AND MUSIC TO YOUR EARS…
You tell us what you’ve been enjoying on disc and in the concert hall
Leighton Jones Dundonald, N Ireland
The Ulster Orchestra recently gave its annual short summer series of concerts, recorded for Radio 3, with a focus this year on tone poems. As well as perennial favourites such as Dvoπák’s rousing Carnival Overture and Smetana’s lyrical Vltava, rarities included a beautiful performance by Leon Mccawley of Ireland’s Piano Concerto, with its echoes of Ravel, and Tasmin Little’s astounding performance of Syzmanowski’s demanding Second Violin Concerto.
Stephen Llewellyn Ipswich, Suffolk
I am not usually a fan of semi-staged opera performances, feeling that they are neither fish nor fowl. Opera North’s production of Britten’s Billy Budd at Snape Maltings, however, was of a different order
– red meat from beginning to end! A dream cast, including tenor Alan Oke, baritone Roderick Williams and Brindley Sherratt as de Vere, Budd and Claggart respectively, combined with the orchestra and chorus in top form and the Maltings’ acoustical brilliance shivering the staunchest of timbers. Not just a performance, this production was a musical event!
Dorothy Smith Pennsylvania, US
In 1995, I attended the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and soon became an enthusiastic supporter of Rem Urasin. He was only 19 at the time but impressed me as a mature artist – a transformation made only more striking by his (I thought) amazing resemblance to Chopin! Ultimately, he was placed fourth in a list of winners that was famously lacking a first prize. Now, his recording of the mazurkas from Brilliant’s complete Chopin edition has refreshed my memory of just why his playing delighted me so much.
Victoria Longdon London
Voces 8 bade a fond farewell to soprano Emily Dickens, who leaves the group after eight years, in a packed out concert in London’s Gresham Centre in August. The group was on excellent form and their quick-witted and nimble ensemble shone through, particularly in their performance of Byrd’s madrigalian five-part motet, Laudibus in Sanctis.
In true Voces8 style, the programme finished with the roof-raising jazz number ‘Sway’ and a moving rendition of Emily’s favourite, ‘Dancing Queen’. New soprano Eleonore Cockerham also gave her first public performance with the group. Tell us what concerts or recordings you’ve been enjoying by emailing us at musictomyears@classical-music.com