tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66009102011-04-21T20:02:38.830-05:00politics and art: commentary on international relations and classical music from washington to munichjflnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-88910930379101649502009-01-21T06:14:00.013-05:002009-01-21T09:47:38.423-05:00

The Herald Tribune (International / US)The Sunday Telegraph (UK)The Observer (UK)Obama doing the Gore... oh, wait, that's his daughter. Cancel that thought, forget the insinuation.The Sunday Times (UK)Hürriyet (Turkey)Sabah (Turkey)Libération (France)El País (Spain)To Vima ("Το ΒΗΜΑ", "The Platform" - Greece)Kronen Zeitung (Austria)"Obama's Oath"Les Echos (France)Kathimerini ("H Καθημερινή", "The

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-66310931831797907502009-01-21T06:02:00.003-05:002009-01-21T06:09:26.610-05:00

The Sunday Telegraph (UK)The Observer (UK)Sabah (Turkey)Hürriyet (Turkey)

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1166168975907199222006-12-15T02:49:00.000-05:002006-12-15T02:49:35.926-05:00

Other Reviews:Daniel Ginsberg, NSO Makes the Most of a Thin Connection (Washington Post, December 15)Ginastera - who pronounced his name with a soft, Italian "G" - is a composer who has suffered undue neglect since he died in 1983… and Maestro Slatkin is out to change that. Part of that was the programming of the Concerto for Strings op.33. Leonard Slatkin, who passionately believes in this work,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1165670507181052422006-11-03T08:21:00.000-05:002006-12-09T08:21:47.186-05:00

Rostropovich's absence from the rostrum this week must have left many listeners hoping for Maxim Vengeroff and Schostakovich disappointed. Although Mr. Rostropovich's state of health is precarious in general, there is still hope that much of the Shostakovich Birthday party will be preserved for later this season. Happy 101st! Meanwhile, Pinchas Zukerman kindly agreed to fill the empty slot as

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1165670463477818342006-10-31T08:20:00.000-05:002006-12-09T08:21:03.483-05:00

Earlier today I had the opportunity to interview Pinchas Zukerman for WGMS' "Classical Conversations". This follows an interview with Ivan Fischer and one with Leonard Slatkin (due to go up in December).This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Pinchas Zukerman will step into the void that Rostropovich’s cancellation of his series of Shostakovich programs with Maxim Vengeroff and Martha Argerich left

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1165670432431417962006-10-29T08:20:00.000-05:002006-12-09T08:20:32.436-05:00

D. Brubeck, Nocturnes, John SalmonIt’s very refreshing to hear music that is not longer than it needs to be. While that pleasure of succinctness may not suffice to get listeners to discover a love for Webern – master of musical economy – it certainly does in the case of Dave Brubeck’s Nocturnes. Solo piano works that last anywhere from one minute to five, they are musical postcards from the

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1165670397946900162006-10-28T07:19:00.000-05:002006-12-09T08:19:57.950-05:00

To hear Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in concert is either the main draw to attend (perhaps for more than half the audience) or the bane to be endured for much of the rest (critics included) who are there to await – in the case of the Kirov’s Wednesday concert – a Shostakovich Eleventh Symphony.Alexander Toradze’s performance under Valery Gergiev’s baton was the third Tchaikovsky First

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850692679551432006-10-26T03:18:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:18:12.686-05:00

Beethoven / Brahms, Piano Concerto / Symphony no.2, Backhaus / Böhm / WPhThe first DVD issue in this batch of three – all related via performances of Brahms symphonies – is the EuroArts issue (from the Unitel archives) of Karl Böhm conducting the Fourth Beethoven Piano Concerto and the Second Brahms Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic and Wilhelm Backhaus as the soloist. Böhm’s Brahms is warm,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1165670365563914252006-10-25T07:19:00.000-05:002006-12-09T08:19:25.593-05:00

Few things are more gratifying than a little chamber music on a Sunday afternoon. And for all of us who can’t put a little musical soiree on ourselves, the Kennedy Center Chamber Players’ concert series is a great way to spend such an hour or two. The audience in the nearly sold out Terrace Theater must have thought so, too – especially after being treated to Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major (K

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850613583700932006-08-12T03:16:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:16:53.590-05:00

Archiv has been pushing Vivaldi lately – a composer for whom I usually experience benevolent indifference. But I am not likely to miss out on great new performances, whether it be a new opera (like Motezuma, reviewed by Charles), or a newly found choral work like Dixit Dominus or world premiere recordings of Violin Concertos RV 5837-5841. Violin Concertos, Carmignola, Marcon / VBOThese late

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850552302203412006-08-11T03:15:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:15:52.306-05:00

G. Verdi, La Traviata, Rizzi, Decker, Netrebko, Villazon, Hampson et al.Few opera recordings – CD or DVD – have been more looked forward to (or more heavily promoted) than the famed 2003 Traviata from Salzburg with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. The marketing was carefully devised: first the complete opera, then the arias and highlights with a preview of the DVD, and finally, a few months

