Appl, Levickis, Wigmore Hall review - fun to the fore in cabaret and show songs

★★★★★ APPL, LEVICKIS, WIGMORE HALL Fun to the fore in cabaret and show songs

A relaxed evening of light-hearted fare, with the accordion offering unusual colours

Concerts at the Wigmore Hall offer many types of pleasure, but not often an evening so straightforwardly fun as Monday night’s recital by baritone Benjamin Appl and Lithuanian accordion virtuoso Martynas Levickis. Appl is primarily a Lieder singer – but here dived into a stylistically diverse world of music ranging from Mahler to Copland, via Ravel and Kurt Weill.

Siglo de Oro, Wigmore Hall review - electronic Lamentations and Trojan tragedy

★★★★ SIGLO DE ORO, WIGMORE HALL Electronic Lamentations and Trojan tragedy

Committed and intense performance of a newly-commissioned oratorio

Siglo de Oro are a vocal ensemble who specialise in older music – and especially neglected older music – but they have also always programmed new music, and the centrepiece of this recital at the Wigmore Hall was a large-scale commission by composer Ben Rowarth, to words by Sophia Carr-Gomm. And a successful work it was, maintaining interest through its 45-minute span through its strong musical conception, the excellent playing and singing of Siglo de Oro and violinist Amy Tress, and the extra dimension of the live electronics provided by Joe Bates.

Marwood, Crabb, Wigmore Hall review - tangos, laments and an ascending lark

Accordion virtuoso’s brilliant arrangements showcase the possibilities of the instrument

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.

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Wigmore Hall review - too big a splash in complete Ravel

★★★ JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET, WIGMORE HALL Too big a splash in complete Ravel

Panache but little inner serenity in a risky three-part marathon

It was a daring idea to mark Ravel’s 150th birthday year with a single concert packing in all his works for solo piano. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet knows them by heart, has bags of charisma and energy, so why not? I could give more than one reason, but the main problem was that while Bavouzet perfectly embodied Scarbo, the monster-Puck of Gaspard de la nuit, and other nocturnal flitters, he seemed careless with Undine and her watery companions, of which there were many.

Stile Antico, Wigmore Hall review - a glorious birthday celebration

★★★★★ STILE ANTICO, WIGMORE HALL A glorious birthday celebration

Early music group passes a milestone still at the top of its game

There was a wonderful festal spirit at the Wigmore Hall last night, as the vocal ensemble Stile Antico ran through a Greatest Hits selection in celebration of their 20th anniversary, in front of a packed and enthusiastic audience. The 12-strong group still boasts four founder members, but this was swelled to 10 for the final item, as a swarm of alumni joined in a beautiful rendition of Gibbons’ The Silver Swan.

La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - a convivial guide to 18th century Bologna

★★★★ LA SERENISSIMA, WIGMORE HALL A convivial guide to 18th century Bologna

This showcase for baroque trumpets was riveting throughout

When Giuseppe Torelli made the journey from his birthplace of Verona to Bologna in the late 17th century, the trumpet was still seen as something of a brash outsider, suitable for military displays but not for sophisticated music ensembles. Within decades, it would seem perfectly natural for both Vivaldi and Bach to write major works featuring the trumpet.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Wigmore Hall review - family fun, fire and finesse

★★★★ SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, ISATA KANNEH-MASON, WIGMORE HALL Intimacy and empathy in a varied mixture from the star siblings

Intimacy and empathy in a varied mixture from the star siblings

I came to Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s Wigmore Hall recital on Saturday armed with a certain degree of scepticism. Not about the siblings’ stupendous talent and technique – their manifold achievements speak for themselves – but about the popular idea that family connections make for closer, more cohesive music-making. 

Goldberg Variations, Ólafsson, Wigmore Hall review - Bach in the shadow of Beethoven

Late changes, and new dramas, from the Icelandic superstar

Víkingur Ólafsson had something to prove at the Wigmore Hall. And prove it he did, even if, this time, his Goldberg Variations left a few features of Bach’s inexhaustible keyboard panorama at the edge of his pianistic picture. The much-loved Icelandic chart-topper had promised Beethoven’s final three sonatas for this concert. His last-minute reversion to the familiar Goldbergs – which he played on 88 occasions around the world last season after a supremely successful DG recording – had disappointed a portion of his vast fan-base.

Levit, Sternath, Wigmore Hall review - pushing the boundaries in Prokofiev and Shostakovich

★★★★★ LEVIT, STERNATH, WIGMORE HALL Master pianist shines the spotlight on star protégé

Master pianist shines the spotlight on star protégé in another unique programme

Igor Levit is a master of the unorthodox marathon, one he was happy to share last night with 24-year-old Austrian Lukas Sternath, his student in Hanover. Not only did Sternath get the obvious stunner of two Prokofiev sonatas in the first half; he also had all the best tunes and phrases as the right-hand man, so to speak, in Shostakovich’s piano arrangement of his towering Tenth Symphony. The best, as in absolutely no holds barred, came at the very end.

Mahan Esfahani, Wigmore Hall review - shimmering poise and radical brilliance

★★★★ MAHAN ESFAHANI, WIGMORE HALL Shimmering poise and radical brilliance

Magnificent demonstration of a lifelong dedication to the harpsichord

To watch Mahan Esfahani play the harpsichord is to watch a philosopher at work. While there’s often playfulness and shimmering levity you can feel the thought behind each note. The Iranian-American’s passion for the harpsichord began when he was nine – the moment he heard it on a cassette his uncle gave to him when he was visiting Iran, he knew he wanted to spend his life devoted to the instrument. In a Guardian interview he once described it as the “posh, pretty boy in prison.