United Kingdom Mozart, Ligeti: Ben Goldscheider Trio (Ben Goldscheider [horn], Callum Smart [violin], Richard Uttley [piano]). Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, 2.2.2024. (GPu)
UK Concerts
All concert reviews from the UK.
A deep dive into the Minnesota Sound with Brooklyn Art Song Society
United States Various: Tori Tedeschi Adams (soprano), Jesse Blumberg, Randall Scarlata (baritones), Michael Brofman, Laura Ward (piano). Brooklyn Art Song Society, First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, 2.2.2024. (RP)
Gently revelatory Coleridge-Taylor symphony from Chineke! at the Royal Festival Hall
United Kingdom Watts, Saint-Saëns, Coleridge-Taylor: William Campbell (organ), Chineke! Orchestra / Leslie Suganandarajah (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London, 2.2.2024. (CK)
Andrew Staples is remarkable as Jephte and Dido and Aeneas is beautifully rendered at the Barbican
United Kingdom Carissimi’s Jephte and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas: Soloists, Choir and Orchestra of Il Pomo d’Oro / Maxim Emelyanychev (harpsichord and conductor). Barbican Hall, London, 2.2.2024, (AK)
Truly beautiful Berlioz and Mahler from the Philharmonia under Santtu-Matias Rouvali
United Kingdom Berlioz, Mahler: Anu Komsi (soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra / Santtu-Matias Rouvali (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London 1.2.2024. (JR)
Jac van Steen and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra give a thrilling account of Smetana’s Má vlast
United Kingdom Smetana: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Jac van Steen (conductor). Portsmouth Guildhall, 25.1.2024. (CK)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales: four premieres in one evening
United Kingdom BBC NOW – NOW!: Jörgen van Rijen (trombone), BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Jordan de Souza (conductor). Hoddinott Hall, Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 26.1.2024. (PCG)
Thrilling and uplifting Elijah from the London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano
United Kingdom Mendelssohn, Elijah: Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor), Gerald Finlay (bass), London Symphony Chorus (chorus director: Mariana Rosa), The Guildhall Singers, London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor). Barbican Hall, London. 28.1.2024. (JR)