Prom 31 Anne-Sophie Mutter, Daniel Barenboim, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Royal Albert Hall With violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and conductor Daniel Barenboim on stage, Prom 31 boasted two of t...Read More
Michael Church – International Piano live roundup May 2024 Queen Elizabeth Hall: Marc-André Hamelin Feb 23 Wigmore Hall: Andras Schiff March 3; Steven Osborne March 12; Pavel Kolesnikov and...Read More
Alexander Gadjiev, Purcell Room We’ve seen some blistering pianistic action in the Queen Elizabeth Hall over the past few weeks, but the place where lightning really struck was the humble little Pur...Read More
Paul Lewis, Royal Festival Hall, London The British pianist Paul Lewis doesn’t have a wide repertoire, but he focuses on his chosen composers with white-hot intensity. For a while this meant wall-to...Read More
Liza Ferschtman/Roman Rabinovich, Wigmore Hall, 30.12.17 Roman Rabinovich – credit Balazs Borocz When a work is described as ‘uncommonly difficult for all concerned’, as Gerald Larner...Read More
Yuja Wang, Royal Festival Hall The elfin Yuja Wang has now reached thirty, so must be judged by grown-up standards. A shame that she ducked out of the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata originally billed for ...Read More
Out, brief candle! As life nears its end, thoughts can acquire urgent clarity. This truth may not be particularly perceptible in literature, because novelists find endless ways of disguising it. But i...Read More
Should we know the story behind the creation of a piece of music, or should we let it speak for itself? The British cellist Steven Isserlis poses this question in the liner note to a CD he has just re...Read More