British symphony orchestra
Commemorations 2024 (Inception: John Wilson Orchestra)
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2024-04-26
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2021-09-08 11:22:00
Authentic Korngold to raise the Proms roof
[…] the top musicians – or their record companies – will jump in and do them justice. The quantity of vicious abuse I’ve seen directed at Korngold over the last three or four decades is mind-boggling. But now, here’s a really great performance of the Symphony and suddenly... The Times critic, Rebecca Franks, writes: It emerged here as a staggering masterpiece: brooding, biting, anguished, mourning, soul-stirring. Played with the high-octane approach so familiar from the John Wilson Orchestra’s Hollywood film and musicals Proms, the symphony seared itself in the mind. No surprise, perhaps, given that the Sinfonia of London made its recording debut with this work. Yet hearing it live, in all its emotional intensity and ferocity, was another experience entirely. Striking a chord I’ve sometimes wondered if perhaps the composers whose music can appear most closely related to their life stories stand the best […]
2020-03-23 04:30:00
Escales: French Orchestral Works (SACD review)
Music of Chabrier, Durufle, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Ibert, Massenet, and Ravel. John Wilson, Sinfonia of London. Chandos CHSA 5252.The last few times I reviewed albums from conductor John Wilson, he was conducting the BBC Philharmonic in music of Aaron Copland; and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in the music of John Ireland; and his own John Wilson Orchestra in the music of Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hammerstein. Now he's back, this time at the helm of the reconstituted Sinfonia of London, an on-and-off-and-on-again session ensemble originally formed in 1955. Whatever, Escales is an ebullient romp from Maestro Wilson and his players through several well-known (and some less well-known) French light pieces. The program begins with the ever-popular Espana by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894), the composer's French take on all things Spanish. Wilson gives us a sparkling presentation of Chabrier's colorful music, yet with few surprises. It's a well-crafted performance without offering much we […]
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Faces of classical music
2019-09-20 05:30:00
The best new classical albums: September 2019
[…] substantial recording achievement to date. It is by my reckoning the tenth commercial release of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's once-neglected Symphony (Werner Andreas Albert set down the same three works for CPO) but it is indubitably ahead of the pack, setting new standards in several respects. The identity of individual players is not divulged, save that of the leader, the estimable Andrew Haveron, his presence confirming that the hand-picked band will indeed include veterans of the John Wilson Orchestra. Now into its third incarnation, the Sinfonia of London re-emerges as a session orchestra to rank with Charles Gerhardt's National Philharmonic. It helps too that the Chandos sound team has found an ideal acoustic for the music-making, ample yet transparent. DG's channelling of All Hallows, Gospel Oak for André Previn's 1996 recording of the Symphony was more about endorsing deep-pile opulence.Wilson's own interpretative angle is not always predictable. The makeweights first. Composed […]
2019-05-20 23:00:00
[…] How do you get tickets for the BBC Proms? Go to the movies… If you love a bit of film music, there are two Proms that might offer a good introduction to the Proms. First up is The Sound of Space: Sci-fi Film Music (7 August), a ‘Late Night Prom’ featuring music from films like Interstellar, Moon, Under the Skin, Alien: Covenant, Gravity and Sunshine. Then there’s The Warner Bros. Story with the John Wilson Orchestra, a thrilling ride through some of Hollywood’s golden age greats. (9 August) Five of the best John Wilson Proms Go with the kids… Why not take the little ones along as well? That way you’ve got someone to experience the Proms with and they get an early classical music experience that they’ll never forget. The CBeebies Prom is the obvious choice, featuring characters and presenters from the small screen (21 […]