LSO Jerwood Composer+ A deep dive into the potential of the violin & bringing the Isle of Mull’s wild Atlantic rainforest to LSO St Luke's

LSO Jerwood Composer+ supports early-career composers in planning and delivering two artistic projects, with two composers selected each year for a 15-month placement. Mentored by LSO staff, they are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills around programming for specific audiences, planning, marketing, budgeting, fundraising and evaluation.

The 2023/24 composers were Anselm McDonnell [see my review of his recent disc, Kraina] and Rufus Isabel Elliot, and some of the fruits of their labours are going to be apparent as two LSO Jerwood Composer+ showcases at LSO St Luke's are curated by Anselm McDonnell and Rufus Isabel Elliot.

On Saturday 12 October 2024, The Expanded Violin, curated by Anselm McDonnell, features music by McDonnell, Judith Ring, Leo Chadburn, Kahlevi Aho, Catherine Lamb and Kaija Saariaho, performed by four violinists, Mira Benjamin, Larissa O’Grady, Chihiro Ono and Amalia Young. The evening is described as a deep dive into the potential of the violin, expanding and enhancing the instrument through microtonality, electronics, and the sound of multiple violins. The music includes Kalevi Aho’s soulful tribute to the young Finnish violinist Sakari Laukola, Saariaho’s Nocturne, which is an intimate tribute to Lutosławski, and the evening ends with McDonnell's new work Genesis Cradle, exploring alternative tunings through Just Intonation – intervals that are tuned to fit with the naturally occurring relationships in the harmonic series. [Further details]

On Saturday 16 November 2024, Waves Crash on Old Street, curated by Rufus Isabel Elliott, features music by David Fennessy, Christian Mason, Barbara Monk Feldman, Martin Arnold, Britta Byström, Ryoko Akama, Stuart MacRae and a premiere by Rufus Isabel Elliott. The performers are David Alberman, violin, Louise McMonagle, cello, and Mark Knoop, piano. Elliott has collaborated with artists Miek Zwamborn and Rutger Emmelkamp, based in Knockvologan, on the Isle of Mull, and the evening promises to bring the Isle of Mull’s wild Atlantic rainforest of Tireragan to LSO St Luke’s. [Further details]

Prom 37: intense contrasts thundering cannonades to personal intimacy, Antonio Pappano conducts Britten's War Requiem at the BBC Proms

Britten: War Requiem - Allan Clayton, Natalya Romaniw, Antonio Pappano, Will Liverman, London Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms with chorus directors Mariana Rosas and Neil Ferris (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

Britten: War Requiem; Natalya Romaniw, Allan Clayton, Will Liverman, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, Tiffin Boys Choir, Antonio Pappano; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed 17 August 2024

Antonio Pappano draws an evening of intense contrasts from his performers from thundering cannonades to intense, personal intimacy, yet always with a sense of discipline and clarity

Britten's War Requiem has been a presence at the BBC Proms since 1963, a year after the premiere, and was last at the BBC Proms in 2019 when Peter Oundjian conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (with Allan Clayton as tenor soloist).  This year the work returned on Saturday 17 August 2024, with Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra with soloists Natalya Romaniw (soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor) and Will Liverman (baritone), plus the London Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony Chorus, with a boys choir drawn from the Tiffin Boys Choir (director James Day) with boys from HM Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace, and Temple Church.

The performers filled the stage and choir stalls, the wide open spaces of the hall seeming ideal for this work. But Britten's score pits the large scale against the intimate, and Antonio Pappano drew a remarkable dynamic range from his performers, from hushed, barely there to sheer terror. However, whatever the dynamic, the approach was always disciplined and even in the noisy cannonades of the Libera me, there was a clarity to the textures. Throughout, Pappano seemed to encourage a crispness of diction from his choral singers so that the very opening of the work was strong and intent, despite the hushed tones. This strength of character and intent wove its way throughout the performance.

Britten: War Requiem - Natalya Romaniw, Allan Clayton, Antonio Pappano, Will Liverman, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

As has become the norm with this work, Pappano conducted both the orchestra and the chamber ensemble (placed stage left). His two male soloists, Allan Clayton and Will Liverman, seemed to both be deliberately holding back, drawing us toward them. Both gave us moments when they easily filled the hall, but a lot of the time the performance made us work to listen hard, the result was some magic moments but a tendency for the Wilfred Owen settings to seem somewhat muted (at least from our seats in the stalls, it may well be different on the radio or on TV).