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850515787660812006-08-05T03:14:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:15:15.793-05:00

CapriccioFour Last Songs - SzellFour Last Songs - AckermannRosenkavalierLast night, on August 3rd, 2006, the soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf died age 90. There is little to be added to Anthony Tommasini’s excellent obituary. (Skip Adam Bernstein's, go straight to Tim Page's.) Her undisputed fame and yet strangely controversial ability – never mind the even more controversial part of her bio that

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850473126053132006-08-04T03:14:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:14:33.130-05:00

Record heat in the DC area was probably to blame for the Wolf Trap not being sold out – despite our every favorite Renée Fleming performing on Thursday night. The threat of thunderstorms may not have helped either – and as if to reinforce that there is a certain inherent risk in opting for outside seating, a thunder slowly shuddered into Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The performance of the

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1161850431278557202006-08-01T03:13:00.000-05:002006-10-26T03:13:51.306-05:00

W.A. Mozart, Die Zauberflöte, Abbado / Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Claudio Abbado is enjoying his Indian Summer and conducts bands he feels particularly drawn to… among them the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (more or less made up of the best players of his previous orchestras, united by their love and respect for Abbado) and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. It is with the latter that he performed the

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402570152944152006-07-31T22:22:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:22:50.156-05:00

A.Zemlinksy, A.Enna, Die Seejungfrau / Matchstick Girl, T.Dausgaard, Danish NSO & ChorusConlon / SeejungfrauBeaumont / Seejungfrau - SACDDausgaard / Seejungfrau - ChandosAny Mermaid coming my way is highly welcome – and if I have to content myself with Alexander (von) Zemlinsky’s tone poem of that name (as I had to, so far), that’s fine, too. Die Seejungfrau, in its original German title, is 104

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402291137225992006-07-29T22:17:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:18:11.140-05:00

Amid the plethora of cultural offerings in D.C. are the many film screenings at various museums (Freer, NGA, etc.), Embassies, and the AFI Silver which I tend to forget about or neglect when the concert season is under way. When D.C. turns into a muggy swamp for the summer and – as far as music is concerned – cultural wasteland, these events appear from under the radar screen and offer diversion

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402247041172582006-07-28T22:17:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:17:27.043-05:00

The rank and file of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society finished the Summer Thursday Series at Strathmore this year, as last year, with Beethoven’s 9th – perhaps the most iconic of all works in classical music. Conducting was the young and energetic Edward Gardiner who proved so energetic, indeed, that he proceeded to rid himself of excess energy by means of a

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402106091784982006-07-25T22:14:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:15:06.100-05:00

G. Mahler, Symphony No.8, Boston/OzawaWit / WarsawBernstein / WPhNagano / DSO BerlinKubelik / BRSO / AuditeOzawa's tenure with Boston was not a very happy one towards the end of its stretch... and that muddles our memory of him as a conductor. But at his best, he had the ability to be truly spell-binding and when the BSO/Ozawa affair was still young, they could create magic. This recording from

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402072462897682006-07-23T22:14:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:14:32.470-05:00

I now know why Emil DeCou does not mind leading an orchestra at the Wolf Trap: where else would he get an announcement over the speaker-system like the team’s star quarterback taking to the gridiron. Thus opened a musical saga that began in the footsteps of hairy-footed hobbits meandering their way through Howard Shore’s score depicting Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings – a medley of

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154402034079376882006-07-21T22:13:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:13:54.086-05:00

By Richard Kopf, Guest ReviewerIn association with its fine exhibit, “Klee and America” (running through September 10), the Phillips Collection presented a very interesting Thursday lecture by lecturer-composer-performer-jazz/classical-Third Stream Guru Gunther Schuller on the subject “The Harmonies of Schuller and Klee”. No ego involved here: music was the main focus, so Schuller gets listed

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154401979879780192006-07-18T22:10:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:12:59.883-05:00

J. Brahms / C. Saint-Saëns Sonata for Two Pianos et al., G. & S. PekinelLizt/-LvB, KatsarisLizt/-LvB, HowardSchoenberg/-Brahms/-Bach, Eschenbach4 Seasons, AlessandriniRediscovering familiar, great music is always a wonderful affair. It may be through a stunning performance of a war horse (just think of Alessandrini’s Four Seasons!) or, perhaps more controversially, through an orchestration or

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154401600552221802006-07-15T22:05:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:06:40.556-05:00

A sweltering hot Thursday hosted the second of four “Cool Summer Nights with the BSO at Strathmore” – and after the alliterative “Best of Baroque” last week, “Cheering Tchaikovsky” was the literary questionable but musically appealing program for July 13th. Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero (whose entertaining introduction to the programmed works could have been shorter) and 18-year old Russian-American

