classical music reviews, news & interviews
Bernard Hughes |

James Crabb is a musical magician, taking the ever-unfashionable accordion into new and unlikely places, through bespoke arrangements of a spectrum of pieces which brim with wit and inventiveness. This lunchtime concert with violinist Anthony Marwood was a sheer joy, as they together traversed a range of style and tone, richly entertaining a very decent Bank Holiday crowd in the Wigmore Hall.

Miranda Heggie |

"How long is Wagner’s Ring Cycle?" That’s not the opening to a joke, it’s a genuine question asked by a friend who I’d met up with before heading to Edinburgh’s Usher Hall to hear the Royal Scottish National Orchestra perform "Wagner’s Ring Symphony". His question is one I really don’t know how to answer: technically it’s 15 hours, but does a cycle ever really end? Is a piece of string as long as the ties that bind? How long would it take to wrap up the whole world?

David Nice
Three live, very alive Symphonie fantastiques in a year may seem a lot. But such is Berlioz’s precise, unique and somehow modern imagination that you…
Robert Beale
Manchester Camerata spent eight years performing and recording a complete edition of Mozart’s piano concertos with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as soloist,…
Bernard Hughes
Every now and then a concert programme comes along that fits like a bespoke suit, and this one could have been specially designed for me. Two…

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Bernard Hughes
Accordion virtuoso’s brilliant arrangements showcase the possibilities of the instrument
Miranda Heggie
Ancient Scottish musical traditions explored through the lens of today, and a short teaser for some of opera's greatest moments
David Nice
Szymanowski’s fantasy more vague than Berlioz’s, but both light up the hall
Robert Beale
Another breath of fresh air in the chamber orchestra’s approach to the classics
Bernard Hughes
Julia Perry well worth her place alongside Stravinsky and Bartók
graham.rickson
German art songs, French piano concertos and entertaining contemporary music
David Nice
Panache but little inner serenity in a risky three-part marathon
David Nice
The Jordanian pianist presents a magic carpet of dizzyingly contrasting styles
Bernard Hughes
Early music group passes a milestone still at the top of its game
Robert Beale
Craftsmanship and appeal in this 'Concerto for Orchestra' - and game-playing with genre
Zlatomir Fung
Fresh takes on Janáček's 'Jenůfa' and Bizet's 'Carmen' are on the menu
graham.rickson
Swiss contemporary music, plus two cello albums and a versatile clarinettist remembered
Rachel Halliburton
This showcase for baroque trumpets was riveting throughout
Boyd Tonkin
Intimacy and empathy in a varied mixture from the star siblings
David Nice
Perfect pacing allows climaxes to make their mark - and the visuals aren’t bad, either
David Nice
Kentridge’s film for Shostakovich 10 goes its own way, but a master compels in his 13th hour of Satie
Boyd Tonkin
In an age of hate-fuelled pile-ons, Bach's gospel tragedy strikes even deeper
David Nice
Young Irish baritone pulls focus in blazing performance of a 21st century classic
Christopher Gray
A showcase for contemporary choral works appropriate to this time
graham.rickson
New music for choir, orchestra and string quartet, plus a tribute to a rediscovered photographer
Bernard Hughes
Welcome chance to hear a Bliss rarity alongside better-known British classics
Bernard Hughes
An impassioned response to the climate crisis was slightly hamstrung by its text
Boyd Tonkin
Late changes, and new dramas, from the Icelandic superstar
Robert Beale
A composer-conductor interprets the last completed symphony in breathtaking style

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