Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Archives

Nobuyuki Tsujii – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

9Apr

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

North West

Nobuyuki Tsujii – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

What amazed me about pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii’s concert at the Philharmonic Hall was not the virtuosic playing, the passion he brought out in the music, the meticulous attention to detail or even the width and depth of emotion wrung out of every last piece. In these days of music on demand, with Spotify, Apple Music, or BBC Radio 3 through BBC Sounds, it is easy to take for granted our ease of access to world class performances. And to think we can all access them via mobile devices which fit into the palm of our hand, even if the wireless headphones much in vogue these days make us look more like we’re in the US Secret Service on Presidential protection duty. Or perhaps that’s just my son. No, I was entranced by understanding the process by which Tsujii learns the rep...

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Weinberg – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

6Apr

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

North West

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Weinberg – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

I don’t know how many people my age will remember what they were doing on their 25th birthday. I certainly don’t – probably some real ale bar in Oxford with sticky floors and beer at £2 per pint. But Shekhu Kanneh-Mason, superstar cellist and the third of seven ridiculously talented musician siblings, may well remember the rapturous reception (and impromptu rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’) he received from the audience at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall last night on the occasion of his reaching a quarter-century. The curtain-raiser was Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade for Orchestra. Born in London in 1875 to an English mother and Sierra Leonean medical student father, Samuel was named after the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. When the Three Choirs Festival wished to...

Bach St Matthew’s Passion – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

8Apr

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Bach St Matthew’s Passion – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Revered as one of the greatest choral works ever composed, Bach's St Matthew's Passion is a timeless classic. This performance is to Mendelssohn's arrangement and is sung in German. An emotional, complex and challenging work - a challenge which the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir rise to. The stage is packed and the anticipation is palpable. With a quick nod to the audience, conductor Andrew Manze is keen to get going and promptly launches the room into the evening. Dark, throbbing chords echo like a pulse as the opening chorus of The Passion begins. As well as the full Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, the Youth Choir are present for the opening chorus with chorale. The sound is alarmingly mournful. Carrying an edge of dystopia with it, the layers of the choir ring ...

Gianni Schicchi – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

13Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Gianni Schicchi – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Gianni Schicchi is one part of Il trittico, a collection of three one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini, with the link in the final work illustrating that each opera deals with the concealment of a death. Whilst originally intended to be played as a set, it has been more usual to play individually or pair with another one-act opera by another composer. Here, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dominic Hindoyan, serve up a further variation with excerpts from different composers providing the warm-up in the first half before the comic deception of Gianni Schicchi, performed in Italian with English surtitles, is unleashed. Commencing proceedings were a couple of Puccini pairings with La Tregenda (Le Villi, Act II) making for an energetic and frenetic start before slipping...

Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

19Feb

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Mozart’s Requiem – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Transporting the audience back to 18th Century Vienna, Mozart's Requiem does not disappoint. The orchestra, conducted by Award-winning German conductor Corinna Niemeyer, was complemented by appearances from Victoria Randem (soprano), Eléonore Pancrazi (mezzo-soprano), Stuart Jackson (tenor) and Benjamin Appl (baritone). The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir were in full, lively voice. Opening with Haydn's Symphony No.49, La Passione, the concert began as it meant to go on. Niemeyer animatedly gesticulated at the front to lead the orchestra through the allegro piece, paying particular attention to the contrasts between loud and quiet, light and dark. Haydn's work is written in the 'storm and urge' style with a somewhat unusual structure for the time. All four movements are in F mino...

<strong>Alpine Symphony – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall</strong>

6Feb

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North East

Alpine Symphony – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

As the lights dim and the chatter quietens, conductor and violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider takes his place at the front of the stage. The orchestra sits poised for action. The first note is played and so begins an adventurous musical journey. The concert at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is comprised of two halves; the first is a relatively short rendition of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1, Op.26, and the second is the more epic Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss. Embraced by a full orchestra, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider doubles-up on his role for the first half, participating as the solo violinist and intermittently conducting the ensemble. Opening with delicate drama and tension, the room is quickly captivated. Seamlessly, Szeps-Znaider draws spectators into a sound bubble with him and th...

<strong>Puccini’s Messa di Gloria – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall</strong>

27Nov

By Johanna RobertsNo Comments

North West

Puccini’s Messa di Gloria – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

I’ve often wondered what factors go into the decision of programming classical music concerts. Apart from the logistical decisions, on an artistic level, there must be well-known and well-loved pieces to attract the audience’s attention and guarantee ticket-sales, while also drawing in audiences by offering something new and/or challenging. Last night’s concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic managed to resolve this conundrum by a combination of two well-known and one far less well-known piece while triumphing in all three. That said, Debussy’s symphonic Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and what he called the "three symphonic sketches” that form La Mer, now familiar to and much loved by audiences around the world, were new and challenging for the audiences that first heard them in...

<strong>Variations – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall</strong>

20Nov

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Variations – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

This concert performance by one of Europe’s leading orchestra’s The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by the recently appointed Domingo Hindoyan. Hindoyan exudes a great deal of passion throughout tonight’s eclectic and varied programme of classical music. The programme consisted of four pieces of exquisite music from three of the most outstanding composers of their generation – Bartok, Dohnanyi and Dvorak. Dvorak’s Slavic Dance op.72 no 2 is performed as a heartfelt tribute to former principal conductor Libor Pesek (1987 until 1997.) This is a short but sweet piece of melodious classical dance with sweeping strings and delicate lightness of touch. It is performed to perfection by the orchestra. Dohnanyi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune is a delightful and w...

Dave Gorman: Powerpoint to the People – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

1Oct

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Dave Gorman: Powerpoint to the People – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Dave Gorman entered the stage greeted with a round of tumultuous applause from the audience; it was a full house of mainly 35-year-olds upwards eagerly awaiting Gorman’s characteristic brand of comedy and enlightening statistical information. He was dressed in his usual attire of checked shirt denim jeans and trainers, his trademark laptop, stage right. Gorman is known for his popular acclaimed TV series, ‘Modern Life Is Goodish’ where he has proved himself to be an exemplar, brutally revealing life’s incongruities in comedic fashion. In a show lasting just over two hours he delivers an enormous amount of interesting information in his characteristic manner; he is both fast-talking and slick, often laughing uncontrollably at his own jokes. From the offset he proceeds to ask everyone...

27Sep

By Blathine MaguireNo Comments

North West

Boyzlife – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

What a pleasure it is to step inside the beautiful philharmonic hall, Liverpool, steeped in history and class, this venue is totally unique and provides great variety when it comes to music and performances. This was exactly the case tonight when the striking stage which usually hosts the philharmonic orchestra was swapped for a huge pop throwback known as ‘Boyzlife’. ‘Boyzlife’ is made up of some familiar faces, Keith Duffy who rose to fame in Boyzone and Westlife’s original Brian McFadden. These two singers have joined forces in the last number of years to create their own music and of course, to relive the classics. Noting that they have 21 number one hits between them, this duo is no stranger to the stage and the world of pop music. Tonight marks the start of their ‘Old School Tour...