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154401538533728202006-07-14T22:05:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:05:38.543-05:00

C. Loewe, Passion OratorioCarl Loewe (1796-1869) is one of the great Lied composers, even if much less renown than Wolf (nevermind Brahms, Schubert and Schumann), who is also mainly remembered for his song output. Indeed, Loewe's Lieder – beautifully recorded on the cpo label – ought to be checked out by anyone with an interest in the genre. Now Naxos brings us Das Sühneopfer des neuen Bundes (“

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154401504598450732006-07-08T22:04:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:05:04.603-05:00

The Best of Baroque as programmed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s associate conductor Andrew Constantine for the first of the BSO’s Summer Thursday Classical Hitparade concerts at Strathmore consisted of liberally lushified fare; Handel via Hamilton Harty (Overture to the Music for a Royal Fireworks), Bach amplified by Stokowski, more “Bach”, but á la Elgar, Handel cum Brahms as imagined by

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1154401439893602302006-07-07T22:03:00.000-05:002006-07-31T22:03:59.923-05:00

W.A. Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito, Harnoncourt / WPh / Röschmann, Kasarova, Schade, GarančaW.A. Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito, Östman / Drottningholm / Soldh, Poulson, Dahlberg, HöglundIn short succession, I have been deluged with one of my least favorite Mozart operas - La Clemenza di Tito. Last year the re-issue of the Böhm recording kicked things off - and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1152157952717961372006-07-05T22:52:00.000-05:002006-07-05T23:00:12.053-05:00

G.P. Telemann, Suites & Concerto for recorder and orchestra, Akamus / Maurice StegerG.P. Telemann, Recorder Quartets, MAK / GoebelG.P. Telemann, "Water Music", MAK / GoebelGeorg Philipp Telemann is dear to my heart, admittedly, but even if he is not always as inspired as J. S. Bach, in his best moments he rivals his (then far less famous) colleague and friend easily and proves every bit if not

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1152158175115497262006-07-01T22:56:00.000-05:002006-07-05T22:56:15.116-05:00

J. Haydn, Symphonies Nos. 44, 95, 98, Ferenc Fricsay, RIAS SO BerlinPerhaps the coupling of Haydn’s 44th, 95th, and 98th symphonies strikes you as slightly random – a little Sturm & Drang (no. 44, the Trauersymphonie - “Mourning-Symphony”), a little London (nos. 95, 98). Perhaps a 1954 mono recording doesn’t obviously kindle your interest or tickle your fancy? And maybe you have not thought much

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043253556641642006-06-23T01:14:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:14:13.563-05:00

P. Glass, Symphony No.8, D.R.Davies / Bruckner Orchestra LinzSys. 2 & 3Sy. 2Sy. 3Sy. 5Sy. 6In the most telling moment of a Q&A at the Freer Gallery after a recital a year or two back, Philip Glass consoled composition students, worried of not being able to quite “find their own voice” that they ought not worry – finding their own voice was much easier than losing it again. Charmingly

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043224883102112006-06-21T01:13:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:13:44.886-05:00

Robert R. Reilly, music critic for CRISIS and author of Ionarts-recommended Surprised by Beauty, was at the Kennedy Center for Ionarts, testing the child-friendliness of the NSO's Family concert with the help of his own son.I thought I was cheating. The National Symphony Orchestra website suggested that children be at least seven years old to attend the family concert, The Magic of the Firebird,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043170468124942006-06-20T01:12:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:12:50.473-05:00

Please note that earlier today, I misidentified the lead dancers in this review. Irina Golub and Andrian Fadeyev (neither seen nor reviewed) must be considered innocent. Olesya Novikova and Leonid Sarafanov, the other alternative couple, were reviewed (together with Pavleko/Kolb) by Jean Battey Lewis for the Washington Times.The Kirov-slash-Mariinsky, fond of spreading its cultural riches far and

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043132428263392006-06-18T01:11:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:12:12.433-05:00

Pier Francesco Cavalli’s La Didone got its North American premiere in Washington over the last three days, nestled away in American University’s pretty and functional Greenberg Theatre. Ionarts promised a little star for your book if you attended; we should offer another one for everyone who sat through the entire opera. If you did, you will have gotten your secco recitativo-fill for the year, La

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043062523494912006-06-16T13:10:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:11:29.493-05:00

When the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra chose Yuri Temirkanov to succeed David Zinman (still fondly remembered in Baltimore and now hugely successful with his Zürich Tonhalle Orchestra), it went for a big name, seemingly eschewing controversy. Whether that worked out well is a matter of opinion. The orchestra has improved much in some sections and certain slices of repertoire – but has also

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151043017753525482006-06-16T01:09:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:10:17.756-05:00

