United Kingdom Natalia Horečná’s La Strada: ACWorkroom Ltd, Sadler’s Wells, London, 25.1.2024. (JO’D)
The music of La Strada, the visual inventiveness, and Alina Cojocaru hold the audience’s attention
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Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony’s refined, superbly focused Mahler on an emotional evening
United States Mahler: San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor). Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 25.1.2024. (HS)
Angela Gheorghiu and Stefan Pop make the current Covent Garden La bohème revival something special
United Kingdom Puccini, La bohème: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Evelino Pidò (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 25.1.2024. (JPr)
An outstanding celebration of Schoenberg by Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic
Germany Schoenberg: Soloists, Berlin Radio Chorus (chorus director: Gijs Leenaars), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Kirill Petrenko (conductor). Philharmonie Berlin, 25.1.2024. (MB)
Shostakovich Festival Leipzig 2025 – 15 May to 1 June
Shostakovich Festival Leipzig 2025
Shostakovich’s music has much in common with Beethoven and Mahler by sharing in their creativity the ideals of humanity, freedom and justice. It is no coincidence that Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was composed like Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony during a time when Vienna and Leningrad were under siege. It is for the shared values of human dignity entwined in their magnificently expressive scores that more and more people are drawn to their music.
Kahchun Wong’s musical alchemy: Beethoven and Mahler in perfect harmony
Zach Carstensen profiles conductor Kahchun Wong
Anticipation crackles in the air, thick like summer lightning before the storm breaks. A hush descends, settling over an expectant audience. Every cough or rustling program feels like a desecration. At the podium, conductor Kahchun Wong stands at the edge of creation – shoulders squared, back straight, baton held aloft. A moment’s pause, pregnant with possibility, his hand dips, slow and deliberate, tracing the first stroke of a masterpiece: Beethoven’s Symphony No.9.
François-Xavier Roth discusses the music of Bernd Alois Zimmermann with Antoine Lévy-Leboyer
François-Xavier Roth, Musical Director of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, will conduct Die Soldaten the legendary opera by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, in Cologne, Hamburg, and Paris. He discusses this extraordinary yet still too little-known composer.
Gerhaher and Huber: a symbiotic partnership in a Wigmore Hall recital that touched the soul
United Kingdom Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Pavel Haas, Berlioz: Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano). Wigmore Hall, London, 20.1.2024. (CSa)
