Berlin Phil Anoints Kirill Petrenko The world-famous Berliner Philharmoniker and its newly anointed Chefdirigent Kirill Petrenko gave a symbolic free concert on Saturday night that embraced the thousands gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The second concert in a series of five that takes the orchestra and its new commander to Salzburg, Lucerne, and
A new era: Kirill Petrenko’s new energy proves irresistible at the Philharmonie So, finally it came to pass. Four years after his – for many – surprise announcement as Simon Rattle’s replacement as the chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko stepped out onto the podium at the Philharmonie to direct as his first
As Domingo returns, a mezzo calls on nameless accusers to come forward The Austrian mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman has been in the forefront of several campaigns to protect opera singers from abuse and improve their working conditions. On the day that Placido Domingo returns to the Salzburg Festival in Luisa Miller, Elisabeth discusses his case with
The Petrenko era launched with a burst of joy in Berlin This weekend, Kirill Petrenko appeared on the podium of the Berliner Philharmoniker for the first time as their chief conductor. A long-awaited event, which exceeded all expectations with hoisted colours. Elected by the orchestra in 2015, Petrenko’s full-on start in Berlin had to wait
Madama Butterfly – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Junho 2019 (text in English below) Todas as óperas ficam amputadas quando são apresentadas em versão concerto mas, em alguns casos, a falta de encenação é dramática, como o é na Madama Butterfly. A Fundação Gulbenkian ofereceu-nos a oportunidade de desfrutarmos da magnífica música de G. Puccini. Apesar
Kulman/Skelton/BBC SO/Oramo – Mozart, Larcher, and Mahler, 22 February 2019 Barbican Hall Mozart: Symphony no.35 in D major, KV 385, ‘Haffner’ Thomas Larcher: Nocturne – Insomnia Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde Elisabeth Kulman (mezzo-soprano) Stuart Skelton (tenor) BBC Symphony Orchestra Sakari Oramo (conductor) A strange concert, this, in which the Barbican Hall proved Mahler’s
Qualities absent from Sakari Oramo’s Beethoven and Brahms sprang to the fore in his performance of Mozart’s Haffner Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Here was curiosity, suspense and transparency, bright flecks and oxygenated flurries of sound from the strings, with the kettledrums leading the charge and the bassoons in hot pursuit. Mozart’s Haffner Symphony
Oramo and the BBCSO offer three Austrians from three centuries Three works from three Austrians; Thomas Larcher from this century, Gustav Mahler from the last, and to begin, a certain son of Salzburg from the 18th century. Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony has particularly stirring outer movements, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra played with plenty of fire
Kulman, Skelton, BBCSO, Oramo, Barbican review – romantic sign-offs Beauty first and last in Mahler’s long goodbye Time was when the BBC Symphony Orchestra played austerely wholesome programmes of modern and romantic classics to third-full houses. Now on a more varied diet – such as the collaboration with Neil Gaiman and Alwyn’s Miss Julie in
Sakari Oramo conducts BBC Symphony Orchestra in Haffner Symphony, Nocturne – Insomnia, and, with Elisabeth Kulman & Stuart Skelton, Das Lied von der Erde Mozart and Mahler with Thomas Larcher as go-between – the course of this BBCSO programme ran smooth and true. And from the opening bars of Mozart’s gloriously confident ‘Haffner’ Symphony, you