February 2012

Britten/Shostakovich/Tchaikovsky - Valery Gergiev/Sarah Chang

Thu 23 Feb 2012, Barbican

Classical Source, 24 Feb 2012
The Suffolk coast has never sounded so sumptuously bleak and impersonal, and the LSO astonished us with the clarity and detail of Britten’s troubled purpose in Peter Grimes – in just a few minutes, the audience was hearing through a glass darkly.
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Tchaikovsky/Prokofiev/Shostakovich - Valery Gergiev/Denis Matsuev

Tue 21 Feb 2012, Barbican

BachTrack, 23 Feb 2012
hearing the orchestra's full-blooded delivery was like watching a fine sportscar on a lap of Silverstone. It was a rendition distinguished in particular by spirited string playing in every dynamic, from shimmering pianissimo to opulent forte.
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Classicalsource, 23 Feb 2012
The astonishing quality of the playing set a very high bar, though, that the evening never dipped below.
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Mozart/Previn/Mendelssohn - André Previn/Anne-Sophie Mutter/Daniel Müller-Schott (chamber recital)

Mon 20 Feb 2012, Barbican

Classical Source, 21 Feb 2012
In the finale, grandeur and inevitability prevailed: a dynamic battle between musicians crowned this glorious achievement, honours deservedly shared.
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The Times, 22 Feb 2012
Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor was a much happier affair, its exuberance and imagination awakening more focused and convivial playing.
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Copland/Previn/Harbison - André Previn/Anne-Sophie Mutter/Yuri Bashmet

Sun 19 Feb 2012, Barbican

The Guardian, 21 Feb 2012
The LSO played beautifully for him in a concert that carried a special charge of mutual respect and affection for the long association of conductor and orchestra.
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New Statesman, 21 Feb 2012
I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping that this most determined ambassador for American music continues to return to the London and the LSO for as long as he is able.
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The Times, 22 Feb 2012
... there’s a robust hoedown of a frolic in the finale [Previn Concerto for Violin, Viola & Orchestra], and the LSO, with strong moral support from Mutter, gave a somewhat unmemorable work their all.
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Financial Times, 20 Feb 2012
[Previn's Concert for Violin, Viola and Orchestra] Full of elegiac melody, Walton-esque timbres and wispy, almost unbearably poignant dialogues...
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Art Desk, 20 Feb 2012
Without Previn’s advocacy, when we would we have heard the intriguing and entertaining Third Symphony of John Harbison?
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Classical Source, 20 Feb 2012
There are ‘humoresque’ moments [in the John Harbison Symphony No 3], but essentially this is music of depth and beauty – the ‘Passionate’ fourth section, effectively the slow movement, having an ‘epic’ feel – that is powerful and impressive, and here given a performance to match.
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Rachmaninov/Korngold/Bartók - Sir Antonio Pappano/Leonidas Kavakos

Wed 15 Feb 2012, Barbican

Evening Standard, 16 Feb 2012
Bartók's score is very much an orchestral showcase and the LSO rose to the challenge with impressive virtuosity.
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The Times, 17 Feb 2012
when the eruption of Mahlerian passion came in the central section, it burst through like a flash flood. Stunning. 
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Bachtrack, 17 Feb 2012
The LSO really worked to create the sound Korngold had in mind, transforming into an enormous, raucous and very expensive folk band for an enjoyable seven minutes.
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Classical Source, 16 Feb 2012
From shadows a momentous coda was built to clinch a thrilling victory – further proof (and not forgetting his vocation at The Royal Opera) that Antonio Pappano and the LSO are one of the most productive and charismatic of musical partnerships around.
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MusicOMH, 20 Feb 2012
The edgy 'Interrupted Intermezzo' was literally as bold as brass — with trumpets and trombones giving their very best. A racy 'Finale' romped home, but not before turning back to give full recognition to the previous movements' motifs and then gathering strength for a thrilling coda.
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Rachmaninov/Korngold/Bartók - Sir Antonio Pappano/Roman Simovic

Mon 13 Feb 2012, National Concert Hall, Dublin

The Irish Times, 21 Feb 2012
Pappano allowed his players to sound unleashed in a way that softened contours, and often blended colours in unusual ways. It was an idiosyncratic but persuasive perspective: the concerto rarely sounds as good in concert as it did on this occasion.
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Debussy/Weill/Brecht - Michael Tilson Thomas/Anne Sofie von Otter

Thu 2 Feb 2012, Barbican

The Guardian, 3 Feb 2012
[MTT] was immaculate when it came to Debussy, too. The colours, contours and menace of La Mer were exquisitely delineated.
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Classical Source, 4 Feb 2012
It was an immersive experience – La mer in 3D.
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The Times, 5 Feb 2012
Robin Holloway’s multicoloured orchestration of the two-piano suite En blanc et noir, made for Tilson Thomas’s San Francisco orchestra, dazzled at first, then grew less convincing.
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Debussy: Painter of Dreams - Michael Tilson Thomas/LSO String Ensemble & soloists

Wed 1 Feb 2012, LSO St Luke's

The Guardian, 2 Feb 2012
It was a delightful, immensely accomplished evening, the relaxed tone set by Tilson Thomas's perfectly judged introductions.
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