The encounter that never was: composers Alex Ho and Sun Keting on their collaboration on a new music theatre work interweaving the stories of two very different Chinese women

Echo Nature - Tangram at LSO St Luke's, January 2024

Bound/Unbound is a new music theatre piece created by London-based China-born composer Sun Keting and London-based British-Chinese composer Alex Ho. The two are joint directors of the music collective Tangram who are presenting the work at LSO St Luke's on 9 & 10 August 2024 as part of Tangram's position as Associate Artists at LSO St Luke's and the performances feature soprano Haegee Lee, dancer Yining Chen and percussionist Beibei Wang with Tangram artists and musicians from the LSO. The piece interweaves the stories of two very different Chinese women, Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to come to the USA in 1834, and Qiu Jin, the 20th-century revolutionary.

Alex Ho & Sun Keting (Image taken from video interview)

Sun Keting and Alex Ho are joint directors of Tangram and this led them to want to co-compose. Alex has experience in opera and stage works whereas Rockey (Sun Keting) has worked with dancers, so they conceived of a piece that would combine their past experiences and see what happened.  The two describe co-composing as a new experience for both of them, interesting in its own right.

The choreographer, Yining Chen, is a specialist in traditional Chinese dance and the work was intended to combine both dance and singing, though the two composers emphasised that it wasn't a case of music, singing and dance, there are sections which involved pure dance and others just singing.

They worked with the librettist, British Chinese writer Xiaolu Guo to create the story which involves Afong Moy (born around 1815/1820), who was taken to the USA to be displayed alongside Chinese goods as 'The Chinese Curiosity', and Qiu Jin (1875-1907), a feminist revolutionary and master swords person who also wrote poetry, yet came to a tragic end as she was executed for trying to overthrow the Manchu government. Qiu Jin's skill with the sword links to the choreography including a sword dance.

What happens when a conductor best known for his operatic work, conducts Mendelssohn's Elijah: Sir Antonio Pappano & the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican with Gerald Finley

Mendelssohn: Elijah - Sarah Connolly, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Antonio Pappano, Gerald Finley, Allan Clayton, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra - Barbican Hall (Photo: Mark Allan)

Mendelssohn: Elijah; Gerald Finley, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Sarah Connolly, Allan Clayton, Guildhall Voices, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Antonio Pappano; Barbican Hall
Reviewed 28 January 2023

A satisfying, well-thought-out performance of Elijah with a consummate account of the title role from Gerald Finley, plus chorus and orchestra on thrilling form

It is tempting to think of Mendelssohn's Elijah as an opera manqué. But like Handel in some of his more dramatic oratorios, Mendelssohn took full advantage of the non-operatic presentation which meant that dramaturgy could be creative, he could rely on the audience being able to fill in the gaps by reading the libretto and most importantly, large choral numbers could expand considerably.

So what happens when a conductor best known in London for his operatic work, conducts Mendelssohn's Elijah?

On Sunday 28 January 2024, Sir Antonio Pappano, chief conductor designate of the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted the orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus in Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Barbican Hall (the first of two performances), with soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Dame Sarah Connolly, Allan Clayton and Gerald Finley, with The Guildhall Singers.

But first off, which version of Elijah were we hearing? Pappano used the standard four soloists, with Gerald Finley in the title role, plus treble Ewan Christian (head chorister of Westminster Cathedral Choir) as the child, but added into the mix The Guildhall Singers.

Mendelssohn: Elijah - Sarah Connolly, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, London Symphony Orchestra - Barbican Hall (Photo: Mark Allan)

Eight students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Guildhall Singers (Bridget Esler, Zoe Jackson, Alex Hutton, Abbie Ward, Sebastian Hill, Jacob Cole, Matias Carbonetti Schwanek, Jacob Dyksterhouse) supplied the voices for the Angels - first quartet, the octet, the trio and the semi-chorus in 'Holy, Holy, Holy'. Thus giving us the contrasts in textures that Mendelssohn requires (his first performance used a whopping ten soloists) without having to use eight, underused big-name soloists.

Exploring his musical roots: conductor Duncan Ward chats about his jazz-inspired, Eastern European & French music coming up with the London Symphony Orchestra

Duncan Ward and Philharmonie Zuidnederland 

The conductor Duncan Ward has two concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) coming up, one featuring music by Gary Carpenter, Barber and Abel Selaocoe as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival [16 November 2023, further details], and the other featuring music by Bartok, Janacek, Chausson and Debussy with soloist Isabelle Faust [23 November 2023, further details]. Duncan is chief conductor of Philharmonie Zuidnederland (South Netherlands Philharmonic) and music director of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, a new position created by the Festival d'Aix. 