G. Mahler, Symphony No.4, BPh / Abbado / FlemingAbbado’s new Mahler recording of the Fourth Symphony with Renèe Fleming should have been a greater event than it was; accompanied by more palpable excitement. Somehow it came and went – along with a few other good, but not quite overwhelming Mahler releases of Oramo’s 5th and Zander’s 1st, reviews of which may well be upcoming. For someone who does

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151042969874551922006-06-15T01:09:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:09:29.886-05:00

A. Dorman, Piano SonatasH. Willan, Choral WorksJ. M. Kraus, German SongsL. Spohr, StQ5t v.4L. Berio, Sequenzas I-XIVR. Sessions, StQ4t et al.From this month’s new releases by Naxos – by some count the largest classical record label – I aimed for mostly eclectic and obscure items to come across my desk. Interest, curiosity, and the desire to always prick my musical tastes guards against

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151042893356768192006-06-13T01:07:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:08:13.366-05:00

Ligeti Project ILigeti Project IILigeti Project IIILigeti Project IVLigeti Project VLigeti - ConcertosLigeti - String QuartetsLigeti - Le Grand MacabreLigeti - V.1Ligeti - V.2Ligeti - V.3Ligeti - V.4Ligeti - V.5Ligeti - V.6Ligeti - V.7György Ligeti (*1923) is dead. Although getting to know his music might have been a better idea when he was still alive (at the very least he would have profited

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151042846340460902006-06-11T01:06:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:08:55.063-05:00

Three symphonies in the course of one long weekend constituted a sort of heaven for Mahlerians in the region: the 8th with the NSO, the 5th with Michael Stern and the University of Maryland School of Music Orchestra (part of the National Orchestral Institute’s summer program at the Clarice Smith Center), and of course Yuri Temirkanov’s farewell concert of the Mahler 2nd, coming full circle with

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1151042768882126042006-06-09T01:05:00.000-05:002006-06-23T01:06:08.906-05:00

Some five-hundred-odd singers and instrumentalists under the baton of Leonard Slatkin filled the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall Thursday evening; literally – but more importantly with the bombast, splendor and ethereal sound of Mahler’s most perverse, most ambitious, most idiosyncratic “Symphony”, the eighth. This symphony, garishly divine (or is it divinely garish?) tends not to be the favorite

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766600977128012006-06-08T06:36:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:36:40.980-05:00

L.v. Beethoven, Piano Sonatas 16-18, Mari KodamaThere are great and renown pianists working on Beethoven cycles or else issuing individual sonatas: András Schiff is on his second volume for ECM (an Ionarts review is forthcoming, read the review of volume one here), Mitsuko Uchida has just issued the three late Beethoven sonatas (also to be reviewed shortly). Paul Lewis, for Harmonia Mundi, has

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766570329480032006-06-06T06:35:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:36:10.336-05:00

Arriving at the Kennedy Center last Sunday for Sumi Jo’s concert, it quickly became apparent that these days, the former glory of super-coloratura stardom has withered to mere ethno-stardom, the like of which (Hvorostovsky comes to mind) draw their countrymen and women in hordes but are only of peripheral, sometimes perplexing interest to the general public. That should be surprising, because

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766527783646092006-06-06T06:34:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:37:03.286-05:00

R. Strauss, Piano Quartets - Complete Chamber Music v. 1, Sawallisch et al.The Kennedy Center Chamber Player’s fourth and final concert last Sunday at the Terrace Theater in this, their third season was given over to a wholly Germanic program with works from three centuries by Mozart, Richard Strauss and Paul Hindemith. Lambert Orkis (piano), Marissa Regni (violin), Daniel Foster (viola), and

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766460811301622006-06-05T06:33:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:34:20.816-05:00

F. Liszt, Anné de Pèlerinage, Alfred BrendelSchubert Sonatas - DVDSchubert Sonatas - double CDLiszt - BoletLiszt - BermanWith his crazed, hypnotizing (and frankly: weird) stare from those steel-blue eyes, Alfred Brendel looks straight at us from the screen, indulging us in his thoughts on Franz Liszt’s Anné de Pèlerinage, introducing us to important background information, informing our

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766399491088402006-06-02T06:32:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:33:19.500-05:00

Kurt Masur (thankfully healthy again), all torso that he is and appearing several inches taller than he actually measures, towers over an orchestra; by name and stature anyway but also by sheer physical presence. The natural posture of leadership he assumes must be what does the trick. Bring his name up among recording enthusiasts, meanwhile, and he will provoke little more than a prolonged yawn

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766359114990642006-05-25T06:31:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:37:40.810-05:00

Is the region saving up its best musical events for last? In a season that was less exciting across the board than 2004/2005, we just heard the finest opera performance in The Turn of the Screw – and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s current string of concerts with German violinist Julia Fischer delivered easily this season’s best violin concerto performance. It all seems to bode well for the

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766173664330292006-05-25T06:29:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:29:33.683-05:00

