Reporting from the Finnish premieres of Nico Muhly’s Shrink (2019) and An Archive in Three Parts (2025) by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and Hugo Ticciati, heard alonside Philip Glass Symphony No. 3 (1995), with arrangements of Nirvana and Purcell embedded.
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Reflecting Maundy Thursday’s very special performance of Sir Edward Elgar’s magnum opus The Dream of Gerontius, op. 38 (1900) by Benjamin Hulett, tenor, Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano, Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone, and the Tampere Philharmonic & Choir under Matthew Halls.
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And on the non-Easter playlist we have Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s terrific piano concerto ’Resposes. Sweet disorder and the carefully careless’ (2013-14).
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classical.music.apple.com/fi/album/147...
Looking back at the poweful 🇫🇮 premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s compelling orchestral trilogy I Want to Be Alive (2023-25) with the composer conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic, coupled with Leila Josefowicz’s fiery take on Szymanowski’s II. Concerto (1932-33).
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Also four brass choirs in Dolby Surround. 😁
21 timpani for Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts (1837) with the Finnish Radio Symphony and Nicholas Collon!
🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁
A concert I would have loved to attend!
Reporting from the Munich world premiere of Francisco Coll’s terrific new Piano Concerto (2025) by Kirill Gerstein and the BRSO, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, coupled with Roberto Gerhard’s Dances from Don Quixote, Francis Poulenc’s Les Biches Suite and Claude Debussy’s La Mer.
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Priviledged to have been there! 😊
Yes, this is always the problem. Some markings in my calendar extend to June 2027 already.
Thanks for the reminder! I just put that in my calendar.
Reporting from the Helsinki Music Centre, John Williams’s exquisite Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (2009) gets its second-ever staging from Antoine Tamestit, the Helsinki Phil and Caleb Young, coupled with Bernstein Candide Overture (1956) and Shostakovich Symphony 9 (1945).
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Looking back at last week’s lifetime performances of Brahms’s Schicksalslied (1868-71), Nänie (1880-81) and the Fourth Symphony (1884-85) with Herbert Blomstedt conducting Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
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A throwback to last week’s top-tier Stravinsky, Gershwin and Milhaud triple-bill with the Chicago Symphony and Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä.
[full review below]
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Reporting from Disney Hall, the LA Phil and Gustavo Dudamel revisit Thomas Adès’s imposing 45-minute ballet Inferno (2019) in jaw-dropping performances, coupled with their invigorating reading of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (1802-08).
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Reporting from Walt Disney Concert Hall, Gabriela Ortiz’s astounding Revolución diamantina (2023) gets its poignantly virtuosic balletic premiere from LA Phil, Los Angeles Master Chorale and Grupo Corpo, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.
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Reporting from LA Opera, Philip Glass’s Akhnaten returns to the stage as beautiful as ever in Phelim McDermott’s production, conducted by Dalia Stasevska and featuring John Holiday in the title role.
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Reporting from Symphony Hall, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Benjamin Zander delved deep into Ives’s Putnam’s Camp (1911-12), Debussy’s La Mer (1903-05) and Mahler’s First Symphony (1884-88/1889-1910) on Friday evening, delivering a symphonic quest to remember.
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Reporting from Boston, Ensemble Signal brings Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76) to Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, inaugurating the Thursday Night Music series with a performance to remember.
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Reporting from Boston, Thomas Adès conducts Boston Symphony Orchestra in his one-movement symphony Aquifer (2023-24), the Violin Concerto ’Concentric Paths’ (2005) - with Augustin Hadelich - and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (1802-08).
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Reporting from Boston, Thomas Adès conducts Boston Symphony Orchestra in his one-movement symphony Aquifer (2023-24), the Violin Concerto ’Concentric Paths’ (2005) - with Augustin Hadelich - and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (1802-08).
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Reporting from György Kurtág’s 100th birthday celebrations in Helsinki with Anu Komsi, Piia Komsi, Helga Karen and Sakari Oramo featuring unforgettable performances from Kafka-Fragments, Játékok, The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza and song cycles op. 25 & 26.
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Thank you! The Ozawa box will probably cost a pretty penny. The COE / Harnoncourt looks tempting as well…
In conjuction with the first US performances of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Horn Concerto (2024-25) for Stefan Dohr, an interview with the composer.
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In conjuction with the first US performances of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Horn Concerto (2024-25) for Stefan Dohr, an interview with the composer.
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Ahead of the US premiere of the Salonen Horn Concerto (2023-25) with Boston Symphony, an interview with Stefan Dohr, where we touch upon not only the Salonen novelty but also concerti by Abrahamsen, Lachenmann, Rohloff and Widmann, along with other things soloistic and orchestral
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Reporting from Helsinki, where Anna Thorvaldsdóttir’s formidable cello concerto Before we fall (2024) received its intense Finnish premiere with Johannes Moser and the Helsinki Philharmonic under Jukka-Pekka Saraste.
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This one happens to be my 700th feature for #adventuresinmusic 🥳
Reporting from Disney Hall, John Adams and Víkingur Ólafsson team up with the LA Phil for a top-tier take on the composer’s new piano concerto After the Fall, now recorded for DG, framed by splendid readings of Harris 3, Ives The Unanswered Question & Copland Appalachian Spring.
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… plus all the symphonies being recoreded in Lahti. Yes, the post-mortem hiatus seems to be over, luckily. I was so delighted to hear the PC 1 on Friday! Also, no Finns involved in this performance, which is not the case often with most Finnish music.