A Different Ring Opera Also Finds A Matchless Hero Cursed By Fate
NEW YORK – “I killed a man, and the world forgave me. I loved a man, and the world wants to kill me.“ So sings the aging champion boxer Emile Griffith, haunted by his fatal beating of an opponent in Terence Blanchard's Champion, now at the Met.
Music And Movement Meld In Exploration Of ‘Marinated Memories’
SEATTLE – The joint creation of composer Caroline Shaw and dancer-choreographer Vanessa Goodman, Graveyards and Gardens elaborates the brain's deconstruction, regeneration, and transformation of a repeated pattern or memory.
The Oddest Concert: Power Out, Little Light; Finally, Adès’ Concerto
CHICAGO – What a strange, strange evening. An extended power failure at Orchestra Hall delayed the Chicago Symphony's concert, and part of the program was dropped. But pianist Kirill Gerstein and composer-conductor Thomas Adès prevailed.
Embracing Its Audience, A Visionary Orchestra Breaks Cultural Mold
LOUISVILLE – Maybe you know the composer, maybe you don't. It doesn't matter, says Louisville Orchestra music director Teddy Abrams, who shuns talk about standard repertoire as he leads concert adventures in exciting music old and new.
Vespers Bear Message Of Sorrow, Hope For ‘Blessed Earth’ In Peril
NEW YORK – Increasingly, composers are dealing with issues of climate change. John Luther Adams, 70, got there long ago. His new Vespers of the Blessed Earth was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and The Crossing chamber choir.
Female Ensemble Gives History Lesson In Merit Of Women Composers
NEW YORK – The Cassatt String Quartet and pianist Magdalena Baczewska, in an impressive program of works by Amy Beach, Florence Price, and Dorothy Rudd Moore, made their case that the creation of good music transcends gender.
‘Pelléas et Mélisande’ As Resonant Verismo: Dark, Bleak, Beautiful
LOS ANGELES – If Debussy’s grim, nearly tuneless tragedy has the reputation of being a problem for many listeners, a Los Angeles Opera production conducted by James Conlon at least cast the work in its best light: duly stark, altogether first-rate.
Opera Triptych Paints Loneliness, Rage, Hope On A Troubled Planet
CHICAGO – Seemingly adrift in Proximity, an opera triple bill at Lyric Opera of Chicago, are the children of a tough neighborhood, two lovers thwarted by technology, and even earth itself, cosmically majestic but endangered in slow burn.
Worldly Cello Concerto Gathers Its Movements From Three Continents
SEATTLE – Cellist Jan Vogler, co-commissioner of the novel work composed by America's Nico Muhly, Germany's Sven Herbig, and China's Zhou Long, was the soloist in a stunning U.S. premiere with the Seattle Symphony conducted by Yue Bao.
Strauss Rarity ‘Daphne’ Gets A Ringing Revival, Beautiful And Very Loud
NEW YORK – With soprano Jana McIntyre offering a remarkable and tireless performance in the demanding title role, Leon Botstein led his American Symphony Orchestra and a strong supporting cast in a splendid, if noisy, account.
Like A Chef In Kitchen, Maestro Loves Mixing His Baroque Ingredients
PORTLAND, Ore. – Julian Perkins, the newly appointed artistic director of Portland Baroque Orchestra, is cooking up some fresh ideas for his first season. One of the dishes he has concocted is an opera pasticcio, basically a musical pie.
After Gang Rape, Hope In Pakistan: An Opera Honors Transcendence
PORTLAND, Ore. – Unlike operas where the tragic soprano dies, the heroine of Thumbprint lives. Portland Opera’s production tells the real-life story of Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman who chooses life over shame-induced suicide.
Pianist Remembers Dad With A Little Help From His Composer Friends
NEW YORK – The unusual aspect of "Inheritances,” Adam Tendler’s piano recital March 11 in memory of his father, was that all 16 of its short memorial pieces were composed by the pianist’s friends. A spirited audience of more friends was on hand.
Vienna Phil, Thielemann Invoke Mighty Bruckner With Rewarding Eighth
NEW YORK – Capping a run of three different programs at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Christian Thielemann delivered a Bruckner Eighth Symphony that was serious, beautiful, and profoundly resonant.
New Opera As Sapling: Glimpse At Machover’s Lyric Portrait Of Trees
NEW YORK – Tod Machover is working on an opera based on Richard Powers’ Pulitzer-winning novel The Overstory. Sejong Soloists, the commissioning ensemble, offered a fragment performed with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
Mehta, Now Grand Old Maestro, Flips Switch In A Vibrant Mahler Third
LOS ANGELES – Zubin Mehta, who is 86 years old and served as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1962-78, led the orchestra in a performance to remember, one marked by drama, drive, poetry, mystery, and tenderness.
Pursuing The Intensity Of ‘Thousand Suns’ In Opera World Premiere
SEATTLE – It is hardly an easy task to transform a 367-page novel into a three-hour, two-act opera. Composer Sheila Silver and librettist Stephen Kitsakos have done no less in A Thousand Splendid Suns, about life in war-torn Afghanistan.
3 Women Conductors Eclipse Gender Issues In NY Phil Concerts
NEW YORK – How long must women conductors wait until they’re simply referred to as conductors? We may be there, to judge from recent programs led by Dalia Stasevska, Ruth Reinhardt, and Nathalie Stutzmann (pictured).
‘Lohengrin’ Once More Glides Onto Met Stage, In Blaze Of Vocal Glory
NEW YORK – An abstract, post-apocalyptic vision of Wagner's medieval tale by director François Girard lacked castle and swan boat, but the singing and playing made the Met's first revival of Lohengrin since 2006 an event to celebrate.
Its Humanity In View, ‘German Requiem’ Gets A Full-Power Treatment
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Brahms once quipped: "I'd happily give up the 'German' in the title and just put 'Human.'" Dmitry Sitkovetsky led the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and Master Chorale in an emotionally charged performance.
