Last night at Washington Irving High School, the Skampa String Quartet initiated the new season of Peoples' Symphony Concerts with the first program in the Mann Series. The Skampa are repeat visitors to PSC, and their visits are eagerly anticipated, because this is one of the best European string quartets, and they surely lived up to their reputation last night.
They began with the two movements Josef Haydn completed before abandoning his last string quartet, … <Read More>
Zankel Hall, the underground concert hall beneath the main stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City, was the setting last night for a concert dedicated to the music of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and his contemporaries by Christina Pluhar's early music ensemble, L'Arpeggiata, with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky as vocal soloist.
I have been an intensely absorbed fan of Jaroussky for several years now, but this was actually my first occasion to appreciate him "live" in concert, … <Read More>
Last night, the Orchestra of St. Luke's presented their first subscription concert of the season at Carnegie Hall. Usually they have a guest conductor leading the ensemble, but for this program violinist Christian Tetzlaff was the "leader" for those pieces that were not specifically written for solo violin and orchestra, and the group functioned without a visible leader for the two pieces in which he played the solos. The result was something approaching a typical … <Read More>
Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra have launched the second season of their journey through the Beethoven Symphonies in their Classics Declassified Series at Symphony Space. This afternoon they presented a spirited rendition of the Pastoral Symphony (No. 6, Op. 68), following a lengthy, illuminating talk by Maestro Botstein with illustrations played by the orchestra.
I think this series is very important for the members of the orchestra. They do a commendable job in … <Read More>
Regular readers of this blog will know that one of my favorite singers is the baritone Thomas Meglioranza. I'm pleased to report a new recording by Mr. Meglioranza of music for baritone and orchestra by Virgil Thomson on the Boston Modern Orchestra Project label. He sings the "Five Songs from William Blake" and "The Feast of Love," and joins with soprano Kristen Watson in "Collected Poems," a witty setting of words and phrases by Kenneth … <Read More>
Last night I attended a performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at Carnegie Hall. Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra are in the middle of performing a Mahler symphony cycle. They were joined on this occasion by eight singers from the Marinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia, and several choral groups: Orfeon Pamplones, Choral Arts Society of Washington (DC), and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy. The stage was packed, and they still probably did not … <Read More>
Tonight Orpheus Chamber Orchestra played the first concert in their Carnegie Hall Series for 2010/11. They offered Schubert's Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Berg's Three Pieces from the Lyric Suite, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, with guest soloist Garrick Ohlsson.
I thought this was a magnificent concert. The Schubert was right up their alley – a work that thrives on the kind of integrated chamber music approach that this conductorless orchestra follows. This … <Read More>