B. Britten, The Turn of the Screw, Britten / Pears, VyvyanB. Britten, The Turn of the Screw, Harding / Bostridge, RodgersB. Britten, The Turn of the Screw, Bedford / Langridge, LottThere was little advance notice that the season for opera in Washington got an exciting addition, but the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater was filled nonetheless when Lorin Maazel presented Benjamin Britten’s The Turn

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766112793930102006-05-23T06:27:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:28:32.800-05:00

R.Wagner, Parsifal, Thielemann / Meier, Selig, Domingo, Struckmann, Anger, BanklAge hardly seems to slow Plácido Domingo down; instead, he seems invigorated by his numerous duties and continuous love for music. It should be little surprise that the tireless tenor is featured on two releases this month; Puccini’s early work Edgar and, more notably, a live Parsifal from Vienna – both for Deutsche

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149766048430788422006-05-22T06:26:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:27:28.436-05:00

Wonny SongA gorgeous Saturday afternoon assured that only the hardiest piano lovers among the subscribers of WPAS's Hayes Piano Series (still a substantial crowd) showed up for its season's final recital with Wonny Song. The Korean-Canadian pianist played a program of Beethoven, Ravel, Stephen Paulus, and Musorgsky, beginning with the German-Austrian's Sonata in A Major, op. 2, no. 2, which was a

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1149765984985405672006-05-20T06:25:00.000-05:002006-06-08T06:26:25.020-05:00

A.Bruckner, Symphony No.4, P.Herreweghe / Orchestre des Champs-ElyseeB¨hmBarenboimWand IWand IIKarajanKubelikPhilip Herreweghe continues with Bruckner after he surprised me with a very fine (despite derision in some quarters), “historically correct” 7th symphony last year. Employing gut strings and minimal vibrato, Herreweghe digs in with his Orchestre des Champs-Elysee and comes up with another,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1148055915938403252006-05-19T11:22:00.000-05:002006-05-19T11:28:26.010-05:00

Maurizio Pollini is, to these ears and taste, a God – and there are perhaps no living pianists that equal him in my estimation. His recital at the Kennedy Center last year was not only the high-point of 2004/2005, it will rank among the finest I have ever heard. Not surprisingly then, that expectations should have been high for the crowning piano recital of the Washington Performing Arts Society’

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015418264298942006-05-07T10:23:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:23:38.266-05:00

J. S. Bach, Concertos Italiens, Alexandre TharaudMuch overdue for its own little review, this top choice among my favorite records of 2005, a Bach recital by the young Alexandre Tharaud, is just about as good as such an album gets. Actually, the understatement isn’t necessary: it’s the best Bach recital on disc I have heard or can imagine! It's absolutely impossible to get enough of this disc, no

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015373184252252006-05-06T10:22:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:22:53.190-05:00

J. Sibelius, Symphonies, Violin Cto., Tone Poems, Ashkenazy/LPO/BelkinThere is no dearth of great Sibelius cycles - many are very good and all are less controversially regarded as good than most cycles of other symphonists. Small countries have gone to war over which Mahler cycle is the best, families have separated over Bruckner questions along Wand vs. Celibidache vs. Jochum lines... and small

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015312413042062006-05-06T10:21:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:21:52.416-05:00

Friday evening, Festa della Voce presented a “Liederabend” at the Corcoran Gallery. It was the kind of musical performance that could have turned anyone off classical music, indefinitely. Festa della Voce claim to be “Washington’s premiere vocal chamber ensemble.” Observing truth in advertising one might add: Washington’s only vocal chamber ensemble. Their program consisted of songs for one to

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015265526600552006-05-06T10:20:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:21:05.526-05:00

Go to the Kennedy Center's ATTEND! website to find out details about the $10 ticket program for students. Here is a selection of events we think are interesting among the ones that are offered. Do buy early at the Kennedy Center Box Office (2700 F Street NW, D.C. 20566) - as these specially priced tickets often sell out before the night of the performance!NSO - Leonard Slatkin conducts

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015212126243472006-05-04T10:19:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:20:12.133-05:00

A. Dvořák, Trios, Weilerstein TrioMusical families may be rarer these days than they once were; after all there were times when music had to be made in order to be heard. And if you were a second child, you got a viola for your third birthday; as a forth, the tuba. Nowadays: iPod. Still, there are such families – some making music at home, others exploiting their talents with gimmicky (not to say

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147015155768912682006-05-02T10:18:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:19:15.773-05:00

China Song, Shanghai QuartetRavel/Bridge, String Quartets, Shanghai QuartetThe Shanghai Quartet had been at the Freer Gallery before (Ionarts reviewed them last year), but I doubt they ever left as strong an impression as last Wednesday when they played Bartók’s first string quartet and the Ravel quartet in F major. The Bartók opens with the two violins playing the serioso part until cello and

