Bravo!

Congratulations to Elena Mosuc on her very successful Mahler 2 concert with Valery Gergiev and the LSO Sunday and Monday last week. The Sunday Telegraph wrote: “The shining, angelic soprano in the finale was Elena Mosuc.” There will be a live recording of the two concerts available soon.

Well done to John Mark Ainsley on his massive success with his new recital tour with Roger Vignoles. Performing at the Philharmonie Cologne and the Auditorio Eduardo del Pueyo, Zaragoza, John Mark has received fantastic reviews. The Kölnische Rundschau commented that 'Der britische Tenor John Mark Ainsley ist ein stilvoller Liedinterpret und ein Meister der leisen Töne.' For further reviews please click here.

Congratulations to Dorothea Röschmann and Magdalena Kozena who on Sunday kicked off their duo recital tour with a sold out recital with Daniel Barenboim at the piano at the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin. Malcolm Martineau will be playing for the remainder of the tour which sees the three performing in Brussels, Dresden and Vienna.

Jian Wang performed a concert with the Vercelli Camerata Ducale last week, play/directing the Boccherini and Haydn D major concertos. This was the first time that he had collaborated with the orchestra and it was a wonderful success. The major Italian newspaper La Stampa reported:"Magical Wang, whose skill is by now comparable to Yo-Yo Ma's, is at the top of the cellists of oriental extraction...Then followed a magical moment, when the cellist Jian Wang played the Boccherini Cello Concerto with an extreme naturalness and an almost ascetic concentration, yet with an almost dizzying technique. Even in the complexity of the score, the Chinese musician brought out its expressive qualities, creating a spellbinding atmosphere. Wang also demonstrated his great talents as an interpreter in the Haydn."

Louis Langrée returned to the Houston Symphony Orchestra last week in a programme including Saint-Saens' Symphony No 3. The Houston Chronicle reported, "Langrée and the orchestra captured its coiled energy and resigned melancholia perfectly. His slant involved adjustments here and there, as in the first movement where he dampened the volume of the charging strings just enough to let all the countermelodies ring out clearly."

Imogen Cooper is performing a series of four Schubert recitals as part of the International Piano Series at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The first of these last week was enthusiastically received. The Telegraph wrote "The immense late A major Sonata in its middle section peers into an even deeper abyss than the one glimpsed in the Impromptus. She captured the music's turmoil, but what was really moving was the way she led it back to the stoic gravity of the opening.. It's rare to hear a performance of such musical beauty imbued with such a powerful ethical force."

Congratulations to Christianne Stotijn upon receiving the Dutch Music Prize after her concert with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam on Saturday, 19 April.

Gregory Kunde once again proved his mettle when he was asked to replace Dario Schmunk in the role of Leicester in Rossini's rarely performed opera Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra with the Monnaie in concert in Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and Luxembourg.

Bravissimo to Rodion Pogossov for an outstanding performance of the Barber of Seville at the Canadian Opera Company last week: “Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov is excellent as Figaro” (Toronto Star), “Rodion Pogossov is an ideal Figaro” (Globe and Mail), “His coy, flirtatious grin was as infectious as his physical witticisms” (National Post) “Pogossov’s Figaro enlivens every scene he's in beginning with his wonderfully effervescent account of Figaro’s famous entrance aria” (Eye Weekly), “Both vocally and theatrically, Pogossov is a memorable Figaro”(Sun Media).