 by Mark S Jordan

United States Vaughan Williams, Boyle – ‘Voyage on the High Seas’: Dashon Burton (bass-baritone), Bonnie Frauenthal (soprano), Canton Symphony Chorus (director: Doug Beery), Mount Union Concert Choir (director; Beth Polen), Canton Symphony Orchestra / Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz (conductor). Umstattd Hall at Zimmermann Symphony Center, Canton, 26.4.2025. (MSJ)

Matthew Jenkins Jaroszewicz conducts Ina Boyle’s *A Sea Poem* © Kelly Klein Photography/CSO

The English Concert hits all the right notes gloriously with Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Berkeley

29/04/2025 by Harvey Steiman

United States Handel, Giulio Cesare in Egitto: Soloists and orchestra of The English Concert / Harry Bicket (artistic director and harpsichord). Cal Performances, Zellerbach Hall, University of California Berkeley, 27.4.2025. (HS)

Mark Chambers bids a stylish farewell to Sestina Music with a celebration of the Concerts Spirituel

01/05/202529/04/2025 by Robert Beattie

United Kingdom De Lalande, Corelli – Concert Spirituel: Sestina Music / Mark Chambers (Director), Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 25.4.2025. (RB)

Sestina Music’s *Concert Spirituel* at Fisherwick Presbyterian Church © Frederike Gerstner

Michael Tilson Thomas’s 80th birthday concert favors delights over tearful goodbyes

28/04/2025 by Harvey Steiman

United States Various: Sasha Cooke, Frederica von Stade (mezzo-sopranos), Jessica Voss (vocalist), Ben Jones (tenor), San Francisco Symphony Chorus (director: Jenny Wong), San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas, Teddy Abrams, Edwin Outwater (conductors). Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 26.4.2025. (HS)

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts and Edwin Outwater turns pages © Christopher M. Howard

Exhilarating Shostakovich Seventh from the RPO under Vasily Petrenko at the Royal Festival Hall

28/04/2025 by John Rhodes

United Kingdom Sibelius, Weill, Shostakovich – Symphony of Shadows: Roderick Williams (baritone), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London, 27.4.2025. (JR)

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko © Mark Allan/RPO

Mahler 8 at the Royal Festival Hall fails to overwhelm because of video and other distractions

28/04/202527/04/2025 by John Rhodes

United Kingdom Mahler: Soloists, Tiffin Boys’ Choir (director: James Day), London Philharmonic Choir (artistic director: Neville Creed), London Symphony Chorus (chorus director: Mariana Rosas), London Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner (conductor), Royal Festival Hall, London, 26.4.2025. (JR)

Edward Gardner conducts Mahler’s Eighth Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall © Mark Allan/LPO

A journey between heart and mind: Yunchan Lim’s Goldberg Variations at Carnegie Hall

27/04/202527/04/2025 by Edward Sava-Segal

United States JS Bach, Goldberg Variations, BWV988: Yunchan Lim (piano). Carnegie Hall, New York, 25.4.2025. (ES-S)

Pianist Yunchan Lim at Carnegie Hall © Chris Lee

Yamada leads an elegant Elgar in his Cleveland debut and Piemontesi finds magic in Mozart

26/04/2025 by Mark S Jordan

United States Mozart, Elgar: Francesco Piemontesi (piano), Cleveland Orchestra / Kazuki Yamada (conductor). Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 24.4.2025. (MSJ)