The Art of the Song
Three masters, two teaching, one singing
You know who Marilyn Horne is: the American mezzo-soprano, born in 1934, who is one of the best singers we have ever known. Do you know what the Marilyn Horne Foundation is? The singer set it up in the mid-1990s, as her performing career was nearing an end. The foundation has a thumbnail description of its purpose: “To encourage, support and preserve the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of vocal recitals and related educational activities in communities across the United States.” Read more
Pianists with French Accents
A look at David Fray, Marc-André Hamelin and Jean-Yves Thibaudet
The world is swimming with pianists, as always, and we will have a look at three of them—all of them French, to one degree or another. (I’ll explain what I mean in a moment.) Our first pianist is no doubt French, a product of the Conservatoire in Paris. He is 28-year-old David Fray, pencil-thin, with a Byronic profile—a face that works on CD covers. He sports long, pianist’s hair, which reminds me of an Irving Berlin lyric about Paderewski. Do you know it? “I’m so excited when I’m invited/ To hear that long-haired genius play.” Read more
What the Flute Knows
Celebrating her 40th anniversary as a stage performer, internationally recognized flutist Carol Wincenc delivered a scintillating performance Nov. 9 at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Concert Hall near Lincoln Center. Her exquisite lyricism and effortless technique affirm that, nearly half a century after her concert debut, she is a true master of her instrument.
“There are an enormous number of possibilities that you can think of in terms of color,” composer and pianist Jake Heggie said of writing flute parts. Heggie composed two of the works that he and Wincenc performed at the concert. “Carol is relentlessly inquisitive about how best to bring out my intentions as a composer.” Read more
The Diva’s Back
By Eli Jacobson
1984 was a memborable year for more than just George Orwell fans. That was also the year a major new soprano also emerged in the world of opera: Aprile Millo. Millo had just joined the Young Artist’s Program at the Metropolitan Opera and had sung Verdi’s “Ernani” in the parks. Major stage debuts were still in the future as far as New York City was concerned. Read more
A Stunning Young Pianist
And a lovable veteran soprano
You might as well learn her name now, because, if you care about the piano at all, you may well be repeating it for decades: The name is Yuja Wang. She was born in China, in 1987. She eventually made her way to the United States and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where she studied with Gary Graffman. That is a familiar trajectory: China to Curtis and Graffman. Lang Lang made it a few years before Wang. He is now a grand old man of 27. Read more
Puccini’s ‘Edgar’ Re-Imagined
Frank Capra once observed that he had begun by thinking that drama took place when the actor cried but it was really when the audience cried.
This confusion may explain what’s behind the consistent failure of Giacomo Puccini’s tuneful early opera Edgar. Unlike La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly, it does not win our hearts. Yet, knowing the excellence of its melodies, Puccini didn’t give up on it when its first audiences rejected it. Rather, he made many versions of it, including both three and four act settings. But none have subsequently won over the public. Read more
The Maestro Machine
In the opening scene of director Allan Miller’s new film about the acclaimed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, the sweaty-browed maestro poises his baton over a student orchestra in Rotterdam. “I’m important now,” he says, daring the musicians to better respond to his stick. “You cannot start without me.”
The 86-minute film, aptly titled You Cannot Start Without Me: Valery Gergiev, Maestro, is a window into the life of Gergiev, international conductor and director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Throughout the film, Gergiev conducts everywhere—from the Metropolitan Opera to the London Symphony Orchestra—and builds the Mariinsky, a famed Russian ballet theater and opera house, into musical prominence. Read more
111 is Not a Lonely Number
Deutsche Grammophon is celebrating its 111th year with the release of a 55-CD box set, and although 111 seems like an odd year for a big anniversary, the number just made sense, according to Michael Lang, president of the classical music record label. “Ideally we have would have celebrated our 110th anniversary, but that also happened to be the Karajan year, and we didn’t want to step on the toes of that,” Lang explained, referring to a 38-disc Herbert von Karajan set released last year. “111 looked kind of cool, and lent itself to great graphical applications.” In the United States, the anniversary box set was released Oct. 20. Read more
A Sane, Well-Sung Figaro
And a Brahms concerto that sounded almost like Mozart
Here in the opening weeks of the season, the Metropolitan Opera has offered two works by Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. The company’s music director, James Levine, is one of the best Mozart conductors of all time. Yes, of all time. And he was not booked for either Mozart opera. As it happened, he needed back surgery shortly after the season began, and was knocked out of the pit for anything until about December. Read more
Maestro Gilbert, Et Al.
Thoughts on a new classical music season in the city
The new season is upon us, and the big news in classical music, I suppose, is the New York Philharmonic: They are changing conductors. Gone is Lorin Maazel and arrived is Alan Gilbert. Who? A fair question.
He is the former conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also, as they say, “a good Philharmonic story.” His father was a violinist in the orchestra, and his mother still is. Plus, he’s a native New Yorker—that somehow counts too. And he is young, or youngish, at 42—which also counts, for some. Age and experience used to be prized on the podium; now people—at least critics and administrators—are mad for youth. Strange. Read more
