Absolute feast – John Adams conducts Juilliard Orchestra

John Adams conducting Juilliard Orchestra at David Geffen Hall on Monday © Rosalie O'Connor / Juilliard School The joy of music-making was tangible at the David Geffen Hall on Monday evening, as the Juilliard Orchestra delivered a veritable sounding feast under John Adams’s vigorous direction. Performing on the top of their game, the orchestra rendered...

Many meetings with Jörg Widmann, Lisa Batiashvili, Tsotne Zedginidze et al. at Kammermusiksaal

Composer-in-Residence and clarinetist Jörg Widmann at the Philharmonie. © Stefan Höderath / Berliner Philharmoniker An evening of many inspired meetings took place at the Kammermusiksaal of the Berlin Philharmonie on Wednesday, as Artist-in-Residence, violinist Lisa Batiashvili and Composer-in-Residence and clarinetist Jörg Widmann, joined by pianist Denis Kozhukhin, young composer and pianist Tsotne Zedginidze and members of...

Superb European premiere for Nico Muhly’s mighty organ concerto by James McVinnie, the Helsinki Philharmonic and Pekka Kuusisto

James McVinnie and the Helsinki Philharmonic, conducted by Pekka Kuusisto rehearsing Nico Muhly's Register (2017) for organ and orchestra at the Helsinki Music Centre. © Jari Kallio Keeping up with the inaugural festivities for the new Helsinki Music Centre organ, yet another glorious chapter was added into the instrument’s musical legacy this week, as the...

Sir George Benjamin festival launched with ravishing artistry in Helsinki

Sir George Benjamin in rehearsal with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Collon at the Helsinki Music Centre on Wednesday. © Jari Kallio Heralding the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s three-week Sir George Benjamin festival on Wednesday evening, the orchestra and Chief Conductor Nicholas Collon sounded out a terrific opening programme, featuring two exquisite works...

From seascapes to stratosphere with Berliner Philharmoniker and Daniel Harding

Daniel Harding conducting Berliner Philharmoniker. © Stephan Rabold Heralding the orchestra’s 2023 Biennale, In Search of a New Modernism, the Berliner Philharmoniker, joined on the podium by Daniel Harding, paid their homages to György Ligeti’s centennial with an aptly conceived programme featuring two of the composer’s hallmark scores for large orchestral setup, Atmosphères (1961) and...

Symphonic pictures from Elgar to Adès with the CBSO, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. © Benjamin Ealovega Performing in San Francisco on Sunday under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra delivered a gorgeous rendition of their well-devised tour programme. In the course of the inspired evening, four wonderful pieces were heard; three twentieth century classics alongside a Thomas...