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Review: Haydn's Creation at the Tung Auditorium ****1/2
The Liverpool Mozart Orchestra set the bar high when it launched its 75th anniversary year last November with its president Sir Simon Rattle on the podium. Happily, it had another ace up its sleeve with which to bring the special season to a fitting close, and in jubilant fashion. The orchestra has performed Haydn throughout its three-quarters-of-a-century of music making, principally the prolific Austrian’s symphonies, but also occasionally other pieces, like his oboe concer
Review: Music of the Americas at Philharmonic Hall ****1/2
America celebrates a big birthday this July 4th. And just to show we here in the ‘old country’ don’t bear a grudge at being shown the door 250 years ago, the Phil went all-American in this exuberant Thursday night concert. Lest we forget, for many of those years Liverpool was the gateway to the ‘new world’, and those transatlantic links remain strong. But this was also a wider international affair, with the equally exuberant German pianist Frank Dupree making his first (but h
Liverpool European Festival 2026 most ambitious yet
Liverpool European Festival returns this weekend with a wide-ranging programme of community-led events and activities. The festival, a legacy of Liverpool’s hosting of the 2023 Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine, is now in its fourth year and organisers are promising the 2026 event is the most ambitious to date. It runs from May 9 to July 5. The festival is set to officially open on Europe Day this Saturday (May 9) with a large-scale public event at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church f
Mendelssohn's Elijah to fill Liverpool Cathedral with divine sound
The massed ranks of 350 singers will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s mighty oratorio Elijah in Liverpool Cathedral next weekend. The concert, on Saturday, May 16, will feature bass Andrew Greenan – who previously sang the title role in the cathedral 40 years ago – and will also be one of the last performances by cathedral organist Ian Tracey before his retirement. The other soloists are Kelsey Thomas, Joyce Tindsley and Stefan Kennedy. Mendelssohn composed his magnificent work fo
Review: Liverpool String Academy at the Tung Auditorium ****
It was the Liverpool String Academy’s inaugural concert at the city’s Tung Auditorium – but if there were any nerves among its youthful members, they certainly weren’t visible in what proved to be an accomplished and hugely impressive performance. Run by Early Music as Education (EMAE), a charity which basically does what it says on the tin by providing specialist music education for young people – irrespective of background or training – across Merseyside, Liverpool String A
Review: Mark Simpson's The Immortal at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall ****
Mark Simpson has revealed what he calls his ‘big and wild’ ambitions were ignited by the performances he watched and music he experienced as a youngster listening to concerts at the Philharmonic Hall. But while he may have dreamed a dream, one wonders if the Liverpool schoolboy really imagined he’d one day be feted as the orchestra that so influenced his youth premiered his own compositions in the same concert hall. Over the two decades and counting of his professional career
Liverpool Music Heritage Trail celebrates 60 years of key musical moments in the city
A new music heritage trail linking 12 key Liverpool locations has been launched in the city. The free, self-guided trail is marked by plaques designed to look like vinyl records and the Beatles Legacy Group, which is behind the new attraction, says it hopes it will inspire a new generation of Liverpool artists as well as music fans and visitors. Billed ‘a whistlestop tour through 60 years of Liverpool music from 1957 to 2016', the tour aims to explore some of the places, peop
Review: From Classical to Romantic at the Tung Auditorium ****
There’s a scene in Amadeus where the impish composer and musician is welcomed by Emperor Joseph II who plays a somewhat ponderous little piece composed specially by Salieri. A giggling Mozart (Tom Hulce) proceeds to take the melody and improvise wildly and gleefully, showcasing his genius but guilelessly ridiculing the furious court composer’s effort at the same time. It was an era when soloists were expected to extemporise and ornament their performances. Mozart is said to h
Review: Come Together at Liverpool's Royal Court ****1/2
The Beatles juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down, seven decades after it first set off on the road to stardom and immortality. Since Come Together – Tom Connor and Mark Newnham’s homage to Lennon and McCartney - was last staged at the Royal Court two years ago, Ian Leslie’s fab, and unexpectedly moving, book John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs has been published (if you haven’t read it, you really should). Meanwhile, in the last few weeks, Sam Mendes has started filming
May announced as Liverpool Music Month with events across the city
May has been designated Liverpool Music Month with a host of live performances and other events planned across the city. The new initiative, a collaboration between Culture Liverpool and Sound City, will celebrate Liverpool’s world-famous music scene – with the programme also twinned with New York Music Month which has taken place annually in the American metropolis since 2017. Music lovers will be able to enjoy performances, cultural events and community activities, highlig
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