Tag Archives: BBC Philharmonic

Performed by: BBC Philharmonic, Leeds Festival Chorus, City of Glasgow Chorus, Cantabile Choir Composed by: Benjamin Britten Reviewed by: Rich Jevons Some 40 years on from its original commission, Benjamin Britten’s haunting, and at times harrowing, War Requeim still packs a powerful punch. Britten combines Wilfred Owen’s war poetry with the Latin Missa pro defunctis to great effect. As Simon Lindley ...

Conductor: Juanjo Mena Soloist (horn): Alberto Menendez Escribano Reviewer: Ron Simpson   The Orchestra of Opera North’s 2015-2016 Kirklees concert season came to an early finish with a solid programme of 19th Century Austro-German classics in the capable hands of the guest orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic. The Spring concert season has been curtailed because the next few months see the ...

Music: Smetana, Bartok, Dvorak Conductor: Juanjo Mena Violin soloist: Augustin Hadelich Reviewer: Rich Jevons In this all-Eastern European programme, we commence with the second of Czech composer Smetana’s symphonic poems from Ma Vlast, familiar in its heroic and lyrical celebration of his homeland and in particular, the river Vltava. It is a perfect piece to demonstrate the strength of the ...

Music: Mark Simpson, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Melanie Challenger Conductor: Juanjo Mena Reviewer: Jo Beggs Tonight is all about death, and our attempts to cheat it. Mozart, aged 35, was railing against it (and lost) even as he was composing his great Requiem in D minor, which opens tonight’s Manchester International Festival programme at the Bridgewater Hall. Whether or not ...

Conductor: Simon Wright Piano: Peter Donohoe Baritone: David Wilson-Johnson Reviewer: David Gann As the ‘finale’ concert to the wonderful Leeds International Orchestral Season, there is a sense of celebration and flourish. As the conductor and the eminent Peter Donohoe, after a sumptuous performance of Ravel’s Piano Concerto, sit down together to play the original piano duet version of Ravel’s Ma ...

Conductor: David Hill Soprano: Sarah Tynan Tenor: Daniel Norman Baritone: William Dazeley Reviewer: David Gann Carl Orff, the composer of Carmina Burana, the centre piece of this concert, spent much of his working life teaching children. Fitting then, that this was a concert perfect for a young person’s first taste of orchestral and choral live music. What could be more ...

Music: Beethoven, Webern, Brahms Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier Reviewer: Ray Taylor [rating:4.5] Leeds Town Hall always provides such a wonderful setting for classical music concerts. It has crystal clear acoustics that enable the audience to hear and appreciate every note that is played. The audience at tonight’s concert were thrilled by the brilliance and virtuosity of both the orchestra and ...

Music: Schumann, Bruch &Rachmaninov Conductor: Simon Wright Reviewer: Sara Jackson [Rating:4] Leeds Town Hall is a charming venue for a lively celebration of music. Tonight Simon Wright conducts the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Schumann’s Nachtlied, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Rachmaninov’s Vespers and The Bells. The evening of Romantics begins with Schumann’s Nachtlied. It’s not his best-known work, but ...