Jeremy Denk and the Cleveland Orchestra performing John Adams's Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (2018) under the composer's baton at Severance Hall in February. © Roger Mastroianni Back on the podium to guest-conduct the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, composer John Adams has come up with the most inspiring all-American contemporary programme,... Continue Reading →
The English Symphony Orchestra in session with their Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Kenneth Woods. © ESO Digital The latest installment in the English Symphony Orchestra’s marvellous online series with their Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Kenneth Woods presents us with a tremendous premiere recording of Adrian Williams’s stunning Symphony No. 1 (2018-21). Commissioned by... Continue Reading →
John Adams conducting Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich with Víkingur Ólafsson as soloist. © Alberto Venzago As a part of his 75th birthday celebrations, the composer John Adams has had a busy week on the podium, rehearsing three of his own works with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson at the orchestra’s newly-renovated, acoustically brilliant and luminously... Continue Reading →
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo onstage at Helsinki Music Centre after a dazzling performance of Des canyons aux étoiles... on Wednesday evening. © Jari Kallio Among the Olivier Messiaen oeuvre, and within the European postwar avant-garde in general, there are few works, if any, that can quite match the multi-faceted invention, colossal... Continue Reading →
Among the twentieth century symphony, there can hardly be found a more widely-known entry into the genre than Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 (1939-41), better known as the Leningrad Symphony. While strikingly effective on a musical level, the symphony’s legendary status ows to the circumstances it was written, giving rise... Continue Reading →
Two years ahead of Anton Bruckner’s forthcoming bicentenary in 2024, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and their Chief Conductor François-Xavier Roth have embarked upon a joint quest of committing the composer’s complete symphonies on disc for Myrios Classics. Auguring the journey, the orchestra and conductor have put forth the first volume in the series, containing a mighty account... Continue Reading →
Over the past couple of years, the recordings and concert performances of Sinfonia of London and John Wilson have been lauded far and wide, and deservedly so. Launching their recording career on Chandos in 2019, a dazzling SACD account of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Symphony in F sharp (1947-52), was unveiled, followed by notable albums devoted... Continue Reading →
The English Symphony Orchestra in recording session with their Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Kenneth Woods at Wyastone Concert Hall. © ESO Digital Released online last Friday, the English Symphony Orchestra and their Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Kenneth Woods present us with a terrific contemporary double-portrait, venturing deep into the fascinating realms of the... Continue Reading →
John Williams conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Philharmonie in October 2021. © Stephan Rabold On October 14-16 2021, then 89-year-old John Williams made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducting a mighty selection from his best-loved film scores as well as two concert pieces on three consecutive nights at the orchestra’s Philharmonie home. Coming... Continue Reading →
Video still from Ligeti: Paradigms. © Courtesy of the SFSO The latest instalment in San Francisco Symphony’s online series with their Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen takes us deep into the astounding realm of the György Ligeti oeuvre. Guided by a riveting fusion of top-class musicianship and cutting-edge AI, Ligeti: Paradigms yields to the next level... Continue Reading →
AIM - Adventures in Music 