Reviews of Prog Rock, Classical Music, Art Rock and Jazz
Saturday 20 June 2026 Manchester Monastery, Gorton Lane, Manchester ★★★★★ Kantos Chamber Choir celebrates its tenth anniversary in stunning surroundings and an amazing acoustic Kantos, RNCM and the University of Manchester Chamber Choirs, with conductor Ellie Slorach. Image © The AC Product It’s ten years since Claire Shercliff (Company Director) and Ellie Slorach (Creative Director) …
Continue reading "Kantos Chamber Choir – Hope on Earth – Live Review"
Saturday 25 April 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ★★★★★ The orchestra continues its superb run of form with Julia Wolfe's vision of the aftermath of 9/11, Bomsori's virtuosic violin-playing in Tchaikovsky, and Berlioz's opium-induced visions Violinist Bomsori with members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra © Chris Payne Like Manchester's two Premier League football teams, its …
Continue reading "BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto"
Thursday 16 April 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ★★★★★ Intimate Mahler and spectacular Vaughan Williams with the Hallé Choir and Youth Choir on superb form The Hallé Orchestra, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Tarmo Peltokoski (conductor), Silja Aalto (soprano), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone). © Sharyn Bellemakers, The Hallé Last Thursday evening's concert, with The Hallé …
Sunday 22 March 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ★★★★★ Viktoria Mullova shines as the soloist in Brahms' Violin Concerto, and the Hallé soloists excel in Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra Viktoria Mullova with the Hallé © Alex Burns/The Hallé Sunday's concert, repeated from last Thursday, was billed as 'Mullova Plays Brahms.' It's been over 40 years …
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Thursday 24 February 2026 Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ***** 'A mature work from a highly accomplished composer' - Jonny Greenwood's new violin concerto performed by Daniel Pioro and The Hallé Jonny Greenwood. Photo credit Sharyn Bellemakers/The Hallé Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has been a classical composer for the last twenty years. His film scores, including There Will …
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Saturday 21 February 2026 Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ***** Love is a fragile thing: superb performances of Albarn Berg, Sergey Prokofiev and Cassandra Miller by Lawrence Power and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Composer Cassandra Miller, Viola Player Lawrence Power and Members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Credit: Chris Payne On The Cure's comeback album Songs of a …
Continue reading "BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Romeo and Juliet – Live Review"
Thursday 20 February 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester **** Exploring the Cosmos: The Hallé's Stellar Concert The Hallé orchestra, Choir and Youth Choir. Image credit Sharyn Bellemakers/The Hallé On Thursday evening, it was a pleasure to see a full stage (The Hallé orchestra under the baton of Kahchun Wong, on a specially extended stage), full …
Thursday 12 February 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester ***** The Hallé and Kahchun Wong shine in Beethoven's heroic symphony Cellist Jan Vogler with members of The Hallé. Credit: Alex Burns/The Hallé For a second at the start of Thursday evening's Beethoven-themed concert, it felt as if the opening piece was his Coriolan Overture. In fact, …
Continue reading "The Hallé – Beethoven’s Eroica – Live Review"
Saturday 7 February 2026 The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester **** French-tinged minimalism, sparkling Ravel and Rachmaninoff's final orchestral statement Elisabeth Brauß and members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Image © Chris Payne Saturday evening's concert by the BBC Philharmonic was their first under the baton of Adam Hickox. He's the son of Richard Hickox, who died nearly …
Continue reading "BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances – Live Review"
Friday 5 December 2025 RNCM, Manchester ***** The strings of the BBC Philharmonic shine in music by Bartók and Tchaikovsky The Strings of the BBC Philharmonic directed by Zoë Beyers. Image © Chris Payne/BBC Last Friday's concert at the RNCM in Manchester was directed from the violin by the Leader of the BBC Philharmonic, Zoë …
Continue reading "BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Serenade for Strings – Live Review"