United Kingdom Day One of the Presteigne Festival 2026 [1]: St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, 27.8.2026. (PC)
Enterprising programming and top-flight musicianship at the Presteigne Festival
Festivals
The intensity of Deutsch’s Intensity steals the show during Welser-Möst’s return to Cleveland
United States Summers at Severance [4] – Various: Cleveland Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 27.8.2026. (MSJ)
Revelatory concert of Schubert and a tribute to Kurtág in his centenary year from the Gringolts Quartet
United Kingdom Edinburgh International Festival 2026 [7] – Kurtág, Schubert: Gringolts Quartet (Ilya Gringolts, Anahit Kurtikyan [violins], Silvia Simionescu [viola], Claudius Hermann [cello]). Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 24.8.2026. (GT)
Wonderful recital of Russian music by Barry Douglas at the Clandeboye Festival
United Kingdom Clandeboye Festival [2] – Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev Mussorgsky: Barry Douglas (piano). Clandeboye Estate, County Down, Northern Ireland, 26.8.2026. (RB)
There was much to relish at The Met Orchestra’s second BBC Prom, which featured Joyce DiDonato
United Kingdom BBC Proms 2026 [22] – Saariaho, Mahler: Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano), The Met Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London 27.8.2026. (JR)
The Met Orchestra debuts at the Proms with Richard Strauss and Elza van den Heever’s visceral Salome
United Kingdom BBC Proms 2026 [21] – Richard Strauss: Elza van den Heever (soprano), The Met Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor). Royal Albert Hall, London, 26.8.2026. (MB)
Salzburg’s further homage to Kurtág let down by utterly misconceived Mozart
Austria Salzburg Festival 2026 [7] – ‘Hommage à Kurtág’: Bartók, Kurtág, and Mozart: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Jonian Ilias Kadesha (violins), Lawrence Power (viola), Sol Gabetta (cello), Reto Bieri (clarinet), Olga Pashchenko (piano). Grosser Saal, Mozarteum, Salzburg, 25.8.2026. (MB)
Musically outstanding Salzburg Ariadne auf Naxos let down by an idiotic staging
Austria Salzburg Festival 2026 [6] – R. Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos: Soloists, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Manfred Honeck (conductor). Haus für Mozart, Salzburg, 24.8.2026. (MB)
