Review: London Symphony Orchestra at Birmingham Symphony Hall
Monday 19th December 2011, 12:59PM GMT.
Beethoven’s 1st and 9th Symphonies
London Symphony Orchestra, Monteverdi Choir
Birmingham Symphony Hall
Review by John Watson
It is hard to imagine a more thrilling, musically volcanic work than Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, The Choral.
On Friday at Symphony Hall, in Birmingham, the sell-out audience was treated to a simply stupendous performance by the London Symphony Orchestra, soloists and chorus.
Sir John Eliot Gardiner directed a performance that was both refined in its attention to detail, and explosive in its emotional impact.
The soloists – soprano Rebecca Evans, mezzo soprano Wilke Te Brummelstroete, tenor Michael Spyres and bass Vuyani Mlinde – were in the centre of the orchestra, yet the voices projected perfectly.
Special mention must go to the orchestra’s superb principal piccolo player Sharon Williams.
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