The week in classical: Dido’s Ghost; Der Rosenkavalier; Philharmonia/ Salonen – review
Errollyn Wallen had a bold new take on Dido and Aeneas, while the Philharmonia sparkled with a staging of Strauss’s opera and bid farewell to Esa-Pekka Salonen
September 2019
Philharmonia / Salonen / Tetzlaff review – Berg and Hindemith of angry beauty
The orchestra’s new season opened with tempestuous works, born of dark times, that terrifically contrasted emotion and restraint
December 2018
Salonen's departure poses serious questions – and not just for the Philharmonia
Martin Kettle
Esa-Pekka Salonen to step down as Philharmonia conductor
June 2018
Philharmonia/Salonen: Gurrelieder review – terror, scorn and exquisite excess
Royal Festival Hall, London Schoenberg’s landmark cantata was delivered with all its its ominous fervour on a stellar season-closing evening
April 2018
Philharmonia/Salonen review – Chin's grand meditations glint but are hard to grasp
Composer Unsuk Chin’s biggest concert work to date reveals her imagination but the choral music here is strangely unadventurous
December 2017
Holding out for a hero: the spirit of Sibelius is summoned to celebrate Finland's centenary
Two of the UK’s major orchestras are conducted by Finns, and both men this week turned to their country’s national composer to mark the 100th anniversary of its independence
April 2017
New York Philharmonic/Gilbert – unleavened orchestral heft
Pieces by John Adams and Esa-Pekka Salonen should have been gripping, but the relentlessly robust NY Phil left little room for subtlety
Philharmonia/Salonen review – inventive energy animates Tansy Davies premiere
Philharmonia/Salonen review – superb UK premiere for rediscovered Stravinsky
Five of the best… new classical concerts
Wolfgang Rihm and this week’s best UK classical concerts
October 2016
New York Philharmonic/Kaija Saariaho review – staking out new terrain
Taking a trip to the cavernous art space and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the NY Phil explored Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s sumptuous, theatrical work
September 2016
Philharmonia/Salonen review – exemplary Stravinsky double bill
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s readings of Oedipus Rex and the Symphony of Psalms were thrilling while Peter Sellars’s staging of the opera-oratorio was deft
You're in the band: virtual reality's orchestral future
The Philharmonia’s principal conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen wants you to join his virtual symphony orchestra. He talks VR and the future of concertgoing
Philharmonia/Salonen review – lucid and sensuous genre-bending Stravinsky
The conductor’s performance and some beautifully refined choral singing did justice to the exquisite but rarely heard Perséphone
August 2016
BBCSSO/Dausgaard; Philharmonia/Salonen at the Proms review
Kirill Gerstein wows with a subtle new version of the composer’s first concerto
May 2016
Philharmonia/Salonen review – rare Stravinsky from Russia with love
Philharmonia/Salonen – an electrifying start to their Stravinsky season
March 2016
New York Philharmonic/Salonen review – explosive and unmissable
Olivier Messiaen’s maximalist Turangalîla-symphonie is a 75-minute rush of sound that hits like a grand orchestra opus raised to the power of an electro-acoustic provocation
