‘Butterfly’ Undergoes Sensitivity Correction, But It’s Still ‘Butterfly’
BOSTON – The setting of Boston Lyric Opera's production, starring soprano Karen Chia-Ling Ho, is World War II America. While the balance of power is better, stereotypes remain, and the primary reason to hear the opera is unchanged.
In Bravura Met Recital, Grand Wagnerian Voice Essays Intimate Finesse
NEW YORK – Over the past four years, Met Opera audiences have heard the refulgent-voiced Norwegian soprano Lisa Davidsen, now a favorite, sing the likes of Wagner's Eva and Strauss' Marschallin. Her season-opening recital was a joy.
On Vast Montana Vista, Chamber Music Invokes An Unexpected Intimacy
FISHTAIL, Mont. – Located on a 12,500-acre ranch, Tippet Rise Art Center offers music in venues with seating for no more than 150 people. Expansive views and monumental sculptures that punctuate the landscape provide the sublime ambience.
In A Sunny Vale Where Hemingway Sheltered, Free Concerts Resound
SUN VALLEY, Idaho – Offering entirely open orchestra and chamber music programs since its inception nearly four decades ago, the Sun Valley Music Festival has grown into the largest privately funded, admission-free festival in the U.S.
Music From The Heart: Intimate Portraits Of Schumanns, Brahms
PORT ANGELES, Wash. – Capping the 2023 Music on the Strait festival, pianist Jeremy Denk, violinist James Garlick, violist Richard O'Neill, and cellist Ani Aznavoorian offered glowing accounts of works by Robert and Clara Schumann and friend.
Young Festival Fellows Display Artistry In Music Of Women Composers
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. – The Olympic Music Festival devoted its Aug. 20 concert to three visionary female composers of the past two centuries, with performances that combined seasoned professionals and festival Fellows.
Marin Alsop At Ravinia: Lim, Mozart Are Magic, Beethoven’s A Muddle
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. – The festival's chief conductor led the Chicago Symphony and Cliburn Competition winner Yunchan Lim in thrilling Rachmaninoff and added a charming Magic Flute. An elaborated Beethoven Ninth fared less well.
A New ‘Ring,’ Or Is This ‘Rheingold’ Just Toe In The Wagnerian Stream?
SEATTLE – Seattle Opera's choice of Wagner's Das Rheingold to open its 60th season is cause for celebration for opera fans. But the company's last full Ring was a decade ago, and there's doubt whether Seattle will revive its Wagner ambitions.
Kander & Ebb Redux: ‘New York, New York’ Is Love Note To Big Apple
NEW YORK – The new pastiche directed by Susan Stroman closed its doors on Broadway after 110 performances, though the night I attended a packed house cheered to the rafters. The songs, the dances, the spectacle were all worth the price.
Euphoniums, Tubas And Flutes, Oh My How This Music Fest Is Growing
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Under music director Gerard Schwarz, the Eastern Music Festival has evolved from an orchestral and chamber music program to embrace educational experiences for young musicians and offer far-ranging repertoire.
Operetta And Musicals Nurtured In A Serious Tradition Of Frothy Fun
WOOSTER, Ohio – Whether it's Gilbert and Sullivan or Lerner and Loewe, Ohio Light Opera approaches its productions with the attention to historical accuracy of an early-music group, from sets and staging to costumes and choreography.
In Their Diverse Styles, 4 Women Composers Affirm Music’s Vitality
LENOX, Mass. – Composers Tebogo Monnakgotla, Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir, four distinct voices each with dozens of major works, commanded the spotlight at Tanglewood's Festival of Contemporary Music.
Passion Fires The Heart Of Summer Concerts In Chamber Music Festival
SEATTLE – In the heart of summer, the Emerald City becomes a magnet for chamber-music enthusiasts, lured by the quality and variety of the concert bonanza that forms the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s month-long Summer Festival.
Under New Conductor, Bach Fest Restarts With (Wait For It) Mahler 4th
CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. – There is a new breeze blowing through the 86th Carmel Bach Festival. In her debut summer as artistic director, Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen led Haydn's The Creation and the festival's first-ever Mahler.
Two Bel Canto Operas Revived, And Both Well Worth The Rediscovery
NEW YORK – Musicologist Will Crutchfield's summer training and performance series offered Donizetti's tragedy Poliuto and the comedy Crispino e la comare (Crispino and the Fairy Godmother) by brothers Luigi and Federico Ricci.
At A Critical Transition, Northwest Music Fest Delivers A Concert Blitz
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Pacific Northwest fans of orchestral music were offered quite the selection of concerts at the 2023 Bellingham Festival of Music: five different programs led by as many conductors in a wide range of works in 18 days.
Dudamel May Be Bound For NY, But His Heart Still Beats In Latin Time
HOLLYWOOD – As an LA Philharmonic concert demonstrated, one of Gustavo Dudamel’s key achievements as music director has been the championing of Latin American composers through his Pan American Music Initiative.
Eyeful Of Grand Vistas, Earful Of Great Music: Critics Hit Bravo! Vail
VAIL, Colo. – Nestled amid mountain peaks, the town of Vail is practically synonymous with skiing, but in summer it is a classical music mecca centered on the Bravo! Vail Music Festival and its bounty of concerts and music-education events.
Decked In Blazing Red, Youth Orchestra Puts USA Stamp On Berlioz
NEW YORK – At Carnegie Hall, the musicians of the National Youth Orchestra-USA sported their signature uniform of bright red slacks, black blazers, white shirts, and black-and-white high-top sneakers. Andrew Davis conducted, clad in black.
Hamelin Tops Marquee Twofold At Music Fest As Pianist, Composer
SEATTLE – Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, performing in his own Piano Quintet, headlined a July 13 concert of the Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival that added a Beethoven violin-piano sonata and a Brahms string sextet.
