Latest News
Berlioz Requiem at the 2012 Berlioz Festival
In early September, the Philharmonia Chorus will take part in three performances of the Grande Messe des morts by Hector Berlioz in France. The first will be the final concert in the 2012 Berlioz Festival at the Château Louis XI in La Côte-Saint-André, Berlioz's birthplace, and the second and third will be in Auditorium de Lyon in Lyon. All performances will be with the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The Philharmonia Chorus will join the Choral Arts Society of Washington DC and the Chœurs de Lyon-Bernard Tétu for this massive work.
Opera's Greatest Stars at the Royal Albert Hall
The Philharmonia Chorus will be taking part in a concert given by three of the world's greatest opera stars, Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott and Jonas Kaufmann with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 6 June. These singers are being brought together for the first time in the UK in what promises to be a very exciting evening.
Recent Reviews
Elgar - The Apostles
BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Stephen Cleobury
Chapel of KIng's College, Cambridge, 7 April 2012
Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Thursday 3rd May at 2.00pm, and available on the BBC website until 10 May. 10 / 04 / 2012
'We heard the best of the acoustic during Elgar's big climaxes, spendidly burnished with choral ecstasy.....
Geoff Brown, The Times, 10 April 2012 ★★★★
Britten - War Requiem
Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel
Royal Festival Hall, London, 25 March 2012
26 / 03 / 2012
'This controlled approach gave the Philharmonia Chorus ample opportunity to demonstrate their tonal flexibility and virtuosity, and passages such as the sudden transition from the Dies Irae to the long lines of the Lachrymosa, the dynamic articulation of the Offertorium with its machine-gun consonants, were impressively handled.
It closed with a radiant, impossibly well-tuned major chord from the choir'
Alexandra Coghlan, www.theartsdesk.com 26 March 2012
'The Philharmonia Chorus under Stefan Bevier produced a tremendous sound, the murmuring multitude of 'Pleni sunt coeli' and the astonishing long-held final 'Amen' being especially high points.'
Melanie Eskenazi, www.musicomh.com ★★★★
Beethoven - Missa Solemnis
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Gianandrea Noseda
Royal Festival Hall, London, 4 November 2011
5 / 11 / 2011
'The Philharmonia Chorus brought musicality, assurance and sheer stamina to what must be one of the most gruelling sings in their repertoire.
The performance was dedicated to the memory of Charles Mackerras, a much-missed conductor of both chorus and orchestra, and no stranger himself to taking the musical bull that is Beethoven by the horns. He would have been proud.'
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, 7 November 2011 ★★★★
'There was much to admire in this OAE performance with a very animated Gianandrea Noseda conducting. He had the advantage of the Philharmonia Chorus, astonishing here, its members fearless – sopranos especially unflinching – in meeting Beethoven’s cruel if life-enhancing demands.'
Colin Anderson, www.classicalsource.com, 5 November 2011
'To complete this unofficial Beethoven-fest, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performed the Missa Solemnis, vividly conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and gloriously sung by the Philharmonia Chorus.'
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer, 13 November 2011
'....the chorus magnificent....'
Paul Driver, The Sunday Times, 13 November 2011
