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Review: LSO/Pappano, Barbican
Of all our orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra is the closest to America in its brazen, sassy sound, and it has always been welcoming to American composers and conductors. Keep reading »
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Five stars for Wynton Marsalis’s dazzlingTrumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra
With Simon Rattle having departed and plans for a new concert hall in the City of London long shelved, the London Symphony Orchestra could be forgiven for feeling down in the dumps. Instead, the announcement of its 2024-25 season showed all the signs of an organisation powering forwards. Keep reading »
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LSO/Pappano/Balsom review – elephant honks kick off Wynton Marsalis’s trumpet showcase
Rather like the American quilts whose fabric embeds a story, Wynton Marsalis’s new Trumpet Concerto is a patchwork of the history of the instrument and some of its most celebrated exponents, from Louis Armstrong to Frenchman Maurice André. Over six movements, spanning 35 minutes, Marsalis has stitched together myriad styles and characteristics, jumping continents and name-checking composers and players en passant, with a metaphorical doffing of the “Derby hat” mute in tribute. Keep reading »
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LSO/Alison Balsom, Barbican review: An astonishing feat of stamina
There may be things that Wynton Marsalis does not know about the trumpet – but from the UK premiere of his new concerto, presented by Alison Balsom, the LSO and Antonio Pappano at the Barbican last night, it’s hard to imagine what. Keep reading »
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LSO/Pappano review — a virtuosic Alison Balsom and sumptuous Ravel
It would be a dull soul who didn’t enjoy at least some aspects of Wynton Marsalis’s new Trumpet Concerto, especially as its UK premiere was delivered with such panache by Alison Balsom and the London Symphony Orchestra. The music exudes joy and energy throughout its six movements. Keep reading »
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Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Guitar Brings a Freshness to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
The evening of exceptional music further signals the orchestra’s ongoing push — not only into the past and present of jazz, but the future as well. Keep reading »
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The Marsalis Brothers Reunited in St. Louis and It Was Magical
Thursday was an historic night in St. Louis, as jazz giants Wynton and Branford Marsalis, playing together for the first time in many years, performed to a capacity audience at the Chase Park Plaza. Keep reading »
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Concert review: Wynton Marsalis and his band entertain and enlighten
Wynton Marsalis and his 15-member Lincoln Center band finally made it to Merrill Auditorium in Portland Thursday night for a sold-out concert that was rescheduled from April due to illness. Keep reading »
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Musical Comfort Food: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Focuses on Master Composers
The title of this weekend’s concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center is “Masters of Form,” and as Vincent Gardner, who served as musical director for the first half, announced at the start, the name is a play on words in that it refers to “forms in music, the kind of established forms that we have ingrained in us, like the 12-bar blues” and the 32-bar popular song. Keep reading »
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Max Roach at 100: ‘Inventor of Modern Drumming’ Is Only the Beginning
Over the course of a little more than a year in 1955 and ’56, Max Roach, who was already the premiere jazz drummer of his generation, experienced the death of two of his very closest musical partners. Keep reading »