MCANA Hosted Columns

  The final Sunday performance (Nov. 27) of Siegfried at Oper Frankfurt was delayed by about 10 minutes because of "technical difficulties". Amid the politely agitated buzz that greeted the announcement I wondered whether the Met's machine ills (see previous post) were contagious. No worries--the show actually did begin within a few minutes and ran without noticeable mishap. The updated production plays with contemporary references while avoiding the gratuitously outrageous conceits.  

    The Boston Symphony Orchestra doesn't come out to the West Coast very often; indeed, "the Aristocrat of Orchestras," as they were marketed in the Erich Leinsdorf era, hadn't been to Los Angeles in 20 years. So when they do make it here, you go – especially since it was their first time playing in Walt Disney Concert Hall Dec. 10.       True, I wish that James Levine's original program had been retained, for Bartok's "Miraculous Mandarin" Suite and Wagner's Prelude

    Random thoughts and comments about some happenings in recordland ...     The news that EMI's recordings division is about to be gobbled up by Vivendi's Universal behemoth – unless the EU tries to block it – will set a lot of collectors' minds reeling.  Ironic that Deutsche Grammophon – originally spawned as a German spinoff of EMI's ancestor, the Gramophone Company – is now part of the group that will take over its parent.  Amazing that virtually all of the

  Flames weren't meant to rage for the entire final scene of the Met's new Siegfried, but during the scenic transition from forest to mountain, as Siegfried was about to climb through the inferno to find his well rested Brunnhilde, Robert Lepage's infamous stage machine halted mid-rotation with a tremendous crash. And there it stayed, girders criss-crossed, serving as a screen for projected flames, like a giant Yule log video. Instead of being revealed asleep in a raised clearing, Deborah Voigt finally

    Opéra de Paris has done some clean-up over the summer. At the Palais Garnier a restaurant has opened in the back of the building, facing the Apple Store across the street. The controversial design features walls of undulating white marble, red upholstery, and vast expanses of glass that somehow met the approval of the historic monuments people. Food and service have pleased the critics somewhat less, though it seems to be crowded whenever I walk by. More pleasingly, the Chagall gracing the ceiling of the

  My intention for this season was to move away from straight reviews, but finally I've seen a production that inspires a few words. The revival of Robert Carsen's production of Tannhäuser currently playing at Opera de Paris is that rare beast: an updating which reveals new meaning without being ridiculous.   Tannhäuser is a painter, Venus is his inspiration, and his studo, Venusberg, overflows with the fruits of his creativity--the stage is empty but for a bed, which sees plenty of

A giant has fallen before his time should have been up – and I got the news minutes after it was announced on my Apple MacBook laptop.  Which shouldn't come as a surprise, since my laptop has become my office, my typewriter, my publishing arm, my archive, my primary research tool, my CD and DVD player and burner, my satellite music collection, my television set, my mailbox, my newspaper, my photo lab, my musical instrument, my road map, my weatherman, my shopping mall, my consumer guide ... and I'll bet that's not even

       I’m listening right now to a treasurable recording of Kurt Sanderling – who died Saturday just two days short of his 99th birthday – conducting Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 with the Dresden Staatskapelle circa 1971 or ‘72.  It’s slow but beautiful and flowing, each phrase curling up and inevitably leading to the next with a firm pulse underlying everything.  There are other roads to Brahms 3 than this, but while you’re immersed in Sanderling’s vision, you

      During the Franz Welser-Möst regime – which looks to be a long one – the Cleveland Orchestra’s preferred recording medium has been the DVD over all audio formats.  So far, this policy has paid off with an excellent collection of Bruckner videos that may turn into a complete cycle if we’re lucky. Symphonies Nos. 5, 7 and 9 have been out for awhile; No. 5 is the pick of the lot with the added advantage of being performed in Bruckner’s own reverberant St. Florian Church

      There is a growing stack of new Mahler DVDs on my shelf, and it cannot be a coincidence that this cornucopia of video has come during the centenary year of Mahler’s death.  For decades, Mahler on video consisted mainly of Leonard Bernstein’s pioneering, still-magnetic Mahler video symphony cycle of the 1970s (plus one last outburst of songs in 1988-90) and a cloud of dust.  But Mahler belongs to the whole world now, and while this new burst of video doesn’t replace Lenny’s unique

By Richard S. Ginell: From Out of the West
Spanning exactly two weeks, Chamberfest Ottawa just completed its 18th season, with a staggering 94 events (down from a high of somewhere in the low 100s) often in overlapping concerts so that no one can possibly hear it all. The emphasis remains mostly upon Canadian performers but the range of idioms is burgeoning outward, expanding into jazz, tango, Asian and mariachi music, street events, and more.

By Richard S. Ginell

One hundred and thirty-five years since its 1876 premiere, Richard Wagner's Ring remains the biggest operatic show on earth, and the composer's influence... has, ever since, been immense and amply documented. Yet what influence has this irresistible force had upon the popular and jazz fields? Not a hell of a lot, if the truth be told. Upon jazz, for the most part, Wagner's actual language has had little impact.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

Opera is the most expensive art form to produce and it has a reputation as entertainment only for the elite. Eric Mitchko, general director of N. C. Opera, was confronted by both challenges when planning the company's concert production of Gounod's popular "Faust," in Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

The N. C. Symphony gave one of its most creative and informative concerts Friday night, a "Composer Portrait" of John Adams. Conductor Benjamin Wallfisch took over at the last minute for music director Grant Llewellyn, turning in a confident, exciting and sensitive performance.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

Andrea Quinn returned as guest conductor of the N. C. Symphony in Meymandi Concert Hall, the site of her last visit here in 2004 as a finalist for the orchestra's music director. Although Grant Llewellyn ultimately landed that position, Quinn's performances, then as now, prove why she was such a worthy contender.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

Like most performing arts groups these days, the N. C. Symphony is trying out innovative ways to counter sagging ticket sales. It hit pay dirt Friday night with its own version of Peter Shaffer's play, "Amadeus." A co-production with Chapel Hill-based PlayMakers Repertory Company, the program was one of the most inventive and successful in many a season.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

One N. C. Symphony programming concept this season is a series of four "Composer Portraits," each devoted to a single composer. The first, heard, in Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall, offered rare and alternative works by Tchaikovsky, played with considerable panache by the orchestra and insightful illumination from the soloist.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

Carolina Ballet commissioned a new score for the premiere of "Dracula" and "Masque of Red Death" from award-winning N.C. composer, J. Mark Scearce.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

Opera is the most difficult of art forms. The demands are so high that productions rarely succeed in every department, success being measured by having more parts go well than not. The production of Puccini's gritty melodrama "Tosca" by the newly formed North Carolina Opera had several successful elements.

By Roy C. Dicks: What's the Score?

There was great beauty, poetry and refinement in the North Carolina Symphony's first Raleigh classical concert of the season, featuring Beethoven's Triple Concerto. The orchestra had a gorgeous sheen, the soloists demonstrated confident artistry and the conductor offered intriguing insights. But a bit more verve and excitement would not have gone amiss.