United Kingdom BBC Prom 63 – Messiaen, Mozart and Bruckner: Igor Levit (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Peter Oundjian (conductor), Royal Albert Hall, London, 2.9.2015 (AS)
Festivals
A Compelling George Benjamin Conducts a Trio of Masterworks
United States Mostly Mozart Festival 2015 (3), Messiaen, Ligeti, Benjamin: Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Hila Plitmann (soprano), Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano), International Contemporary Ensemble, George Benjamin (conductor). Alice Tully Hall, New York City. 16.8.2015 (BH)
Portrait of a Young Protégé
United States Mostly Mozart Festival 2015 (2), Dai Fujikura: International Contemporary Ensemble, Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Kaplan Penthouse, Lincoln Center, New York City. 13.8.2015 (BH)
A Sense of Wonder as Indelible “Skin” Arrives Onstage
United States Mostly Mozart Festival 2015 (1), George Benjamin, Written on Skin (U.S. stage premiere): Soloists, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Alan Gilbert (conductor), Katie Mitchell (director), David H. Koch Theater, New York City. 13.8.2015 (BH)
San Francisco Symphony Pushes at Musical Boundaries
United Kingdom BBC Prom 61 – Ives, Bartók, Beethoven: Yuja Wang (piano) San Francisco Symphony’/ Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor), Royal Albert Hall, London, 31.8.2015. (RB)
Blockbuster End Augurs Well for Edinburgh Festival’s Future
United Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 2015 (22) – Bartók & Stravinsky: Yefim Bronfman (piano), London Symphony Orchestra / Valery Gergiev (conductor), Usher Hall, 30.8.2015. (SRT)
A Pleasing Chamber Prom Antidote to an Unseasonal Deluge
United Kingdom BBC Chamber Prom 8 – Barber, Debussy and Shostakovich: Emerson Quartet [Eugene Drucker & Philip Setzer (violins), Lawrence Dutton (viola), Paul Watkins (cello)], Elizabeth Leonskaja (piano), Cadogan Hall London, 31.8.2015 (CS)
Excellent Mahler First from Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony
United Kingdom BBC Prom 60 – Schoenberg, Cowell and Mahler: Jeremy Denk (piano), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor), Royal Albert Hall, London, 30.8.2015. (JPr)
c BBC & Chris Christodoulou