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1147014947651870372006-05-01T10:15:00.000-05:002006-05-07T10:15:47.676-05:00

The storm that blew young Turkish cellist Efe Baltacigil onto North American stages happened in January 2005 in Philadelphia, and it didn’t so much blow him on there but keep everyone away from it: with most of the orchestra stuck somewhere in the snow, the lone cellist and scheduled soloist Emanuel Ax hastily rehearsed for a few minutes and went on stage to entertain those audience members who

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146251875068916102006-04-28T14:17:00.000-05:002006-04-28T14:17:55.093-05:00

What better to open a concert with than an overture to… oneself!? Good thing that Leonard Bernstein composed just such a thing for Mstislav Rostropovich in the form of the jolly, brash, multimedial, tacky Slava! (A Political Overture). It goes to the credit of Maestro Rostropovich that he could conduct the whole thing without blushing – not even when the orchestra members have to should an

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146251030795268782006-04-28T13:52:00.000-05:002006-04-28T14:03:50.813-05:00

First published at TCS Daily - Europe on April 26th 2006.http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=042606EBy Jens F. Laurson, co written with George A. PielerProving that any French politician should know better than to try to reform that country's economy, France has just scrapped its modest youth labor reform. Sluggish, inflexible and costly that economy may be, exemplified in Europe's highest

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146251176543273162006-04-27T22:05:00.000-05:002006-04-28T14:06:16.546-05:00

Highly anticipated, sold out with filled seats spilling over unto the stage, Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman showed up at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall for their WPAS presented duo-recital. They opened with Bach’s (or is it?) Sonata for Two Violins and Keyboard in G, BWV 1037. Thick textures made Bach appear as Barber for a while and the mediocre, uninspired pianism of accompanist Rohan

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146145483788842892006-04-27T08:44:00.000-05:002006-04-27T08:45:46.693-05:00

From George A. Pieler comes this appreciation of Jane Jacobs, writer, thinker, urban planner, author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities".Other Articles on Jane Jacobs:Douglas Martin, Jane Jacobs, Social Critic Who Redefined and Championed Cities, Is Dead at 89 (New York Times, April 26)Mary Rourke, Jane Jacobs, 89; Urban Theorist, Community Activist Who Fought Lower Manhattan Freeway

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114991097723892006-04-27T00:16:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:16:31.100-05:00

Bach/Beethoven/Webern, English Suite/Piano Sonata op.110/Variations op.27 , AnderszewskiK. Szymanowski, Piano Sonata No. 3, Métopes, Masques , AnderszewskiThe draw of the renown pianist Piotr Anderszewski and perfect weather last Sunday somewhat balanced attendance at the National Gallery of Art’s free concert: The house was full for all but a few seats, none had to sit outside the West Garden

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114945748862242006-04-26T00:15:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:15:45.756-05:00

The conductor walked on stage, a lean, dignified American gentleman with the buoyancy that also marked Bernstein, but an air of refinement substituting for ‘Lennie's’ New York grit. It was Michael Tilson Thomas – just as well known as “MTT” – who was about to lead the San Francisco Symphony in their 10th Washington performance for WPAS, opening the program at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114901889285472006-04-25T00:14:00.000-05:002006-05-04T23:09:38.906-05:00

J. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Richard EgarrJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Pierre Hantaï IIJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Masaaki SuzukiJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Keith JarrettJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Céline FrischJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Hantaï IJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Wanda Landowska IIJ. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, Wanda Landowska IJ. S. Bach, Goldberg

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114778291320512006-04-23T00:12:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:13:38.010-05:00

A. Zemlinsky, Symphonies Nos.1 & 2, ConlonA. Zemlinsky, Complete Choral Works & Orchestral Songs, Conlon / Isokoski, Urmana, Voigt, Albert, Schmidt, VolleA. Zemlinsky, The Mermaid, et al., ConlonA. Zemlinksy, The Mermaid, et al., DausgaardAlexander Zemlinsky is one of the many semi-famous composers I adore; part of a group to which belong several early to late Romantic composers of distinctly

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114735127263042006-04-21T00:11:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:13:58.496-05:00

Sean Scully - Black Fold“Wild’n’Crazy” programming at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall saw the ‘Symphony’ before ‘Concerto’ and ‘Overture’ – with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos opening the National Symphony Orchestra’s concert on a magnificent spring day, appropriately enough, with Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, the Pastorale. The programming worked out nicely, after all, because in a way, this popular,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114672951446272006-04-20T00:10:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:11:12.953-05:00

"Our band," the National Symphony Orchestra was on a national tour, their last one under Leonard Slatkin. Here is a hint at the impression they left in their wake: reviews from their performances and articles relating to their tour.On the NSO's "four-day residency" in Nebraska:"Symphony sweeps through Nebraska" (only as .pdf file)Omaha World HeraldBy Ashley HassebroekMarch 30, 2006"National

