Category: Review
-
Review – Songs of Love and War with Academy of Ancient Music
A searching performance of Monteverdi’s Eighth Book revealed the volatile contrast between externalised war and internally suspended love, culminating in a Lament whose harmonic inevitability restored dramatic pressure.
-
From authority to visibility: the new Official Classical Chart
Charts don’t so much lead taste as reflect visibility. The new Official Classical Chart makes that shift explicit and further underlines the ongoing rebrand of classical in the UK.
-
Review – Eurovision Classical Concerts
A selective tour of Europe’s radio orchestras — persuasive in parts, over-engineered in others
-
Review – Britten Sinfonia and Stevens & Pound at Milton Court
Britten Sinfonia at Milton Court: inventive collaboration, strong musicianship, and a Holst reworking where ideas occasionally outran focus.
-
Review – Phibbs Cello Concerto premiered by Guy Johnston
Joseph Phibbs’ new Cello Concerto is a study in compositional pragmatism: a concerto likely to travel well.
-
Review – Brahms’ German Requiem directed by David Bobée with insula orchestra
A politically charged, visually driven interpretation that reframes Brahms’ work through contemporary catastrophe, faith, and collective responsibility.
-
Inside Classical (BBC Four) and Nicola Benedetti & Friends (Sky arts)
A close look at two classical music broadcasts this Christmas — from the BBC and Sky Arts — examining audience behaviour, broadcast risk, and why linear TV is often misunderstood.
-
Film Review – Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along starring Daniel Radcliffe
Radcliffe is a revelation, embodying a televised breakdown with precision — clipped gestures, barely-contained rage, and a vulnerability the camera doesn’t soften. Friedman’s close-cropped direction turns the musical’s reverse-chronology into something unexpectedly lucid, restoring the emotional edge Hollywood so often sands away.
-
REVIEW – Isla Ratcliffe’s Scottish four seasons
Isla Ratcliff’s Scottish Four Seasons reimagines Vivaldi through Scottish landscape and tradition.
-
Ulster orchestra’s new chief conductor announced
Ulster Orchestra names Anna Handler as Chief Conductor. A strategic appointment — and a moment for the orchestra to assert its identity more boldly.