Mandy Burvill (clarinet) and Ian Buckle (piano) at University of Liverpool

Another recital regrettably transferred online and reduced in length but fortunately not cancelled completely.  And another example of a perfectly satisfactory experience for the listener/viewer but probably less satisfactory for the players in the absence of an audience.

Expert playing from two brilliant  musicians of an interesting programme of 20th century pieces for solo clarinet or clarinet and piano.  Especially good to hear live performances for piano and clarinet of Alban Berg's 4 pieces and a lovely pieces by Richard Rodney Bennett -- the Ballad for Shirley Horn. Mandy also gave a brilliantly virtuosic performance of Joerg Widmann's Fantasie, which I had heard and admired her playing on a recent wind ensemble course.  ❤❤❤❤❤

Music for small orchestra at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

There has been so much to look at online during this second lockdown but I have included only those events that we attended or, latterly, that we paid to view. We missed several concerts and events that we had already booked 'live'. This one is worth mentioning:  the Royal Liverpool with Vasily Petrenko played chamber pieces that perfectly suited the spaced-apart arrangement of the players: HIndemith's Kammarmusik no. 3 (effectively a cello concerto) with Jonathan Aasgaard's exceptional solo parts, Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks and Shostakovitch's Chamber Symphony -- an arrangement of his 8th String Quartet.  All expertly performed of course. A real treat.  But it brings up the recurring argument that the experience of watching this recorded performance (no audience) in the sitting room is superior to attending the concert live, wearing a mask, in a half-empty hall.  An issue ultimately to be resolved. ❤❤❤❤❤

Isata Kanneh-Mason piano recital at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

She is a genius.  This was a breathtaking performance of well chosen pieces showing her range of ability in an early Beethoven sonata, a Chopin nocturne and then a set of American pieces (corresponding to the night of the US presidential election), culminating in the extraordinary difficult Samuel Barber sonata -- all performed from memory, of course.  But why no published review in the media? Look for one on Google and you find almost exclusively reference to her (also talented, of course) brother Sheku or to her performances along with him. This imbalance must surely get corrected. ❤❤❤❤❤

Stephen Hough and the RLPO at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

Live concert in the interim before complete lockdown, with extreme social distancing. The intended conductor, the newly appointed Domingo Hindoyan was unable to lead the orchestra due to quarantining, but the replacement, Joshua Weilerstein, was in his element in the second piece -- Bartok's Divertimento -- and the strings of the orchestra gave a superb performance.  Before that Stephen Hough played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, which, despite the usual sensitive and skillful performance, sounded slightly under par with the reduced size of orchestra and the wide spacing of the players on the stage. ❤❤❤❤

Recital by Roderick Williams, Gareth Brynmore John (baritones) and Christopher Glynn (piano) at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

A tiny audience due to the virus restrictions, enforced with military precision.  Audience may also have been reduced by the Philharmonic website, depending on how you accessed it, showing that the concert had been cancelled when it had not!

Great concert nevertheless.  All poems by Thomas Hardy, with predictable subject matter, brought to life by Gerald Finzi, John Ireland, Judith Weir and others.  Truly expert performances from all three.   ❤❤❤❤