United Kingdom De Falla, La vida breve & Puccini, Gianni Schicchi: Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North/Jac van Steen (conductor), Lyric Theatre, Lowry, Salford, U.K. 12.3.2015 (MC)
Fascinating De Falla/Puccini Double Bill from Opera North
Michael Cookson
Freshness and Spontaneity from St Petersburgh SO in Manchester
United Kingdom Sibelius, Beethoven, Rachmaninov: Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Freddie Kempf (piano), Natalie Clein (cello), Saint Petersburg Symphony Orchestra / Alexander Dmitriev (conductor), Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 23.2.2015 (MC)
Storgårds and Braunstein Champion Delius and Vaughan Williams
United Kingdom Grieg, Delius, Vaughan Williams: Guy Braunstein (violin), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgårds (conductor), Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 21.2.2015 (MC)
RLPO’s Attractive Programme Pulls in a Large Audience
United Kingdom Shostakovich, Borodin, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Elgar, Tchaikovsky & Arturo Márquez: Tasmin Little (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Manuel López-Gómez (conductor), Guild Hall, Preston, 13.1.2015. (MC)
Colourful, Fast-Moving Coppélia from Siberian Ballet Company
United Kingdom Léo Delibes, Coppélia: Russian State Ballet and Orchestra of Siberia/Alexander Yudasin (conductor) – Grand Theatre, Blackpool, 9.1.2015
Freshness and Beautiful Phrasing from Manze in Beethoven’s Pastoral
United Kingdom Walton, George Butterworth, Vaughan Williams, Beethoven: James Clark (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Manze, Guild Hall, City of Preston, Sunday 7.12. 2014 (MC)
Excellent Performances from Valentine and Cresswell in The Bartered Bride
United Kingdom Smetana, The Bartered Bride (comic opera in three acts): Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North/James Holmes (conductor), Lyric Theatre, The Lowry, Salford, 19.11.2014 (MC)
Sung in English – English translation by Leonard Hancock and David Pountney with dialogue by Daniel Slater
Storgårds Impresses in His Elgar, Nielsen and Walton Interpretrations
United Kingdom Elgar, Nielsen & Walton: Alina Pogostkina (violin), David Soar (baritone), CBSO Chorus, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgårds (conductor), Bridgewater Hall, Manchester,, 8.11.2014 (MC)
(c) Heikki Tuuli