The last concert of the season in Peoples' Symphony's Arens Series was a piano recital by Vladimir Feltsman this evening.  I approached this with great anticipation, but my hopes were only partially fulfilled.

Feltsman began with a suitably improvisatory-sounding rendition of Mozart's D Minor Fantasy, K. 397, and then completed the first half with four Impromptus by Franz Schubert, collectively published as Op. 90.  By his body language and the quick transitions between numbers, Feltsman … <Read More>

Tonight I was at Carnegie Hall to hear Yuri Bashmet and Evgeny Kissin perform Dmitri Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147.  This was truly an important musical event of the first order.  Bashmet is undoubtedly the greatest violist of his generation, and Kissin is among the greatest pianists of his generation.  They both grew up in the Russian musical education system in which Shostakovich was the looming great creative figure, and are fully … <Read More>

I've spent several days mulling over what to say about Stephen Schwartz's opera, "S

Tonight the American Symphony Orchestra offered up a splendid finale to their season, appropriately timed to fall during Passover: Paul Dessau's large oratorio for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, "Haggadah shel Pesach," in what is claimed to be it United States premiere performance.  Leon Botstein led a dozen vocal soloists, the Collegiate Chorale Singers, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and, of course, the ASO, at Carnegie Hall.

Max Brod, the librettist, took the traditional Passover Seder … <Read More>

Peoples' Symphony Concerts ended their 2011-2012 Festival Series at New York City's Town Hall on Sunday (April 17) on a positive note with the Schumann Trio, a stellar aggregation of clarinetist Anthony McGill, violist Michael Tree, pianist Polonsky, playing music by Mozart, Schumann, Bruch and Brahms.          

Each of these musicians has an active career of their own, but they come together from time to time to explore the repertory available for a trio of clarinet, viola and … <Read More>

Many friends have used the word "sad" to describe the news that the Philadelphia Orchestra's board of directors voted to file a Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia.  I can agree that there is some sadness attending this event, but I would point out that Chapter 11 is about hope, about optimism.  It would be truly sad, indeed tragic, if the board's reaction to the orchestra's financial situation were to file … <Read More>

Kurt Masur, who served as Music Director of the NY Philharmonic through the 1990s, returned to lead the orchestra this week in a program of Liszt, Gubaidulina and Brahms.  Unfortunately, an eye infection that made it impossible for him to read a score while conducting ruled out the Gubaidulina, so Assistant Conduct Daniel Boico stepped in, with Masur leading the Liszt (Les Preludes) and Brahms (Symphony No. 1) without a score.

Masur, who will be … <Read More>

This past Saturday I was quite sated with music!  In the afternoon, I attended a matinee performance of Gioachino Rossini's comic opera Le Comte Ory at the Metropolitan Opera, and in the evening I was at Washington Irving High School for a concert by the ATOS Trio sponsored by Peoples' Symphony Concerts.  Each in its own way was a feast for the ears.

Rossini's Le Comte Ory was his last comic opera (the last dramatic … <Read More>

Over the past two seasons the American Symphony Orchestra, led by Leon Botstein, has presented the complete cycle of Beethoven Symphonies in its Classics Declassified Series at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Tonight was the triumphal conclusion, with a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony that lacked nothing in excitement, thrills, depth, beauty, and inspiration.  This came on top of a superb performance just two days ago of the 8th Symphony at … <Read More>

I was lucky to attend the first of four performances by the New York Philharmonic this week of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical, "Company."  I had seen the recent Broadway revival, but otherwise my only exposure to this show had been through recordings (original cast, and also individual songs that show up frequently on Sondheim recital programs).  Because of the peculiar staging of the recent Broadway revival (with members of the cast carrying around instruments and … <Read More>