Altars of glitter – the new LA Phil album celebrates Gabriela Ortiz’s revolutionary sonorities

The sensation of enraptured discovery is tangible throughout  Gabriela Ortiz’s new album Revolución Diamantina, as one’s mind and body become fully engaged in sounding rituals of the three world premiere recordings involved, given in superlative performances by their commissioners, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. Sharing the stage in these live takes...

An afternoon of Nordic chamber treats at Kangasala Classic

Soprano Meeri Pulakka and accordionist Janne Valkeajoki in performance at Sahalahti Church on Saturday. © Kangasala Classic Assembled at Sahalahti Church on Saturday afternoon, the musicians of Kangasala Classic sounded out a remarkably well-devised programme of eight musical works from seven Nordic composers – six Finns and one Dane – bound together into seamless sonic...

Captivating choral tapestries with Tampere Cappella at Kangasala Classic

Tampere Cappella joined by Rebecca Roozeman and Anna Husgafvel, violins, Saara Kurki, viola, Lauri Kankkunen, cello, and Juha Kleemola, double bass, performing Caroline Shaw under Markus Yil-Jokipii's direction. © Ville Hautakangas The second evening concert of the Kangasala Classic summer festival focused on (mostly) contemporary choral music, sung with committed artistry by Tampere Cappella under...

From Ligeti to Fauré – Kangasala Classic opens in manifold musical landscapes

Johannes Piirto, piano, Tami Pohjola, violin, Saara Kurki, viola and Lauri Kankkunen, cello performing Gabriel Fauré at Kangasala Hall on Thursday. © Ville Hautakangas Launching the fourth rendition of Kangasala Classic summer festival, Thursday evening’s concert at Kangasala Hall presented the audience with a characteristically well-devised selection of chamber music from the 19th and 20th...

In a league of their own – Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto and Christoffer Sundqvist at Naantali Music Festival

Pekka Kuusisto, Christoffer Sundqvist and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra performing Brahms at Naantali Church on Saturday. © Maarit Kytöharju Visiting the Naantali Music Festival on Saturday, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director Pekka Kuusisto greeted their fully packed Naantali Church audience with a calling card programme of ravishing inspiration, unveiled with outstanding ensemble virtuosity...

Looking back at the 2024 Bang on a Can Long Play festival’s many highlights

Sō Percussion performing Julia Wolfe's Forbidden Love (2019). © Stefan Cohen Encapsulating an event as multi-faceted as Bang on a Can’s three-day Long Play Festival within single coverage inevitably results in series of selective glimpses on that multitude of musical events which came to pass again this year. After all, we are speaking about a...

Formidable evening of Adès and Ligeti with Kirill Gerstein and friends at LSO St Lukes

Kirill Gerstein musing over piano. © Marco Borggreve A formidable feast of virtuosity was held at LSO St Lukes on Friday evening by pianist Kirill Gerstein and the  marvelous musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Adès and Timothy Redmond, encompassing wide array of concerti, songs and chamber music, culminating in astounding performances...

Bewitching sonorities from the war years – Kirill Gerstein and friends master Debussy and Komitas at LSO St Lukes

Kirill Gerstein performing on the keyboard. © Marco Borggreve Rarely has one enjoyed a recital so much as on Thursday afternoon, when Kirill Gerstein, joined by fellow pianist Katia Skanavi and soprano Ruzan Matashyan, unveiled an engrossing live rendition of his remarkable album project Music in Time of War at LSO St Lukes, bringing together...

Extraordinary musical discoveries with Anne-Sophie Mutter, the LSO and Thomas Adès

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Symphony Orchestra, condcuted by Thomas Adès performing Witold Lutosławski's Partita (1984/1988) and the UK premiere of Adès's Air -Homage to Sibelius (2021-22/2024) at the Barbican on Thursday. © Mark Allan With Thomas Adès on the podium, the London Symphony Orchestra, joined onstage by violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, presented the packed...

Solid Götterdämmerung from the Finnish National Opera

The Norns, Maiju Vaahtoluoto, alto, Jenny Carlstedt, mezzo-soprano, and Sonja Herranen, soprano twinig the thread of fate in the prologue to Götterdämmerung. © Stefan Bremer Concluding a five-year cycle of premieres, almost, the Finnish National Opera’s new production of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (1896-74), conducted by Hannu Lintu and directed by Anna Kelo, adds a worthy...