 Duncan Ward (Photo: Hugo Thomassen)

Both of Duncan's programmes with the LSO are typically eclectic. The works in his first concert seem, at first sight, to only have a tangential relationship to jazz, but he assures me that this is not the case. He describes Gary Carpenter's music as funky, with a distinct jazz influence and his piece Dadaville includes raucous saxophone and trombone solos, uses an expanded drum kit and builds into what Duncan describes as quite a riot. Barber's Medea's Dance of Vengeance is a work that Duncan describes as building up into a groovy frenzy. It is a work that he heard as a teenager and was hooked from the opening, the mysterious strings, the build-up into a frenzy. He heard it in the car, his mother was running him to a rehearsal and he insisted they could not get out of the car until the end was reached. Strangely, it is a piece that is rarely programmed. He has tried to persuade orchestras to perform it, but often the answer is no. 

The third work in the programme is Abel Selaocoe's Cello Concerto: Four Spirits with Selaocoe as soloist. Duncan describes Selaocoe as a man of many influences, his music is eclectic, with jazz, folk and other influences making it tricky to label. In his solo performances, Selaocoe often plays and sings, he does that in the concerto and will be expecting the orchestra musicians to do the same. Selaocoe will be joined by a percussionist playing a world music drum kit. The concerto has reflective and hypnotic moments alongside the more rhythmic sections. 

Theories of forgetting: composer Hollie Harding curates contemporary pieces at LSO St Luke's

Hollie Harding, Heather Roche, Eva Zöllner, Colin Alexander
LSO St Luke's(Photo Emily Hazrati)

Christophe Bertrand, Laurence Crane, Joanna Bailie, Johan Svensson, Bent Sørensen, Hollie Harding; Heather Roche, Eva Zöllner, Colin Alexander; LSO St Luke's
Reviewed by Florence Anna Maunders, 14 January 2023

A mesmerising evening of carefully curated contemporary chamber works

As part of her involvement in the LSO Jerwood Composer+ scheme, London-based composer Hollie Harding presented and curated an evening of contemporary pieces at LSO St Luke's, which included her own new, extensive work – Theories of Forgetting – and explored the complex relationships between music, time and memory, with music by Christophe Bertrand, Laurence Crane, Joanna Bailie, Johan Svensson, and Bent Sørensen performed by Heather Roche, clarinets, Eva Zöllner, accordion and Colin Alexander, cello.

The concert opened with a virtuoso performance of Christophe Bertrand's Dikha (2002)– a solo piece for clarinettist Heather Roche and fixed electronic recordings of clarinet sounds and samples. By deploying a vivid arsenal of extended performance techniques, Roche's playing became, at times, indistinguishable from the electrically processed recorded sounds in a fascinating, fast-paced and driven texture. Her skill at handling the wide range of timbres, techniques and colours demanded by Bertrand, as well as a slick transition mid-stream to bass clarinet, demonstrated why Roche is in such huge demand currently as an interpreter of contemporary clarinet repertoire.

Riis (1996), by Laurence Crane presented a complete contrast to the energy of the opening work. Eva Zöllner's accordion replaced the electric organ of the original version, allowing for a subtly nuanced interpretation of the impressively controlled long notes and sustained phrases from which this piece is constructed. Her long association with Roche and experience in small-group performance were apparent in the intimate interaction between the three performers in this beautifully slow-paced piece.

Bristol Beacon joins forces with London Symphony Orchestra once again for live broadcast to care homes in March

Simon Rattle and London Symphony Orchestra

In October 2021, Bristol Beacon (formerly Colston Hall) presented a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra at Bath Forum and broadcast it. The success has encourage Bristol Beacon to live stream the LSO and Simon Rattle's forthcoming Bath Forum concert and to make the concert available free of charge for a month to care homes across the country. This is sponsored by Bristol Care Homes, who wanted to extend the opportunity to watch the concert to all care homes across the country as many still contend with the impacts of the pandemic.

The concert takes place on 14 March 2022, and the programme is Hannah Kendall's The Spark Catchers, Dvorak's American Suite and Schumann's Symphony No. 2. 

Bristol Beacon first opened in 1867 as Colston Hall, the organisation announced its new name in 2020 and is currently mid-way through a major multi-million-pound transformation of its performance spaces, due to reopen in 2023.

Care Homes wishing to access the stream should email hello@bristolbeacon.org for information. Further information about the concert from the Bristol Beacon website.

Always playing: London Symphony Orchestra's digital programme

In the wake of the closure of the Barbican until 1 May, its regular London concert venue, the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) has announced that it is launching a programme of on-line concerts, interviews and other material on-line.

