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Lyrical Warmth
Dvorák, Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms
from Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell and
the Academy of St Martin in the Fields,
enjoyed by MIKE WHEELER
Doesn't it make a welcome change to be eased gently into a concert instead of being grabbed by the collar? Dvořák's Silent Woods was a delightful curtain-raiser to this concert by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and its music director Joshua Bell (Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 6 January 2016). Steven Isserlis' mellow, singing cello tone was an ideal match for Dvořák's flowing lyricism, and raised expectations for his contribution to the Brahms Double Concerto in Part 2.
Like the Brahms, Beethoven's Symphony No 8 has tended to be somewhat underrated (so it was a neat idea to bring them together in the same programme)...
Copyright © 14 January 2016
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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