Germany Muffat, Rzewski, Kerll, and Busoni: Igor Levit (piano), Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, 11.1.2020. (MB)
A thrillingly ambitious recital by Igor Levit in Berlin
This Week’s Review
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden’s penetrating revival of Beat Furrer’s Violetter Schnee
Germany Beat Furrer, Violetter Schnee: Soloists, Vocalconsort Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin / Matthias Pintscher (conductor). Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, 10.1.2020. (MB)
David Lang’s contemporary re-take on Fidelio fails to convince at the Barbican
United Kingdom David Lang, prisoner of the state (European premiere): Soloists, BBC Singers, Students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Ilan Volkov (conductor). Barbican Hall, London, 11.1.2020. (CC)
(c) BBC/Mark Allan
A Dvořák rarity scores over subdued Janáček in Cleveland
United States Dvořák, Mozart, Janáček: Yefim Bronfman (piano), Cleveland Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Severance Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, 9.1.2020. (MSJ)
Sheku Kanneh-Mason excels in Saint-Saëns at the Fairfield Halls
United Kingdom Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Bizet: Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), London Mozart Players / Jaime Martín (conductor), Fairfield Halls, Croydon, 12.1.2020. (CC)
Paavo Järvi continues his impressive Tchaikovsky cycle with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich
Switzerland Bartók, Tchaikovsky: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich / Paavo Järvi (conductor), Tonhalle Maag, Zurich, 9.1.2020. (JR)
Hänsel und Gretel is a lovely way to open the operatic year at Deutsche Oper
Germany Humperdinck, Hänsel und Gretel: Soloists, Children’s Chorus (chorus director: Christian Lindhorst) and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin / Donald Runnicles (conductor). Deutsche Oper, Berlin, 4.1.2020. (MB)
Homeward bound with Chopin and Szymanowski at the Brooklyn Art Song Society
United States Brooklyn Art Song Society Home III – Chopin and Szymanowski: Amy Owens (soprano), Sarah Nelson Craft (mezzo-soprano), Michael Brofman, Spencer Myer, Miori Sugiyama (piano). Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, 3.1.2020. (RP)