From Sunday 22 March, the orchestra will live stream concerts from their archives on Sundays at 7pm and on Thursdays at 7.30pm, to coincide with their regular Barbican concert times. There will also be other additional content.

Full details from the LSO's website:

http://www.lso.co.uk/alwaysplaying

LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme 2020

Colin Matthews with composers from a previous
LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) has announced the six composers who will take part in the 2020 Panufnik Composers Scheme, Stef Conner, Christian Drew, Patrick John Jones, Emma-Kate Matthews, Chris McCormack, and Alex Paxton.

The six will be guided by composer Colin Matthews with support from Christian Mason and LSO musicians, enabling the composers to experiment over time and develop their orchestral writing skills. Things culminate in a public workshop at LSO St Luke’s on 26 March 2020 where each of the composers' three-minute pieces are workshopped by the LSO conducted by principal guest conductor François-Xavier Roth. Following this, two of the composers will receive a commission from the LSO which will be premiered during the orchestra’s London season of concerts at the Barbican.

In addition to the Panufnik Composers Scheme, the LSO runs LSO Soundhub and LSO Jerwood Composer+ which provide mentoring and support not only in artistic and musical development, but also in the crucial practical skills required by composers as their careers progress.

Panufnik alumni commissioned for 2019/20 season were Emily Howard, Sophya Polevaya and James Hoyle, whose piece Thymiaterion receives its world premiere in a concert on 27 February 2020, conducted by Elim Chan; Panufnik alumna Elizabeth Ogonek’s All These Lighted Things (three little dances for orchestra) will also feature in this concert. Daniel Kidane, alumnus of Panufnik, Soundhub and Jerwood+ schemes, was commissioned for the first night of the BBC Proms 2019.

Coruscating: Leila Josefowicz in Colin Matthews with Simon Rattle & the LSO in an all-British opening concert including Emily Howard & William Walton

Colin Matthews: Violin Concerto - Leila Josefowicz, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle
Barbican Centre (Photo Mark Allan)

Emily Howard, Colin Matthews, William Walton; Leila Josefowicz, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle; Barbican Centre
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 14 September 2019 Star rating: 4.5 (★★★★½)
Rattle and the LSO open the new season with an all-British programme, including a premiere, a further outing for Colin Matthew's fine violin concerto and Walton in prime form

It seems to be becoming a tradition that Sir Simon Rattle opens the London Symphony Orchestra's season with a concert of British music. On Saturday 14 September 2019, at the Barbican, Rattle and the LSO launched the 2019/20 season with the world premiere of Emily Howard's Antisphere (commissioned by the Barbican), Colin Matthew's Violin Concerto with soloist Leila Josefowicz and William Walton's Symphony No. 1. The evening was a significant anniversary, celebrating 20 years since the founding of LSO Live, the orchestra's highly successful own label.

An anti-spheres is a theoretical concept, the opposite of a sphere, where the surface everywhere curves away from the centre. A concept which brings ideas of infinity, shrinkage, distortion (think of an image projected onto the surface), and being of a scientific turn of mind, Emily Howard has found inspiration in these concepts for her new piece.

Written for large orchestra including triple woodwind, a very large body of strings and five percussion, it opened with a series of gestures dominated by the brass with noise of lots of bangy-things in the percussion.

Barbican Classical Music season 2018-17

Ethel Smyth

The Barbican's classical music programme for the 2018-19 season has just been announced. The season is a partnership between the Barbican, its resident and associate ensembles - the London Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, the Academy of Ancient Music and the BBC Symphony Orchestra - and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. For me, one of the big highlights must be the performance of Ethel Smyth's Mass in D with the BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conductor Sakari Oramo in a concert which celebrates both the chorus's 90th birthday and the 100 years since the successful Parliamentary appeal for universal suffrage, with soloists Lucy Crowe, Catriona Morison, Ben Johnson and Duncan Rock. And the concert is completed by the original version of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Pavel Kolesnikov.

Another commemoration during the season is the end of World War One. The London Symphony Orchestra will premiere James MacMillan's All the Hills and Vales along which sets poetry by Charles Sorley who was killed in action in 1915. The Britten Sinfonia will be giving the premiere of Nico Muhly's The Last Letter which sets last letters sent by soldiers on both sides of the conflict. And there will be a BBC Total Immersion Day on music arising out of the First World War including a performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera The Silver Tassie with Ryan Wigglesworth conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Ashley Riches as Harry, and the BBC Singers under their new chief conductor Sofi Jeanin will be performing two new works inspired by the event, from Roderick Williams and from Bob Chilcott.

