Emerson String Quartet

The New York-based Emerson Quartet are doing a series of concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, centred around the chamber works of Brahms.
I attended the first concert of the series yesterday evening.
Beethoven String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18 No. 4
Brahms String Quartet in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1
Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, [...]

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How music works

This is a fascinating series of documentaries on Channel 4, with Howard Goodall  as presenter.
He explains the building blocks of music in a very down-to-earth, easy-to-understand manner.
Hope you like it. There’s more to come in the next few days. 

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City of London Sinfonia – a review

The City of London Sinfonia Orchestra  is resident at the Wycombe Swan, which is a blessing for music lovers in Buckinghamshire.
This concert featured the wind section (and brass if you count the contributions from the horns, and the basso continuo line in some of the works needed a violoncello & double bass) of the orchestra.
The [...]

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Sir Willard White

A tribute to Paul Robeson
 The concert venue was  the Queen’s Hall (The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe) on 7th February 2008.
 I had known of Robeson’s singing career, but only recently begun to learn of his role as a civil rights campaigner, which meant just as much to him. To have his life celebrated by no less [...]

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Sleeping Beauty (Moscow City Ballet) : a review

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Barenboim at the RFH – a review

Daniel Barenboim’s Beethoven Piano Sonata Cycle at the Royal Festival Hall is currently the talk of the musical world, and certainly the hot ticket of the season. So when I found a single seat still available in the back row, on 6 February, I thanked my stars and grabbed it.
Sonata no. 5 in  C minor, [...]

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Perlman at the Barbican

Itzhak Perlman, violin
Bruno Canino, piano
Schubert: Rondo brilliant in B minor
Beethoven: ‘Spring’ Sonata
Richard Strauss: Sonata in E flat major
Encore pieces (at least 5 or 6 of them)
We were privileged to hear Itzhak Perlman play yesterday.
The Schubert was exquisitely played. I have heard it played before, but Perlman made it his own. It always amazes me to [...]

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Joshua Bell in Reading – a review

I attended Joshua Bell’s concert in Reading, at the Hexagon, on 17th April. He was soloist as well as concertmaster/conductor of the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields. It was an all-Beethoven concert.
They began with the Coriolan overture. Right from the impassioned up-bow from the upper strings at the start, we knew this was going to [...]

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