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Classical music treats in the run up to Christmas in Birmingham Dec 01 2011

Advent-tide is the time for an almost pitched battle between the ongoing concert season and the attractions of the Christmas period.Read

Review: The Fairy Queen, by English Touring Opera, at Malvern Festival Theatre Dec 01 2011

Review: The Fairy Queen, by English Touring Opera at Malvern Festival Theatre Read

Review: Hooray For Hollywood!, at Symphony Hall, Birmingham Dec 01 2011

Now touring a revamped version of his successful BBC Proms concert, John Wilson drew a capacity audience for an evening of seemingly endless highlights. Read

Review, Axerxes, by English Touring Opera, at Malvern Festival Theatre Dec 01 2011

The musical values of this English Touring Opera presentation of Xerxes are extraordinarily highRead

Richard Tognetti has many strings to his bow Nov 25 2011

The director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra is keen to expand its repertoire far beyond the purely classical realm, writes Christopher Morley.Read

Review: Brandenburg Concertos - CBSO, at Symphony Hall, Birmingham Nov 25 2011

*****

An immensely stylish all-Bach concert played to a packed matinee audience, playing four of the Brandenburg Concertos and showcasing co-principal cellist Ulrich Heinen in the first Suite for Solo Cello Read

Review: Katya Kabanova, Welsh National Opera, at Birmingham Hippodrome Nov 25 2011

*****

All superlatives can be aired for this staggering achievement of Jánaèek’s opera Katya Kabanova. Katie Mitchell’s evocative 1950’s style production has been in the WNO’s repertoire since 2001, currently supported by the Friends of WNO. Sung in confident, original Czech (helpfully with discreet surtitles), this is a story of passions and inevitable tragedy.Read

Review: The Barber Of Seville, Welsh National Opera, at Birmingham Hippodrome Nov 25 2011

*****

Far from creaking after 25 years, Welsh National Opera’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is in fact one of the most joyous operatic shows I have ever witnessed.Read

Review: Chandos Symphony Orchestra, at Forum Theatre Malvern Nov 25 2011

***

Over the years the Malvern-based Chandos Symphony Orchestra has notched up a portfolio of tremendous triumphs, achieved over a rehearsal regime of only two weekends (including the concert one).Read

Review: Birmingham Bach Choir, at The Oratory, Birmingham Nov 25 2011

****

Over a cracking programme, the Birmingham Bach Choir displayed a wealth of qualities and gave a performance of which they should be truly proud. The static, a capella textures of John Tavener’s Mother of God, and two works by American composer Eric Whitacre, placed big demands on breath-control and tuning. But the group met these superbly. Whitacre’s ethereal Lux Aurumque shimmered in all the right places, but second on the bill did feel a tad early for this luminous show-stopper.Read

Review: Ex Cathedra, at Birmingham Town Hall Nov 25 2011

****

Rather like the film of the book, this ‘concert of the album’ featured material from Ex Cathedra’s recently released 2-CD tribute to Alec Roth. For a contemporary composer to receive such acclaim must be extremely rewarding.Read

Review: The Capucon Brothers, at Birmingham Town Hall Nov 25 2011

****

This French performance of Beethoven’s Archduke piano trio managed to be suitably aristocratic while demonstrating the qualities of liberty, equality and fraternity. The violinist Renaud Capuçon, his cellist brother Gautier and pianist Frank Braley demonstrated the give-and-take – an instinctive knowledge of who ought to be first amongst equals at any given time – that is the foundation of the best chamber music groups.Read

Jazz Diary: The sounds of Harold Budd Nov 24 2011

There’s a jam-packed three days from Birmingham Jazz, starting this evening, and there should be something for everyone.Read

Beverley Knight's soul inspiration Nov 18 2011

Andy Coleman finds out how a Midlands singing star found joy and hope in Africa.Read

Finding shared ground Nov 18 2011

Christopher Morley talks to composer Alec Roth about his collaboration with one of Birmingham's finest choirsRead

Review: Dmitri Shostakovich's, Leningrad Symphony CBSO, Symphony Hall Nov 18 2011

The story of how the Seventh Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich came into the world is a heroic one: written while the composer was firewatching during the near two-year siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, the microfilm of its score smuggled out for performance in the West, this is the real stuff of the triumph of art over adversity.Read

Review: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, at CBSO Centre Nov 18 2011

For more than 20 years Birmingham Contemporary Music Group has provided an invaluable platform for the newest of music, promoting performances of works by cutting-edge composers both from home and abroad.Read

Review: Andras Schiff, at Birmingham Town Hall Nov 18 2011

I doubt there can ever have been a better-structured piano recital than that enjoyed by a packed and attentive Town Hall audience on Tuesday.Read

Review: Don Giovanni, at Welsh National Opera at Birmingham Hippodrome Nov 18 2011

“He commands light and shade” wrote Ferruccio Busoni of Mozart “but his light never blinds, and his darkness still shows clear outlines”. Judging from his new Welsh National Opera production of Don Giovanni, no-one mentioned this to director John Caird. Read

Jazz Diary Nov 17 2011

It’s a week of wide-ranging jazz in the Midlands, from wild and free to retro.Read

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