Other operas in the season include Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen in a semi-staged performance directed by Peter Sellars with Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and soloists Lucy Crowe, Gerard Finley, Willard White, Sophie Burgos and Peter Hoare. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas forms the conclusion of the Academy of Ancient Music's trilogy of Purcell stagings, and Christine Rice will be taking the title role, and Richard Egarr will also be including Purcell's music for Dioclesian in the concert. At the end of the season the Academy of Ancient Music returns to opera, in collaboration with the Grange Festival when they present Mozart' The Marriage of Figaro

As part of the continuing Bernstein Centenary celebrations, Marin Alsop conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert performance of Candide with Leonardo Capalbo, Jane Archibald, Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Allen. Contemporary Irish opera also makes an appearance with the UK premiere of Enda Walsh and Donnacha Dennehy's The Second Violinist produced by Landmark Productions and National Irish Opera. The Britten Sinfonia is conducted by Mark Elder in Donizetti's Il Paria with Albina Shagimuratova, the latest in Opera Rara's projects.

Joyce DiDonato takes the title role in Handel's Agrippina with Il Pomo d'Oro, and the group will present Handel's Serse with Franco Fagioli and Vivica Genaux, Handel's Semele from Harry Bicket and the English Concert, Handel's Brockes Passion from the Academy of Ancient Music, the BBC Singers will join the Academy of Ancient Music for Handel's Israel in Egypt, Thomas Ades completes his Beethoven cycle with the Britten Sinfonia with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9,

Other new music includes the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's Fanfare as part of the London Symphony Orchestra's opening concert of the season, and another new work from Birtwistle to be premiered by the LSO in May 2019, the LSO will also be premiering pieces by two composers from the orchestra's new music development programme, Liam Mattison and Donghoon Shin. The BBC Symphony Orchestra will be premiering new pieces by Richard Causton, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gavin Higgins and Pawel Szymanski, plus giving the UK premieres of a number of pieces by Thomas Larcher. Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani will be giving the premiere of Sunleif Rasmussen's Quadroforone, and the UK premiere of a new piece by Anahita Abbasi. Olga Neuwirth's new score for the 1924 film Die Stadt ohne Juden, directed by H K Breslauer, will receive its UK premiere at a screening of the restored silent film. Roderick Williams is the Milton Court Artist-in-Residence and he will be giving the premiere of a new song cycle by Ryan Wigglesworth, and there will the UK premiere of a work by Williams.

Another mini-residency is that of Diana Damrau who will be singing Richard Strauss in three concerts, including a recital with Helmut Deutsch, the Four Last Songs and the final scene from Capriccio. Other gleanings include Nigel Kennedy joining the Academy of Ancient Music to play Bach, an intriguing pairing indeed, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Bach's Mass in B minor conducted by John Butt, Bernard Haitink celebrating his 90th birthday with Dvorak and Mahler with the LSO,

Visiting ensembles to the Barbican include Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, who are Barbican International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court, Adam Fischer and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Accademie Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (in Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in the same concert), Maxim Emelyanychev and Il Pomo d'Oro (in Handel's Serse and Agrippina), Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Ghent, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants (in Bach's St John Passion), and Herve Nique and Le Concert Spirituel.

Full details from the Barbican website.

Rattle conducts Berlioz' La damnation de Faust

Sir Simon Rattle & the London Symphony Orchestra
(Photo Tristram Kenton)

Berlioz La damnation de Faust; Bryan Hymel, Karen Cargill, Christopher Purves, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle; Barbican Hall
Reviewed by Anthony Evans on Sep 17 2017 Star rating: 4.0
A beautiful ride to Hell, although at times I wanted to feel the words a little more keenly and have my roller-coaster ride a bit rougher

The fable of selling one’s soul to the devil for a dream is a tale as old as time. Our perpetual fascination with tales of Faust, in particular, have cemented him into our storytelling culture. Goethe’s tragedy alone has inspired more composers than you can shake a stick at. Sir Simon Rattle chose Berlioz's La damnation de Faust as part of his opening season of concerts at music director of the London Symphony Orchestra. On Sunday 17 September at the Barbican, Rattle conducted the LSO, London Symphony Chorus, Tiffin Boys’ Choir, Tiffin Girls’ Choir, Tiffin Children’s Chorus and soloists Bryan Hymel (Faust), Karen Cargill (Marguerite), Christopher Purves (Mephistopheles) and Gabor Bretz (Brander)

Berlioz’s concert opera or dramatic legend, as Beecham pointed out, “has a bunch of the loveliest tunes in existence”. It’s a flamboyant and powerfully evocative work full of humour, beauty and violence. It’s a rollercoaster ride from the immensity of nature through to the pandemonium of damnation. Rattle and the LSO along with a precisely drilled chorus painted a nuanced and startling vivid portrait of an inexorable journey to perdition.