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1146114631552329442006-04-17T00:09:00.000-05:002006-04-27T00:10:31.573-05:00

The United States, country of paradoxes and riddles, has a funny (sometimes sad, at other times perplexing) way of dealing with its religious history. There are politicians who rule as if this is a Christian country although, politically, it isn’t… who are only too happy to exploit religious sentiment; pander to prejudice over reason. There are cultural administrators who develop paroxysms

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1145046151833362482006-04-14T15:22:00.000-05:002006-04-14T15:22:31.863-05:00

J.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, RillingJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, RichterJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, Harnoncourt IIIJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, Herreweghe IIJ. S. Bach, Matthäus Passion , SuzukiJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, Koopman IIJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, Karajan, live 1950 (w/Ferrier)J.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, BrüggenJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion, GardinerJ.S.Bach, Matthäus Passion,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144807102229218022006-04-12T20:53:00.000-05:002006-04-11T22:25:56.350-05:00

The excitement of the audience present for the Fazil Say recital on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon did somehow not translate into sheer numbers of attendees: Shriver Hall looked surprisingly empty for what promised to be one of the most exciting concerts in their Piano Celebration series. But perhaps it was for the better because much of that excitement evaporated the second it was announced that Mr

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144809995611739882006-04-11T21:46:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:46:35.616-05:00

The centerpiece of the Shriver Hall piano celebration was the Saturday evening concert of Leon Fleisher, the last of the first great generation of American pianists to still (more specifically: again) possess the skill and artistic integrity to offer an intriguing piano recital. When he divulged that he would do something for the very first time in his more than half-a-century-long stage career,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144809717943916792006-04-10T21:41:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:41:57.946-05:00

Ionarts was able to lure Robert R. Reilly, whom you know because you bought and enjoyed Surprised by Beauty, to the Kennedy Center where he graciously reviewed the Washington Chorus's Easter Concert.Other Reviews:Tim Page, Washington Chorus Provides Quite a 'Feast' (Washington Post, April 11)The Palm Sunday afternoon concert by the Washington Chorus and Orchestra, supplemented by the Shenandoah

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144809674447326522006-04-09T21:40:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:41:14.453-05:00

The Shriver Piano Celebration is much more than just three recitals (actually five – but Ionarts will wait until Kit Armstrong can reach the pedals before we review him; McCoy Tyner, an original member of the John Coltrane Quartet, is admired by us but outside our expertise) but also a series of lectures including one by the New York Review of Books’ Michael Kimmelman. I missed that, sadly, but

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144809437401883192006-04-08T21:36:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:37:17.436-05:00

Krystian Zimerman has made a name for himself as one of the great pianists of our time – one of the few I would include in that rarified first tier of pianists where no more than half a dozen pianists roam. Relative scarcity may well play a part in this. Whenever he makes a recording or appearance, it becomes an ‘event’. Particularly meticulous with recordings, few of his ever receive anything

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144807335688967642006-04-07T21:01:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:02:15.693-05:00

Since cello playing media star Yo-Yo Ma was already in town to testify before Congress (warning them that visa restrictions adapted in the wake of 9/11 have a detrimental impact on cultural exchanges and visits from foreign artists), it only made sense to stop at the Kennedy Center afterwards and play a little music. Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, to be precise, from which he chose nos. 3

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144807287186396952006-04-06T21:01:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:01:27.193-05:00

If the Washington Opera’s L’Elisir d’Amore is an opera with bad but funny drama, Rossini’s Tancredi is an opera with bad and dour drama. The former – if well done – can be as funny in the way a Marx Brothers film can be, but there is nothing that can redeem the hackneyed story line and happy-(up)ended tragedy that makes the story of Tancredi tank so hard. In fact, it’s not worth even summarizing

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144807243723473972006-04-05T21:00:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:00:43.730-05:00

D. Shostakovich, Symphonies Nos.2 & 12, BRSO/JansonsD. Shostakovich, Symphony No.13 "Babi Yar", BRSO/JansonsD. Shostakovich, Symphony No.4, BRSO/JansonsLD. Shostakovich, Symphony No.8, Pittsburgh SO/JansonsMariss Jansons wraps up his ‘global’ EMI Shostakovich cycle (Vienna, Oslo, Pittsburgh, Munich, London, Philadelphia, Berlin) with his new band, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. It was his

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1144807201955133782006-04-03T20:59:00.000-05:002006-04-11T21:00:01.963-05:00

With Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri the Washington National Opera offers two operas this season that could be characterized as light, ‘happy peasant’ operas. Not necessarily my cup of tea, despite generally delightful (and fairly similar) music, because the suspension of disbelief has to work overtime while trying to appreciate what only too easily degenerates

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991572438251772006-04-02T10:25:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:26:12.446-05:00

