Music
More than a yard of tickets to the Proms!
The applause was surprisingly muted at the end of this evening’s concluding concert in Valery Gergiev’s series of Mahler Symphonies. Two calls plus a third, rather half-hearted. That probably signifies that I wasn’t the only listener at London’s Barbican Hall who felt tonight’s performances were good but not great.
Rossini’s opera Il barbiere di siviglia is one of those operas which gives opera its reputation. Unbelievable plot that I can never remember in detail, anachronistic yet hugely credible characters and in this production, camp production and costumes supporting fantastic singing and orchestra amid the lovely acoustic of the Royal Opera House. All contributing to nearly three hours of sophisticated escapism where music, stagecraft and lighting combine to make performance magic.
St Martin-in-the-Fields Church on Trafalgar Square, London was partially lit by candle light for this lively concert of Baroque music given by LMA Orchestra conducted by John Landor.
Read more: Vivaldi Four Seasons - LMA Orchestra, January 2011
A rousing performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique completed tonight's London Symphony Orchestra concert at the Barbican with François-Xavier Roth collaborating with the LSO from the podium in a very modern style of conducting, including wearing a grey suit (which showed his perspiration) rather than black tails; also, he didn't use a baton.
We went to the Barbican Hall in the city on New Year's Eve for a Viennese night with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra directed by John Georgiadi, so mainly Strauss.