I confess to a somewhat factious relationship with Berlioz’s Faust. As with my emotional response to Proust, I recognise the beauty but the protagonists’ intellectual hubris and poetic ennui can all too easily make my teeth itch. For me personally it’s success as a whole depends on the vocal interpretations. The vocal writing is not just bel canto – expression and meaning need to come first.

Christopher Purves (Mephistopheles), standing in for an indisposed Gerald Finley, was charming, cynical and mockingly unctuous. If I missed anything it would be a certain orotund authority. Karen Cargill’s Marguerite was the very picture of naivety. Her ballad of faithfulness and “D’amour l’ardente flamme” were achingly poignant – Marguerite was a sitting duck. The American tenor Bryan Hymel was steely voiced, heroic of tone with a beautiful legato so much so I could quite happily have slapped him around the face with a wet kipper. His Faust gets what’s coming to him and his demise “c’est bien”. Caveat emptor. A beautiful ride to Hell then, although at times I wanted to feel the words a little more keenly and have my rollercoaster ride a bit rougher.

Reviewed by Anthony Evans

Elsewhere on this blog:

• Debut recital: Subito! from Julia Hwang - CD review
• The first Englishwoman to sing Brunnhilde at Bayreuth: Our interview with Catherine Foster - interview
• Late flowering: John Joubert's Missa Wellensis and St Mark Passion from Wells - CD review
• Ancient and modern: New music for choir and ancient instruments from the choir of Gonville and Caius College - CD review
• Mozartian influences: Salieri's La scuola de' gelosi from Bampton Classical Opera - opera review
• The Art of Dancing: New concertante works for trumpet, piano and strings - CD review
• From curiosity to charm: A portrait of Felicien David - CD review
• Double vision: Two views of Sondheim's Follies at the National Theatre - theatre review
• Last of the romantics: Sholto Kynoch introduces the 2017 Oxford Lieder Festival - interview
• Bold romanticism: Howard Blake's Piano Concerto and Diversions for cello and orchestra - concert review
• Palestrina and Poulenc: The Sixteen's Choral Pilgrimage - Concert review
• Delight and imagination: Buxtehude trio sonatas from Arcangelo - CD review
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Large-scale beauties: Schoenberg's Gurrelieder at the BBC Proms

Schoenberg's Gurrelieder in rehearsal at the BBC Proms (photo courtesy of London Symphony Chorus)

Schoenberg Gurrelieder; Simon O'Neill, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Karen Cargill, Thomas Quasthoff, London Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Aug 19 2017
Star rating: 4.0
Schoenberg's outrageous masterpiece in a performance which brought out the beauties of the work's orchestration

With its gargantuan forces and rather outrageous sense of heightened Romanticism, Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder seems an ideal work for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. On Saturday 19 August 2017, Sir Simon Rattle brought the London Symphony Orchestra (whose artistic director he becomes next month) to the Proms to perform Schoenberg's late-Romantic masterpiece (a work that the orchestra would be unlikely to be able to perform in the confines of their regular home, the Barbican Hall). Rattle and the LSO were joined by three choirs, the London Symphony Chorus, the CBSO Chorus and Orfeo Catala (all three have Simon Halsey as director/chorus director/principal conductor) and soloists Simon O'Neill (Waldemar), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Tove), Karen Cargill (Wood-Dove), Peter Hoare (Klaus the Fool), Christopher Purves (Peasant) and Thomas Quasthoff (Speaker).

Schoenberg started the work in 1900, intending a song-cycle setting Jens Peter Jacobsen's verse sequence Gurresange in the recently published German translation. The work still has the feel of a song cycle, albeit in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde mode, even though Schoenberg decided to vastly expand the work and set the whole verse sequence (as well as adding an extra Jacobsen poem for the final section). Between 1900 and 1901 he drafted it all in short score, but it was not until 1910 that he completed the orchestration of the final part, and the work did not get its premiere until 1913. By the time he came to complete the orchestration, Schoenberg's style had changed radically, and the final section has a very different feel with greater fleetness and a far sparer use of the orchestra. These changes, owing to the work's long gestation, are akin to what happened to Stravinsky with Les Noces, which was conceived for large-scale Rite of Spring forces, but eventually orchestrated with a far smaller ensemble.

Not only does Schoenberg use large forces, but he is almost determinedly cavalier in their deployment. The women of the huge chorus only sing in the final number (the men's chorus has two numbers on their own), whilst many of the soloists have a single number (albeit a meaty one).

