London’s Conway Hall as Concert Venue
It was, for me, hugely nostalgic to return after fifty years to the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square. The Hall, a redoubtable fortress – I was going to say spiritual home – in London of rationalism, humanism and atheism…
A Recital in York of Early Romantic Lieder
Lieder recitals appear to have become all the rage. Up in the North, we have Leeds Lieder, and other music organizations are getting in on the act. The RNCM has a Day of Song coming up, and yesterday it was…
Stravinsky and a New Piano Concerto with the Concertgebouw
You are in Amsterdam at a concert given by one of the world’s great orchestras. Its principal conductor, Mariss Jansons, has cancelled and has been replaced by a young Italian, Gustavo Gimeno, previously better known as the orchestra’s percussionist. The…
The Messiah in Harrogate
I refuse to hear the Messiah every year, because over-familiarity can spoil its impact. Also, during the Hallelujah Chorus I stubbornly remain seated because I find the tradition of standing to be silly. Nevertheless at the Harrogate Royal Hall performance,…
Jayson Gillham’s Recital at Ripon
Ripon Cathedral Concert Society has for a number of years provided some of the most exciting chamber music concerts in North Yorkshire. A year or so ago its future was, with declining audiences and diminishing resources, uncertain. However, a largely…
The Sacconi Quartet
There is something extraordinary about the Sacconi Quartet. I have heard them in York, Aysgarth, Ilkley, Ripon, Leeds; and now Huddersfield, in the concert of 8th April, broadcast on Radio 3. The story has always been the same. For the…