Tag Archives: Beethoven

Polished Glass: a persuasive Ninth from the Bruckner Orchester Linz

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

Bruckner Orchester Linz/Russell Davies *** Cadogan Hall, 22nd April 2016 It’s easy to knock Philip Glass’ symphonies. Chugging rhythms, rippling arpeggios, a sense of bombast, numbing repetition – his compositional fingerprints are easy to decipher. Yet I find them pleasing, … Continue reading →

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Dancing bear, tame beasts: Insula Orchestra tackles Beethoven

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Mark Pullinger

Beethoven: Angelich; Insula/Equilbey *** Philharmonie, Paris, 8th February 2016 Orpheus taming the wild beasts: for years, this description of the slow movement in Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto was attributed to Franz Liszt. The strings growl angrily, the solo piano (Orpheus … Continue reading →

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Exuberant playing as the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Beethoven cycle begins

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Beethoven: Berliner Philharmoniker/Rattle **** Philharmonie, Berlin, 3rd October 2015 After the slow, mysterious B flat minor introduction to Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, as if running fingers along castle walls in darkness to grope your way, the moment the Berliner Philharmoniker hit … Continue reading →

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Just So: Haitink’s heavenly Mahler 4 with Anna Lucia Richter and the LSO

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Beethoven/Mahler: LSO/Haitink **** Barbican Hall, 20th September 2015 “Every conductor, including myself, has a sell-by date,” stated Bernard Haitink, on turning down the position of Music Director at the Chicago Symphony in 2006. Don’t believe a word of it. Last … Continue reading →

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Prom 44: Barenboim as Bottom? A dream of an evening with the West-Eastern Divan

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Mark Pullinger

Schoenberg/Beethoven/Tchaikovsky: West-Eastern Divan/Barenboim ***** Royal Albert Hall, 18th August 2015 “Let me play the lion too.” I hadn’t associated Daniel Barenboim with Nick Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream before, but during Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, with the maestro urgently directing … Continue reading →

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