When Debussy, Ravel Meet Poets, Colloquy Doesn’t Quite Rhyme
NEW YORK – The program "Letters to a Young Poet," with the Diderot String Quartet and two reciters, intermingled works by Debussy and Ravel with letters exchanged between Rainer Maria Rilke and the younger writer Franz Kappus.
‘Fierce’ Soprano Makes Her Carnegie Debut As Quiet, Thoughtful Artist
NEW YORK – Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian also has been called astounding and brilliant. But here, dressed simply and assisted by pianist Lukas Geniušas, she offered a song recital that selflessly focused on Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.
Czech Phil’s Splendid Concerts At Carnegie Take On Festive Aura
NEW YORK – The orchestra's three concerts, with music director Semyon Bychkov and soloists including pianist Daniil Trifonov, offered works by Dvořák and Janáček performed amid banners and floral arrangements in honor of Czech Music Year.
Denk Celebrates Ives, That Thorny American, In Anniversary Recital
PERSPECTIVE – Pianist Jeremy Denk will pay tribute to the composer's boisterous, dense, and unapologetically American music, performing Ives' Sonata No. 2 (Concord) on a program Dec. 12 in New York celebrating the 150th year of his birth.
Gravity Meets Brilliance: Traversing Beethoven’s Violin-Piano Sonatas
SEATTLE – In the intimacy of a 536-seat recital hall, violinist James Ehnes and pianist Orion Weiss performed the full cycle of 10 sonatas over two concerts presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society, of which Ehnes is artistic director.
Northern Lights: Polished Singers Spark Two Canadian Concerts
VANCOUVER – Vancouver Recital Society offered exceptional vocal programs back to back: a local premiere by soprano Barbara Hannigan with pianist Bertrand Chamayou and Schoenberg by Hila Baggio with the Israeli Chamber Project.
Amid The Tour Baggage, Clear Signs Of A Bond Between Maestro, Band
PERSPECTIVE – Even for the much-traveled Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, its recent European trek with music director Rafael Payare stands out for a critical consensus that conductor and orchestra are always on the same page.
‘Dream Of Red Chamber’ In Revised Opera Guise Delivers New Intimacy
MINNEAPOLIS – Bright Sheng's opera based on an epic Chinese novel received a lavish production for its San Francisco Opera premiere in 2016. A scaled-down version, newly staged at the University of Minnesota, refocuses the story.
Project To Celebrate New Music Outshines Compositions It Honors
MONTREAL – Prizes offered by the Canadian-based Azrieli Foundation are generous, the juries impressive, the performances first-rate. And the applicant pool is international. The prizewinning works at a gala choral concert were hit and miss.
Youthful Mozart Opera, With Some New Twists, Is Glittering Vocal Show
BOSTON – Mitridate, written when Mozart was 14, consists mainly of a parade of arias notable for their punishing tessitura and relentless coloratura. The starry cast at Boston Lyric Opera met every challenge with uniform brilliance.
Weinberg Opera Rarity And ‘Hamlet’ In Concert Score High At Salzburg
SALZBURG – This year’s Salzburg Festival boasts an impressive variety, from a new staging of Weinberg’s The Idiot, the summer's hit, to recitals and a concert treatment of Thomas’ opera Hamlet – in which the melancholy Dane is crowned king!
Britten Opera Revels In Dream Al Fresco Setting, And In Midsummer, Too
WORMSLEY ESTATE, U.K. – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with its intimate forest setting, is the perfect summer-festival opera. How fitting to see it at Garsington Opera, an al fresco enterprise located in a woods between London and Oxford.
Not Quite Traditional: ‘Ring’ Without The Rhine, But Rewards Are Golden
ZURICH – At its best, live opera is a visceral experience. Zurich Opera delivered just that with Wagner’s full Ring cycle. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda led the Philharmonia Zürich with a fine cast headed by Tomasz Konieczny's Wotan.
Batons, Bowings, Beats: A Maestro’s New Guide To Modern Masterworks
BOOK REVIEW – Leonard Slatkin’s new book belongs to a distinguished tradition, reflecting a lifetime of study and podium experience at the highest level. And it can be absorbed by anyone with a working knowledge of how to read music.
Quasi-Robotics Concert, Where AI Perhaps Stood For Almost Involved
SAN FRANCISCO – The 10th season of the San Francisco Symphony's SoundBox series ended with a conceptually fascinating program called “Press Play,” curated by “Carol Reiley and her robots.” But it needed more AI compositions.
An Oboe Ode To Joy: Youth Meets Diversity In A Profusion Of Delights
SEATTLE – Artistry and camaraderie shared top billing at Oboe / Oboe, a high-spirited concert presented by Emerald City Music, whose creative series aspires to open classical music to younger and more diverse audiences and performers.
To Orchestra In Need, Guest Conductor Brings Affinity Of An Old Friend
SEATTLE – in its search for a new music director, the Seattle Symphony has played under the wide-ranging styles of seven different conductors this season, but the high-level playing under David Robertson conveyed an aura of mutual comfort.
Energized Spoleto USA Runs Brash Gamut From Barber To Balloon Pops
CHARLESTON, S.C. – An imaginative revival of Barber's Vanessa was the 2023 festival highlight, but the offerings around town also included edgy and outré works along with standards like The Rite of Spring and the New World Symphony.
On Portland’s Vibrant Music Scene, New Is Nourished Everywhere
PORTLAND, Ore. – This city has become a busy hub for new music. Its vigorous creativity ranges from chamber ensembles dedicated to contemporary music to companies that explore the latest operas. The place is jumping.
A Ring Of Authenticity: ‘Das Rheingold’ Played On Period Instruments
PERSPECTIVE – Kent Nagano led the early-music ensemble Concerto Köln in
a version based on lengthy research by a special committee that sought the sound Wagner might have hoped for when composing the piece in the 1850s.