Though Rattle drew large scale sounds from his forces where necessary, with a resounding climax and some thrilling moments on the way, he was also determined to bring out the beauties of Schoenberg's orchestral writing, often paring the sound right down. It was beauty, transparency and elegance of the orchestral playing which really impressed. Given his huge orchestra, Schoenberg showed his mastery in the way he used the forces flexibly, and Rattle and his players brought this out.

Beauty without the drama? Kaufmann sings Wagner at the Barbican

Jonas Kaufmann - © Julian Hargreaves / Sony Classical

Richard Wagner Tristan und Isolde prelude, Wesendonck Lieder, Die Walkure Act One; Jonas Kaufmann, Karita Mattila, Eric Halfvarson, London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano; Barbican Hall
Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Feb 08 2017
Star rating: 4.0
Kaufmann provided some of the most beautiful Wagner singing I have heard in a long time, but the music-drama failed to catch fire

The second of Jonas Kaufmann's concerts as part of his Barbican Residency, was a much-anticipated evening of Wagner. Accompanied by Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall on Wednesday 8 February 2017, Kaufmann sang Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder and was then joined by Karita Mattila and Eric Halfvarson for Act One of Wagner's Die Walkure.

The evening started with a performance of the prelude to Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Emerging from a thread of sound, Pappano drew a slowly unfolding line from the orchestra. Luxurious in terms of orchestra numbers, Pappano seemed to revel in this and used a very leisurely tempo indeed.

There is no reason why a man should not sing the Wesendonck Lieder, the texts do not really identify the singer. But it should be born in mind that Wagner wrote the songs with piano accompaniment and that the versions we know were orchestrated by Felix Mottl, under the express assumption that the singer would be a soprano with a voice capable of soaring over the orchestra. Kaufmann's voice baritone-tinged voice did not soar and there were moments when, lower in the register, the results were muddy and you could not help wishing someone had created a new orchestration specially.

Der Engel opened with Kaufmann singing intensely and quietly. His attention to the words and the detail of phrasing was miraculous, but the balance certainly favoured the orchestra. This was true of almost all the songs, Kaufmann stuck almost rigidly to his quietly intense, shaped line and allowed the orchestra to wash over him. Only in Schmerzen did we get something more demonstrative. Throughout the songs his control was superb and he sang daringly quietly, creating a sort of magic. Though I have to confess that I found his performance a little too undemonstrative, and that combined with the orchestral balance meant that the songs did not register as well as they should.

Visceral Verdi: Noseda conducts the Requiem with the LSO

London Symphony Orchestra

Verdi Requiem; Erika Grimaldi, Daniela Barcellona, Francesco Meli, Michele Pertusi, London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda; Barbican Hall
Reviewed by Ruth Hansford on Sep 20 2016
Star rating: 4.5
Quite a season opener, Gianandrea Noseda's first concert as the LSO's principal guest conductor

Giandrea Noseda

The wise programmers at the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) gave the public two chances to hear the opening concert of the 2016/17 season. The first had been live-streamed and this was the second, two days later (Tuesday 20 September 2016) at the Barbican Hall; Gianandrea Noseda conducting the Verdi Requiem with the LSO and London Symphony Chorus, Erika Grimaldi, Daniela Barcellona, Francesco Meli and Michele Pertusi. We were marking Gianandrea Noseda’s first London appearance as Principal Guest Conductor as well as the 50th anniversary celebrations of the London Symphony Chorus. I think we can safely say it was bound to be An Event.

And so it was. We knew we were going to be in for big sounds, too. The number of acoustic screens on stage was noticeable, and when the four soloists came on and stood upstage right, in front of the timpani and percussion (with acoustic screens behind them), it was clear it wasn’t going to be all about the soloists, as is often the case with the Verdi Requiem.

Tilting at the wrong windmills? Simon Rattle announced for the LSO

Sir Simon Rattle rehearsing with the Young Orchestra for London
in the Barbican Hall as part of
the Berliner Philharmoniker London Residency,
~12 February 2015. Credit Mark Allen Barbican

So it has finally been announced, Simon Rattle is going to be the next musical director (and principal conductor) of the London Symphony Orchestra, taking over from Valery Gergiev in September 2017. That's a long time to wait, but these things are arranged a long time ahead in the classical music industry. After the white-knuckle ride of the musical directorship of the brilliant but over-committed Gergiev, it will be good to get back to Rattle's combination of flair with steady musicianship. 

A more worrying development, though, is the sabre rattling that has gone on about the prospect of a yet another new concert hall in London. At least, I hope that it is all hot air and that Chancellor George Osborne's feasibility study is just the delaying and obfuscating tactic that it would seem to be. Certainly it would be completely venal of any government to run down essential spending on the Arts and Arts Education and then waste millions on a concert hall when Central London has two large ones and three smaller ones already.

