BR photo from rehearsals – Jürgen Leitner, BRSO percussionist

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Herkulessaal, Munich

***I HAD STARTED THIS REVIEW, BUT THE BR-KLASSIK RELAY CHANGED TO A 2007 CONCERT WITH MARISS JANSONS. FURTHERMORE THERE WAS A LONG PERIOD OF SILENCE. I HAVE WRITTEN TO BAVARIAN RADIO***

Following last week’s BRSO concert(s) conducted by Zubin Mehta, the broadcast-live second drawing me back to the BR-Klassik website to listen again and become ever-more appreciative of Mehta’s wholesome mastery and the reciprocal trust between him and the orchestra. Not that Simon Rattle is any less accomplished, and I am not setting one conductor against the other, but rather appendixing Mehta…

Programme

Henri Dutilleux

Sonatine for flute and piano (arr. Kenneth Hesketh for flute and orchestra)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Piano Concerto in B flat major, KV 595

Interval

Henri Dutilleux

“Sarabande et cortège” (arr. Kenneth Hesketh for bassoon and orchestra)

Henri Dutilleux

Sonata for oboe and piano (arr. Kenneth Hesketh for oboe and orchestra)

Joseph Haydn

Symphony No. 90 in C major, Hob.I:90

Performers

Sir Simon Rattle conductor

Henrik Wiese flute

Jesús Villa Ordóñez bassoon

Ramón Ortega Quero oboe

Dame Imogen Cooper piano

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Information about the programme

“Imogen is one of the greatest musicians England has ever produced. She is completely free of showmanship,” says Sir Simon Rattle about Dame Imogen Cooper. The artistic friendship between the BRSO chief conductor and the pianist spans over five decades and is based on great mutual trust. Nevertheless, Cooper’s Mozart will be anything but “dull”: being an outstanding interpreter of his music, we can look forward to her performance of the late Concerto in B flat major – intimate and melancholically serene. The BRSO and three of its outstanding wind soloists will then reveal ethereal and richly nuanced realms with works by Henri Dutilleux. Haydn’s Symphony in C major, seasoned with ironic wit, will provide a festive and turbulent close to the concert – but only after the surprisingly long general pause. [BR]

John Wilson & Sinfonia of London record Henri Dutilleux’s music for Chandos – Le Loup, and Kenneth Hesketh’s Dutilleux orchestrations.

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – Zubin Mehta conducts Wagner’s Overture to Rienzi, Tchaikovsky Four, and Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with Rudolf Buchbinder. Live on BR-Klassik.

Paladino Music releases “Hände – Music for Piano” by Kenneth Hesketh played by Clare Hammond.

https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/in-ictu-oculi-orchestral-works-by-kenneth-hesketh-bbcnow-christoph-mathias-mueller-paladino-music