Reviews

Prom 5: WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne/ Bychkov, Royal Albert Hall

It was Semyon Bychkov’s last concert as principal conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, and reaching the summit of Strauss’ Alpine Symphony could and should have been a big deal – the Albert Hall is a natural environment for this musical blockbuster.

Inside Reviews

Prom 4: RLPO/ Petrenko, Royal Albert Hall (Rated 4/ 5 )

Tuesday, 20 July 2010

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra pulled off the not inconsiderable feat of acknowledging both the Schumann and Mahler anniversaries simultaneously with their Prom opener.

Padmore/Power/Kenny/West, Wigmore Hall, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Monday, 19 July 2010

Finally liberated from his early-music pigeonhole, John Dowland has become everyone's property: while Harrison Birtwistle does his number on him, Sting comes up with his.

The Duchess of Malfi, Great Eastern Quay, London

Sunday, 18 July 2010

A ghost train for grown-ups that sets you down feeling bullied and bored

Album: Handel/Croft, Music for the Peace of Utrecht (Channel Classics)

Sunday, 18 July 2010

Jos van Veldhoven's disc with the Netherlands Bach Society brings together one of the most famous celebrations of the Treaty of Utrecht, Handel's Te Deum and Jubilate, and William Croft's rarely performed Ode with Noise of Cannon.

Album: Haydn, 12 London Symphonies (Naive)

Sunday, 18 July 2010

Liberated from Esterhazy by his patron's death, Haydn arrived in England in 1791 to a hero's welcome.

First Night: First Night of the Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Saturday, 17 July 2010

Season opens with a bang big enough to blow the roof off

Rasch The Duchess of Malfi, English National Opera & Punchdrunk

Wednesday, 14 July 2010

We journeyed to deepest docklands, a bewildered group of punters and members of the press clutching our precious tickets (all performances sold out in six hours) and a precise set of directions to the mysterious location.

The Barber of Baghdad, Buxton Opera House, Buxton (Rated 2/ 5 )

Monday, 12 July 2010

The second of Buxton Festival's own opera productions, Peter Cornelius's comedy The Barber of Baghdad, was last given a professional outing in these islands in Wexford in the mid-1970s.

Bernstein Mass, Royal Festival Hall, London (Rated 4/ 5 )

Sunday, 11 July 2010

Mass is Leonard Bernstein’s most personal, most provocative piece. His daughter Jamie has described it as his “most Lennyish” piece – meaning that it knows no inhibition, that it is everything he was. There are no fudges, no in-betweens, no half-measures.