Discovery and more at LSO St Lukes

LSO Community
Gamelan Group

There is an LSO Choral Singing Day at LSO St Luke's on 7 February with a chance to sing Durufle's Requiem under Simon Halsey. some sight-singing ability is required but it is a chance to experience this wonderful work from the inside whether you sing regularly or haven't sung for years. Donald Runnicles conducts the LSO in Durufle's Requiem at the Barbican Hall on 1 March 2015.

BBC Radio 3 is presenting a series of lunchtime concerts at LSO St Luke's featuring cellist Natalie Clein and friends, including Anthony Marwood (violin) and Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord) with music ranging from Bach to Kurtag (5, 12, 19, 26 February 2015).

The LSO Discovery concerts at lunchtime at LSO St Luke's present a chance to get close to individual instruments. On 30 January it is principal bassoon Daniel Jemison and on
13 February it is the turn of the trombone, with 18 year-old Peter Moore co-principal trombone.  Other lunchtime concerts in the series include the LSO String Ensemble (27 February), Guildhall Percussion Ensemble (13 March), Storytelling for under 5's (20 March). There are also opportunities to discover Jean Sibelius with a whole day event on 15 March including a listening to a morning rehearsal with Michael Tilson Thomas.

The LSO Community Choir, conductor David Lawrence, presents French Connections, a programme of Durufle, Faure and Saint-Saens on 13 March. The LSO Community Gamelan Group joins gamelan group Lila Cita and Lila Bhawa dance company for an evening of Balinese Gamelan on 20 March.

Magnificent Extravagance - Gergiev and LSO in Scriabin

Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra continued their exploration of Scriabin's music at the Barbican last night with a concert with put Scriabin's Symphony No. 3 in C minor, The Divine Poem alongside Messiaen's early Les offrandes oubliees and Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor Op. 21 played by the young Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov.

Messiaen's Les offrandes oubliees - meditations symphonique was written in 1930, the year Messiaen left the Paris Conservatoire but already his distinctive compositional voice is very clear. The work is designed as a meditation of Christ's sacrifice and work's three movements originally had titles linking them clearly to this theme. Written for a large orchestra, the LSO had over 50 strings on stage with triple woodwind, the sound world of the piece is clearly Messiaen, though some of the complexities of his later writing are not yet present. The opening movement was a long sinuous plainchant melody over held chords, the textures were completely magical but only occasionally did the sound recall mature Messiean. The middle section was an ecstatic dance, leading to a quietly intense closing movement. Here Gergiev and the LSO showed stunning control in the movement. It concluded with a long passage for divisi violins and violas which was expressive yet quiet; quite astonishing.

Autumn at LSO St Luke's

Autumn at LSO St Lukes features a series of BBC Lunchtime Concerts of Mozart's chamber music with the Aronowitz Ensemble, London Winds, Lendvai String Strio, Chiaroscuro Quartet, Vilde Frang and Michall Lifts, the Eben String Quartet. There are also discovery days on Shostkovich and Berlioz. Joanna MacGregor, Graphic Scores, and the Aurora Orchestra all push the boundaries with their concerts.

There is an LSO discovery day on Shostakovich which includes access to an LSO rehearsal in the afternoon with Gianandrea Noseda, musicologists Michelle Assay and David Fanning will talk about Shostakovich's work with reference to his Sixth Symphony and there will be a performance of one of his quartets by players from the LSO (29/9). And a discovery day on Berlioz, which follows a similar format (3/11)

LSO's 2013/14 season

The London Symphony Orchestra's 2013/14 season is full of good things. There's Gergiev in Berlioz (lots of it), Gergiev in Scriabin, a concert performance of Rigoletto, a new Peter Maxwell Davies symphony, Der Rosenkavalier and Harrison Birtwistle's Earth Dances to name but a few.

The LSO's chief conductor has a six concert Berlioz festival conducting the Symphonie fantastique and Les nuits d'ete with Karen Cargill (31/10 & 14/11), The Death of Cleopatre with Cargill and Harold in Italy with Antoine Tamestit (1/11 & 12/11), The Damnation of Faust with Olga Borodina, Michael Spyres and Ildar Abdrazakov (3/11, 7/11) and Romeo and Juliet with Borodina, Kenneth Tarver and Ildar Abdrazakov (6/11 & 13/11). The rather curious mixture of English and French for the titles is taken directly from the LSO season book, clearly there are some titles no-one dares do in English any more (Fantastic Symphony any one, Summer Nights?)