An Operetta Confection Revived Amid Splendor Of Song (And Laughter)
NEW YORK – Korngold's The Silent Serenade, a seldom-seen romantic farce with all the silliness and ornateness that befits Viennese operetta, made its U.S. debut in a charming production by students at the Mannes School of Music.
‘Midsummer’ Marriage: Orchestra, Actors Meet In A Shakespeare Romp
HONOLULU – At the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra’s Sounds of Shakespeare Festival, the orchestra led by Dane Lam combined with the Manoa Valley Theatre to stage A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Mendelssohn's music.
Fraught With Concepts, Met’s New ‘Tristan’ Is Still One For The Ages
NEW YORK – Amid director Yuval Sharon's visually busy albeit sumptuous production, soprano Lise Davidsen delivered a vocally glorious Isolde to lead a strong cast and a superb orchestral performance under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Revival Of ‘Akhnaten’ Attests To Durability Of Glass’ Visionary Opera
LOS ANGELES – LA Opera's radiant remounting of its 2016 production made a case that the third in Glass' "portrait" trilogy of people who changed history in science (Einstein on the Beach), politics (Satyagraha), and religion is made of sturdy stuff.
An Opera About Teens Mirrors Gun Violence In Image Of Greek Tragedy
PITTSBURGH – Since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, more than 390,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at school. This is the reality that composer Laura Kaminsky and librettist Crystal Manich probe in Time to Act.
LA And Dudamel Revisit A Latin Ballet Spectacle, This Time With Dancers
LOS ANGELES – The Brazilian troupe Grupo Corpo joined the Philharmonic for Gabriela Ortiz’s feminist ballet Revolución diamantina (Glitter Revolution), which dramatizes protests in Mexico City in response to police brutality toward women.
3 Monodramas Explore Multifaceted Characters Cast In Orchestral Light
BOSTON – To believably conjure a character, develop gestures, and maintain tension in the spare front of stage, with no props is a tour de force. With the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, three singers probed deep into classic figures.
On Final Tour, Assads Flash Virtuosity, Probe Their Brazilian Roots
EVANSTON, Ill. – Brothers Sérgio and Odair Assad, who have been performing together as a guitar duo for six decades, often with other artists, were at their best in an intimate recital hall, just the two of them, direct and unadorned, brilliant as ever.
Pain, Peril Of Gay Love In McCarthy Era Vividly Etched On Opera Stage
SEATTLE – Fellow Travelers, Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's opera about the anti-queer witch hunt of the 1950s, began its 10th-anniversary tour at Seattle Opera. The story and music have only grown in power since I attended the premiere.
A Half-Size Orchestra Takes Off-Angles On Quasi-Iconic Classics
SEATTLE – With much of the band across town collaborating on a Seattle Opera production, the Seattle Symphony and music director Xian Zhang ventured into Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and the Schumann Cello Concerto with Jan Vogler.
With An Eye To Future, LA Ensemble Shows It’s Thriving In The Present
LOS ANGELES – A change of musical leadership looming and (another) new home in prospect, the LA Chamber Orchestra served up a concert of characteristic range and polish with Fazil Say as the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3.
Music Bright And Veiled Melds Into Grand Blaze Of Renaissance Rome
NEW YORK – The Marian Consort’s program “City of Echoes: Rome in the 16th Century” illuminated works by Josquin, Palestrina, and Lassus, as well as Vicente Lusitano and Jean Mouton, whose music has seen nearly 500 years of unjust neglect.
‘Death Of Gesualdo’ Frames Antique Music In Very Distant Action
NEW YORK – In the long, long theatrical space of a church, director Bill Barclay and the British early-music ensemble The Gesualdo Six teamed up for a music drama rich in musical rewards but a challenge visually from a football field away.
Song Recital Reshaped: Three Events Tap Into History, Spirituality, Wit
NEW YORK – Most of today’s recitalists have expanded the canon beyond classical standards to offer personal and often surprising artistic statements. I attended three such programs in New York, each more stimulating than the last.
Salonen Horn Concerto Nods To Bruckner, Then Salonen Doubles Down
BOSTON – Esa-Pekka Salonen's double tribute, with the Boston Symphony and soloist Stefan Dohr (right), began with the North American premiere of his Horn Concerto, which echoes Bruckner, then pivoted to the Fourth Symphony.
Budapest Mahler Third, Sprawling And Specific, Is A Carnegie Highlight
NEW YORK – Having lived with Mahler for years, Budapest Festival Orchestra founder-director Iván Fischer renders challenges invisible and mishaps unimportant thanks to his big picture of the work. It was one of the hall's great evenings this season.
Wish For Social Justice In Troubled Times Gets A Spirited Concert Amen
BEAVERTON, Ore. – In a program entitled What Is Your Hand in This? reflecting on America's 250th birthday and including works by enslaved people, bass-baritone Davóne Tines and the nuevo-Baroque ensemble Ruckus explored who we are.
‘Oklahoma!’ — No, Wait, It’s ‘Manon!’ Done With Exclamatory Concision
NEW YORK – Heartbeat Opera's 90-minute, one-act distillation of Massenet's tragedy parlays a Broadway vibe into a musically rewarding take on the tale, offering ample edge as well as boundless energy. It's even been exuberantly retitled.
No Time For Rehearsal, Pianist Tosses Off Grieg Concerto In Grand Style
PORTLAND, Ore. – When the scheduled soloist injured her hand, multi-prize winner Ying Li caught a flight from New York to join the Oregon Symphony on stage and deliver a bravura performance with conductor David Danzmayr.
Adams Piano Concerto: Emblem Of Americana Amid All-American Fare
LOS ANGELES – While we have yet to define John Adams' place in American music, on a program he conducted with the LA Philharmonic, he wasn't shy about linking his latest piano concerto, After the Fall, to works by Ives, Harris, and Copland.
