Page 481 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

12 June 2022

R E V I E W
Simon Rattle takes over Trafalgar Square, plus

the best of June’s classical concerts

4/5
The annual open-air concert in the centre of London saw Rattle and Sheku Kanneh-Mason
entertain a pleasantly varied and casual crowd
ByIvan Hewett, CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs with Simon Rattle and the LSO in Trafalgar Square CREDIT: PA
LSO/Rattle/Kanneh-Mason, Trafalgar Square ★★★★☆

The London Symphony Orchestra’s annual free concert in Trafalgar Square has become such a
familiar fixture in the cultural calendar that it’s hard to believe it’s only been in existence for 11
years (make that 10, if you subtract the pandemic year of 2020, when it couldn’t take place).

The largesse of the German car manufacturer BMW, which supports the concerts, is certainly
needed: these outdoor events are a huge and vastly expensive undertaking. There’s the enormous
raised stage, cleverly positioned to embrace two of Trafalgar Square’s lions, floating magically on
the stage like friendly deities, then there’s the sound-system, the lights and the small army of
security people on hand to usher the crowd of 7,000 people into the enclosure.