Sound, Sight Leap From The Concert Hall To The Web
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL – Video of live concerts can be costly to produce but a more compelling experience, and more effective marketing, than audio-only. Here are seven of the best orchestra websites that offer streaming video of concerts.
New ‘Tosca’ Launch At Met Survives Sweeping Exodus
By Susan Brodie
NEW YORK – New Year’s Eve marked the Metropolitan Opera's 951st go at Puccini’s “shabby little shocker.” There was nothing shabby about David McVicar's grandiose production. The shock: that it came off as well as it did.
Rattle, Berlin Aim To Tempt Appetite For Musical ‘Tapas’
By Rebecca Schmid
BERLIN – Unsuk Chin's 11-minute Chorós Chordón leaves the listener wanting more. Premiered by the Berlin Phil and slated for an Asia tour, it is one of the brief musical "tapas" commissioned by chief conductor Simon Rattle.
Muti/Chicago Play it Safe with All-Brahms at Disney Hall
The CSO remains a phenomenal instrument – they never miss – yet the most phenomenal features about these performances were the little things.
Johan Halvorsen’s Violin Concerto In A Worthy Revival
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW – Violinist Henning Kraggerud, joined by the Malmö Symphony under Bjarte Engeset, makes an excellent case for Halvorsen's neglected virtuosic 1909 concerto in a pairing with Nielsen's Violin Concerto.
John Adams On Record – Part One
My most vivid memory of John Adams was way back near the beginning of his career, in 1983 in then-Avery Fisher Hall. His Grand...
New Met ‘Rusalka’ Reflects Tradition In Surreal Images
By James L Paulk
NEW YORK – Spooky! Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Dvořák’s Rusalka starring Kristine Opolais at the Met is a twisted hybrid bordering on a parody of convention. If capricious and confusing, it's also beautiful and intriguing.
Esfahani Stretches Harpsichord’s Era From Then To Now
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Mahan Esfahani is a terrific musician with a beautiful touch and technique to burn. He is also an audaciously contemporary programmer, turning the usual marketing of harpsichord players on its Baroque head.
Brass Group Sets Spark To Ottawa Chamber Festival
By Charles Pope, Jr.
OTTAWA, Ontario – High-decibel intensity marked the onset of Chamberfest, an annual two-week event that's getting bigger and better. The Canadian National Brass Project launched it with classic fanfares and a world premiere.
Bach, By The Sea, Rubs Shoulders With Varied Fare
By Richard S. Ginell
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. – The theme of the 78th Carmel Bach Festival is “Bach, Bohemia and Beyond,” with Dvořák, Bartók, Zelenka, and even Ligeti in the mix with old Herr Bach, plus a concert version of The Magic Flute.
10-CD Boulez Set Offers Portrait Of Young Firebrand
By Richard S. Ginell
DIGITAL REVIEW - Perhaps the most interesting of all the Pierre Boulez repackagings is a collection that revisits his tumultuous early days as an intellectual bomb thrower and musical style setter at the head of the Domaine Musical.
European Jewish Culture Preserved In Song Collection
By Gail Wein
The Stonehill Jewish Song Collection — over a thousand songs on 39 hours of recordings — provides a reminder of a once-stable life in the old country. Dr. Miriam Isaacs has spent three years working on the project.
‘Two Women’ Melds Cinema, Verismo In SF Opera Debut
By Susan Brodie
SAN FRANCISCO - Marco Tutino’s new opera is a flashy hybrid of verismo opera and neorealist cinema that tells of war crimes in an Italian village after Mussolini's fall. Vivid staging and a strong cast helped lift a listenable score.
Ojai Festival Hails Boulez Amid Blitz Of 47 Composers
By Richard S. Ginell
OJAI - This year's music director, percussionist Steven Schick, has programmed works by 34 living composers, including Pulitzer winner John Luther Adams, who'll be represented by two pieces in their West Coast premieres.
From ‘Liebesverbot’ To ‘Ring,’ Wagner Echoes in Leipzig
By James Paulk
LEIPZIG - Oper Leipzig, in the composer's home town, presented the first three installments of its new Ring cycle, along with performances of Parsifal, Tannhäuser, and from Wagner at age 23, the rarely done Das Liebesverbot.
Dresden Fest’s Varied Programs Sizzle And Chill
By Rodney Punt
DRESDEN - "Fire Ice" is the theme of the 2015 Dresden Music Festival, an extravaganza of eclectic offerings devised by German cellist Jan Vogler, who has transformed the event since taking over in 2009.
Premieres Abound As Festival Salutes American Creators
By Richard S. Ginell
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Philharmonic's Next on Grand Festival, running through May 31, features seven world premieres and programs led by music director Gustavo Dudamel and creative chair John Adams.
Rihm’s Thorny Concerto Leaves Listener In Lurch
By Robert Battey
WASHINGTON, D.C. - His music toys with antecedents and expectations; it is full of ideas and contrasts; there is often a dramatic arc. But when all is said and done, Wolfgang Rihm's new piano concerto is much ado about very little.
Marionettes Bring Charm, Finesse On Trek From Austria
By Richard Todd
OTTAWA - The Salzburg Marionette Theatre has toured North America with a playful show built around Schumann’s Papillons and Debussy’s Boîte à joujoux. Remarkably life-like puppets teamed with pianist Orion Weiss. Paris is next.
