Classical Music
M-M-M Good! Maazel, Masur and Mehta Return to Philharmonic
Among the New York Philharmonic’s guest conductors this season are three of the orchestra’s former music directors: Zubin Mehta, who was here from 1978 to 1991; his successor, Kurt Masur, who served until 2002; and his successor, Lorin Maazel, who served until 2009. Please note that, three times in a row, we had a music...
Choirs Plus Ultra: Sacred harmonies draw cheers
Blue Heron and Ensemble Plus Ultra—two out-of-the-box choirs from out of town—met in New York City last week to present a concert of 16th-century music so rousing that it was met by a standing ovation; the stunning stained glass at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church rattled to cheers associated more with Don Giovanni than sacred...
From Rosina to the Finland Station: Singers, a Composer and Sibelius
Since its debut in 2006, Bartlett Sher’s production of The Barber of Seville at the Metropolitan Opera has had a string of excellent Rosinas: Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato and Elina Garanca. They have all been different from one another, and they have all been sparkling. Add a fourth Rosina to the string: Isabel Leonard, the...
Carnegie’s Long Short Night
Gergiev and Mariinsky orchestra start season Carnegie Hall opened its season with an orchestra from out of town—way out of town: St. Petersburg (and not Florida). This was the Mariinsky Orchestra, known during Soviet times as the Kirov. Carnegie Hall will feature other orchestras from abroad this season: the Berlin and Vienna philharmonics, most promisingly....
Sharks, Jets, Sting and Others
Touring a trio of musical events The setup in Avery Fisher Hall was this: West Side Story, the movie, played on a big screen. The New York Philharmonic played the orchestra part. The singing was left to the people in the movie (or those who dubbed for them). By some wizardry, technicians were able to...
New York Jazz’s Resilient Rhythm
Amina Figarova’s ‘September Suite’ a highlight Creators of jazz and other new music in New York are a resolute bunch, determined to make the best of circumstances that are tough even in the best of times. Immediately after the World Trade Center towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, local musicians I know reacted to...
Facing the Music of 9/11
New York’s Hear Memorial concerts and other good intentions After 9/11, there were several memorial concerts here in New York. Then, for the next few years, there were many, many “9/11 pieces”—compositions “about” 9/11 or having to do with 9/11 in some way. This month, there are, or have been, 10th anniversary concerts. And we...
Daedalus String Quartet at Music Mountain
Postponed by Hurricane Irene, the acclaimed Daedalus String Quartet, with award-winning pianist Soyeon Lee, will wrap up Music Mountain’s 2011-2012 season at 3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11, rather than the previously announced Aug. 28.
Pianist Fuzjko Hemming Returns to NYC
Fuzjko Hemming brings her concert tour to NYC for two performances For the first time since 2009, “legend of the piano” Fuzjko Hemming will be returning to Alice Tully Hall as part of her Piano Solo Concert USA Tour.
When Ballet and Music Are Equal Partners
Rodion Shchedrin at Lincoln Center, plus Koji Attwood at Mannes Early in its season, the Lincoln Center Festival highlighted the music of Rodion Shchedrin. Rather, the festival gave a taste of Shchedrin’s music—there’s a lot of it. He has become one of the most popular classical composers of today. Why’s that? For one thing, he’s...
With NY Phil Absent, Brooklyn Phil Wants City Parks Concert Gig
On Friday, we received an open letter to Mayor Bloomberg from Brooklyn Philharmonic Artistic Director Alan Pierson. In it, Pierson offered that the Brooklyn Phil would gladly play free concerts in the city’s parks since the New York Philharmonic is not programming any such concerts this year. “Since our cousin, the New York Philharmonic, has...
A Liszt-Style Wizard
Jay Nordlinger on the pianist Cyprien Katsaris, plus some thoughts on the embattled City Opera We are in the middle of a “Liszt year,” meaning a Liszt anniversary year: The composer-pianist was born in 1811. In February, Jean-Yves Thibaudet played an all-Liszt recital in Carnegie Hall; in March, Evgeny Kissin played another one in the...
Getting Musical Fixes This Summer
Some friendly suggestions Summer is around the corner, and musical life in this city won’t stop. You can skip away to Bard, Caramoor or Glimmerglass, of course. But you can also stay here in the big bad city. I will give my sense of the highlights.
Conductors on Parade
James Levine, Yuri Temirkanov and Riccardo Muti at Carnegie Hall Taking the stage at Carnegie Hall, James Levine received hearty and heartfelt applause. Audiences have always greeted him with enthusiasm. But they are greeting him with extra enthusiasm now, for this reason: Owing to health problems, Levine has had to cancel many engagements. So every...
The More Things Change
A semi-staged Knickerbocker Holiday and Graham’s Dance is a Weapon The good old days—ha! But back in the 1930s, there’s no question that Broadway as well as modern dance made a muscular response to the global encroachment of Fascism as well as the international economic collapse. Recent revivals of representative works resonated deeply, meaningfully. Late in...
The Autumnal and the Anomic
André Previn and Kiri Te Kanawa at Carnegie Hall; monodramas at City Opera Carnegie Hall has been hosting a Japan festival, which has included a concert by the NHK Symphony Orchestra. NHK, in Japan, is more or less the PBS, or, better, the BBC. The orchestra started out as the New Symphony Orchestra in 1926....
How to Give a Recital
The mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and the pianist Evgeny Kissin have memorable outings in Carnegie Hall Joyce DiDonato received more applause on entering the stage at Carnegie Hall than most musicians do after their best effort. She is a singer—a mezzo-soprano from Kansas—who has pretty much all the goods a singer could want: an excellent voice,...
Melody of Memory
Violinist Yuval Waldman discovered and performs forgotten works composed by Eastern European Jews Yuval Waldman may be known for his talent with the violin, but he’s been spending a lot of his time in quiet spaces. As the founder and artistic director of Music Bridges International, Waldman took the opportunity to pore through library archives...
Three Conductors and Two Violinists
And three orchestras and an OOMP Paavo Järvi is the son of Neeme Järvi, one of the most underrated conductors of our time—Neeme, I mean. Paavo is a conductor himself, and a very good one. (His brother, Kristjan, is also a conductor.) In recent years, he has visited New York with the chamber orchestra he...
Surround-Sound Spectacular
A Berlioz Requiem, a pianist and a soprano The stage of Carnegie Hall—which we are asked to call the Ronald O. Perelman Stage—was about as full as it could be. There was a healthy orchestra, with gleaming timpani on either side. Behind the orchestra, there was a massive chorus. What were they all gathered for,...
Post-Modern, Post-Racial Roots Revival
The charm of the Carolina Chocolate Drops Sophisticated New Yorkers will sing along with old-timey fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo-playin’, from those foot-stompin’ and harmonizin’ younguns—provided they are friendly, attractive and talented post-racial post-modernists. Proof was provided Feb. 2 by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Grammy-nominated trio who played the Allen Room of Jazz at...
