SINCE 1999 A LIVE REVIEW SITE FOR OPERA, BALLET, CONCERTS, BROADCASTS, AND THEATRE
United Kingdom Various: Isata Kanneh-Mason (pianist), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Delyana Lazarova (conductor). City Halls, Glasgow, 27.11.2025. (GT)
Gregor Tassie talks to visual artist Grégoire Pont
One of the unexpected highlights of the George Enescu International Festival was a Sunday matinee concert of French music for children at the charming Odeon Hall (review here). If the music by Poulenc and Ravel was well known, the artwork by the French illustrator Grégoire Pont was a pleasant surprise.
Gregor Tassie talks to conductor Giancarlo Guerrero about Shostakovich and his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District
From my review of a recent performance of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District: ‘Guerrero’s masterly analysis of the score and his authority in guiding this excellent orchestra of Romanian Radio was at the centre of the evening – the orchestra unveiled world class virtuosity with the brass group in particular evincing the often ribald brutality of Shostakovich’s orchestration, with the woodwind matching them with the quirky intonation of the composer’s frequently piquant and satirical score. At significantly dramatic moments, Guerrero brought out the expressive passages on the violas which was another eloquent and impassioned element of Shostakovich’s orchestration.’
United Kingdom Knussen, Ravel, Mahler: Francesco Piemontesi (pianist), Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Thomas Søndergård (conductor). Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 4.10.2025. (GT)
United Kingdom George Enescu International Festival 2025 [7] – Enescu, Oedipe: Soloists, Chorus, Children’s Chorus and Orchestra of Bucharest National Opera / Tiberiu Soare (conductor), Daniel Jinga, Adrian Ionescu (choir conductors), Smaranda Morgovan (coordinator of the children’s choir). National Opera Theatre, Bucharest, 15.9.2025. (GT)
Romania George Enescu International Festival 2025 [5] – Poulenc, Ravel: Braşov Philharmonic Orchestra / David Molard Soriano (conductor). Tudor Cucu-Dumitrescu (MC), Oana Berbec (narrator), Grégoire Pont (artist/illustrator), Odeon Theatre, Bucharest, 14.9.2025. (GT)
United Kingdom George Enescu International Festival 2025 [4] – Shostakovich, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District: Soloists, Orchestra and Academic Choir of Romanian Radio (choral conductor: Ciprian Tutu) / Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor). Palace Hall Bucharest, 14.9.2025. (GT)
Romania George Enescu International Festival 2025 [3] – Korngold, Rachmaninov, Rimsky Korsakov: Bruce Liu (pianist), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko (conductor). Palace Hall, Bucharest. 13.9.2025. (GT)
