Silver Screen Concert Reflects Starring Roles For Women Composers
PERSPECTIVE – Chandra Dancy, right, is among several women composers of film scores whose work will be played in a mixed-media event with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, co-curated and led by Marin Alsop.
With Summer Triumphs, Iowa Opera Showcases Quality And Versatility
INDIANOLA, Iowa – Under the creative leadership of Michael Egel, Des Moines Metro Opera has earned a placed alongside Glimmerglass and Santa Fe. Productions of King Roger, Tosca, and Of Mice and Men find the company in peak form.
Sound For Sore Ears: Ravinia Festival Pavilion Gets A Major Makeover
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – The $70 million renovation encompasses the renamed Hunter Pavilion stage and acoustic shell, seating, backstage facilities, utilities, lighting, and production technology. Ravinia is the Chicago Symphony's summer home.
Very Today ‘Walküre,’ Penderecki Celebration Highlight Baltic Festival
SOPOT, Poland – In a mix of opera and concert presentations over the course of a week, the festival offered a wide-ranging program that reflected its artistic ambitions, commitment to Polish culture, and appetite for experimentation.
In A Recording Profile, Music Of Many Faces Has Snapshot Moment
DIGITAL REVIEW – Heard live, Dutch composer Simeon ten Holt's Canto Ostinato leaves much for performers to decide. Hence the piece is ever renewing. Now a recording. freezing a single interpretation, creates another perspective.
Bach Festival’s Original American Salute: Music Of Indigenous Peoples
EUGENE, Ore. – With two programs of classical music in choral and symphonic form inspired by indigenous folk cultures, the Oregon Bach Festival illustrated how music of the Americas continues to pull from roots that extend wide and deep,
Glass’ Lincoln Tribute Reflects A Great Leader In His Own Quiet Words
LENOX, Mass. – The premiere of Philip Glass' 15th Symphony (Lincoln), once meant for the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, was given by the Boston Symphony led by Karen Kamensek with baritone Zachary James in Lincoln's voice.
Its Dark Clouds Behind, SF Symphony Displays New Zest In French Fare
SAN FRANCISCO – Internal turbulence and a gloomy outlook had suddenly turned to pervasive optimism when guest conductor Stéphane Denève closed out the season with a glittering mix of Poulenc's Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns.
Latest On Classical Gas: Bassoonist-Conductor Is A One-Woman Band
PERSPECTIVE – Speaking with Classical Gas host Gail Wein, enterprising bassoonist Rebekah Heller recalls getting the conducting bug and also dives into a forthcoming album of works for multiple bassoons and how she plays all the parts herself.
Hanging On Every Note And Tantalizing Silence Of String Quartet Cycle
NEW YORK – Deploying extended techniques that produced sundry effects of grinding, scraping, and squeaking, augmented by lots of silence, the JACK Quartet played three works by German composer Helmut Lachenmann, who turns 90 in November.
With Buoyant Concerto For Orchestra, Marsalis Hits All The Right Notes
LOS ANGELES – Wynton Marsalis' latest creation for symphony orchestra, which received its U.S. premiere at the Hollywood Bowl under Rafael Payare, is a lot of fun. And for now, the familiar influence of Duke Ellington seems to have fled.
Poiesis Quartet Wins Competition, But Just Getting There Is A Win
BANFF, Alberta – While the Cincinnati-based foursome hauled away some $500,000 (Canadian) in prizes at the triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition, the event is a reliable career boost for every ensemble invited to participate.
Midsummer Bach Fest Flits From Mendelssohn To ‘Art Of Fugue’ In Bits
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. – With the magical opening bars of A Midsummer Night’s Dream overture, the Carmel Bach Festival launched its 88th season, ushering its audience into a world far from the summer's heat, storms, and politics.
Philip Glass At Large: From Knowing Hands, Music Grand, Intimate
NEW YORK – Philip Glass, 88, is best performed by those who haven’t known a world without him. One such, Gustavo Dudamel, led Glass’ Symphony No. 11 with the NY Philharmonic. Another qualifier, Brooklyn Rider, played Glass quartets.
Mahlerpalooza: 10-Day Fest Drew 5 Orchestras, Fans From…Everywhere
AMSTERDAM – For the third time in its history, the Concertgebouw presented Mahler's complete symphonies, this time played by high-profile ensembles from Budapest, Tokyo, Chicago, and Berlin as well as the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Marsalis Adds Personal Flair To Film Honoring Jazz Legend Armstrong
SAN DIEGO – At a screening of the 2010 silent film Louis, fellow New Orleans-bred trumpeter Wynton Marsalis sat in with a 13-member band to play music he'd written or arranged from originals by Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, and others.
A Powerful ‘Moby-Dick’ Seizes The Met Stage (Don’t Call Him Ishmael)
NEW YORK – Tenor Brandon Jovanovich heads the cast as the vengeful and obsessive Capt. Ahab in composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's adaptation of Herman Melville's novel. But the adventure's sole survivor has been renamed.
In Dreamscape Concert, French Maestro Weaves Legends And Mysteries
NEW YORK – In an evocative program of Romantic songs and choruses titled "My Dream," 40-year-old countertenor-turned-conductor Raphaël Pichon led the Orchestra of St. Luke's, soprano Ying Fang, and baritone Christian Gerhaher.
2 Composer-Performers Merge Personalities In Rarefied Concert Fare
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Multi-talented composers Caroline Shaw (who sings and plays viola) and Gabriel Kahane (singer-pianist) showcased their new, albeit well-traveled, collaborative work Hexagons, on Jorge Luis Borges' fanciful text.
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.
