Tag Archives: London Symphony Orchestra

Pappano and the LSO bring the Italians out of the opera pit

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Mark Pullinger

Pappano/ London Symphony Orchestra Barbican, 3rd March 2019 Verdi, Puccini and Ponchielli don’t exactly get out of the pit much, Italian composers famed almost exclusively for their operatic output. Sir Antonio Pappano doesn’t get out of the pit much either, … Continue reading →

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From sunrise to dreamy afternoons: orchestral sorcery from François-Xavier Roth and the LSO

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Mark Pullinger

François-Xavier Roth/ LSO **** Barbican Hall, 14th November 2018 The biennial Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition is just a week away. Winners have the opportunity to become assistant conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra for up to a year. Former winner François-Xavier Roth shadowed the … Continue reading →

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Infernal Liszt: Alice Sara Ott, Antonio Pappano and a Faustian pact

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Mark Pullinger

Liszt: LSO/ Pappano **** Barbican, 26th November 2017 In all honesty, Goethe could have been referring to Liszt’s Faust Symphony which – at around seventy minutes – can feel like a very long work of art indeed. It formed the bloated climax … Continue reading →

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From lamentation to jubilation: Bernstein celebrated in style by Marin Alsop

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Mark Pullinger

Bernstein: LSO/Alsop **** Barbican, 8th November 2017 In the second half of the 20th century, no conductor did more to establish Mahler at the core of the symphonic repertoire than Leonard Bernstein. It was fitting, therefore, that Marin Alsop – Bernstein’s protégé in … Continue reading →

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On the edge of the precipice: Britten and Mahler from Janine Jansen, Semyon Bychkov and the LSO

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Mark Pullinger

LSO/ Semyon Bychkov **** Barbican Hall, 5th October 2017 It was another evening staring into the abyss courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra. A fortnight after Sir Simon Rattle drove his charges into hell in a thrilling Damnation of Faust, Semyon Bychkov presided over … Continue reading →

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