During this long tedious winter I have been privileged to attend three excellent concerts, two in nearby Bristol and one in Liverpool. I am no music critic and therefore can\u2019t make an informed comparison of the performances, but derived much pleasure from each of them. The Philharmonia Orchestra makes an appearance in Bristol most seasons. This concert was conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, its Conductor Laureate – a musician for whom I have the greatest respect \u2013 his no-nonsense approach to the art of conducting very different from the celebrity style of some of his compatriots. He accompanied Steven Isserliss in Elgar\u2019s Cello Concerto, orchestra and soloist in complete accord; a quite beautiful performance, tender and passionate as befits this work of the composer\u2019s later years. Sadly because of not feeling well, I was unable to stay for the evening\u2019s main work \u2013 Tchaikovsky\u2019s Manfred Symphony \u2013 but enjoyed my recording (Naxos 8.570568) as consolation!<\/p>\n
It was Tchaikovsky again at Bristol\u2019s Colston Hall earlier this month, the Fifth Symphony played by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under the Ukrainian Kirill Karabits, now in his second year as their principal conductor. The collaboration is clearly working well. It was a full blooded and superbly rehearsed performance, the last movement a tour d\u2019force which brought the house down. Earlier they accompanied the Polish pianist Peter Jabionski in Scriabin\u2019s Piano Concerto, a work for which I have great affection but which I think is rarely played. It was well done, but I enjoyed the fabulous encore that followed \u2013 perhaps one of the composer\u2019s many brief preludes, almost as much. (I play my recording of the concerto often, Nikolai Demidenko is the pianist on the Hyperion label.)<\/p>\n
Liverpool\u2019s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has the advantage of being a local orchestra and performing in their own hall, which has an excellent acoustic. The Manfred disc mentioned above is one of their recent achievements, recorded in the same venue. It seems as if the orchestra can rely on an enthusiastic and loyal audience. It was an unusual programme \u2013 Hindemith, Bartok and Rachmaninoff, under the headline of \u2018Brave New World\u2019. (It also provided an excellent programme which is not true of Bristol, which has more advertisements than musical notes and no reference to future concerts!). The orchestra produce a wonderful sound and under their Russian conductor, Vasily Petrenko, can lay claim to performances of an international standard. It was a superb evening.<\/p>\n
B.R.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During this long tedious winter I have been privileged to attend three excellent concerts, two in nearby Bristol and one in Liverpool. I am no music critic and therefore can\u2019t make an informed comparison of the performances, but derived much pleasure from each of them. The Philharmonia Orchestra makes an appearance in Bristol most seasons. This concert was conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, its Conductor Laureate – a musician for whom I have the greatest respect \u2013 his no-nonsense approach to the art of conducting very different from the celebrity style of some of his compatriots. He accompanied Steven Isserliss in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\n