In a wise, anticipatory move, Amtrak and Marc trains run as if their funding had already been taken away. It will guarantee a smooth transition for when the time comes and it was – despite unmasked incompetence in running a proper public transportation system – good enough to dump me at the steps of the Meyerhoff Hall in Baltimore just a few minutes after Vadim Repin and Nikolai Lugansky were

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991625785321682006-04-01T11:26:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:27:05.800-05:00

The Washington National Opera’s first installment of their Ring cycle has been well received by critics and understandably so. Das Rheingold is an immensely enjoyable opera – and if Francesca Zambello’s production is not great in itself, it allows for -and sometimes aids- the opera to unfold most of its charm. The ripples of laughter that ran through the Opera house Saturday and Thursday (a rare

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991674446633782006-03-31T11:27:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:27:54.453-05:00

Once again we have to thank George A. Pieler for lending his big ears and sharp wit to Ionarts. This time at the WPAS-presented recital of Serkin-ex-Perahia at Strathmore. Peter Serkin, substituting for the indisposed Murray Perahia Wednesday night at the Music Center at Strathmore, is a serious, probing, intellectual pianist who can deliver the goods in sheer technique but shies away from the

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991728206608412006-03-30T11:28:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:28:48.210-05:00

Ionarts war an der Dauer bilden Experten DIE EXPERTEN, EXTRA, EXTRA! an der Dauer ddddddddd ddddddd (national, national: ist das rational national? galerie nationale d'art die vor-Nacht, Schullehrer Gegenstand Fackel Flimmer Flacker Funzel Finzel, Washington herausgestellt wird (pompidoupompida Paris und mehr ein Ende – a bitter, bitter end – gekommen, an der Dauer des Museums der kunst modern

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991782178858112006-03-29T11:29:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:29:42.183-05:00

J. Sibelius, S. Khatchaturian, Violin Concertos, Khachatryan / Krivine / Sinfonia VarsoviaOverture:The structure of orchestral concerts is hardly ever novel. Overture – Concerto – Symphony. Ever. Time. So creativity and interest are only to be found in the specific works that fill these prescribed slots. To place Britten’s Simple Symphony (op.4 – also on offer by the East Coast Chamber Orchestra

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143996763665072712006-03-27T12:52:00.000-05:002006-04-02T11:52:43.696-05:00

Bach would have been baffled and delighted to see a good handful of Japanese perform his music as well as he likely never heard in his own lifetime. Baffled that they were playing his music at all; that they didn’t look like your usual Leipzig town folk; that it sounded more or less like it did back then. Pure conjecture, of course, but while at it, we should consider that he’d probably have

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143991534110125792006-03-27T11:24:00.000-05:002006-04-02T10:25:34.176-05:00

Go to the Kennedy Center's ATTEND! website to find out details about the $10 ticket program for students. Here is a selection of events we think are interesting among the ones that are offered.SequenzaPiano Trio performance with gems in the program: "Haydn's Piano Trio in E major, Hob. XV 28, Martinů's Cinq Pièces Brèves, and the world premiere of contemporary composer Paul Chihara's Ain't No

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143341583515256042006-03-26T21:52:00.000-05:002006-03-26T08:52:56.950-05:00

R. Wagner, Das Rheingold, Barenboim/Kupfer/BayreuthPreview (Review on Ionarts will follow soon.)Saturday night, the Washington Opera has raised the curtain to one of its more ambitious undertakings today: The staging of its own, complete Ring Cycle. So as not to choke on the size of the 13 to 15 hour tetralogy, it will take it in bite-sized portions; one opera -sorry: Musikdrama at a time.

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143341526095005122006-03-25T21:51:00.000-05:002006-03-25T21:52:06.103-05:00

WPAS invited to the Kennedy Center for a program of Bach cantatas and the choral hoopla, the inextinguishable, ever delighting Carmina Burana. Think of it as “Orff‘n’Bach” was J. Reilly Lewis’ painfully funny quip from the rostrum. The program was split between hist two teams in town, the Washington Bach Consort in the first half and the Cathedral Choral Society in the second. In a football match

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143341491478997102006-03-24T21:51:00.000-05:002006-03-25T21:51:31.483-05:00

In the absolutely delectable Salon of the Polish embassy – replete with Corinthian pilasters and frize that quickly make you forget the unfortunately looming metal detector downstairs – the Embassy Series presented the Baltimore based Poulenc Trio consisting of oboist Vladimir Lande (see Ionarts review from a New York Bachanalia Festival), bassoonist Bryan Young and pianist Irina Lande. Wind

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143341453108122242006-03-23T21:50:00.000-05:002006-04-14T15:26:53.210-05:00

Roberto Cominati got around to give the recital for the WPAS Hayes Piano Series that he was supposed to give last season (where Konstantin Lifschitz substituted) – and it was well worth the wait. Born in Naples in 1969 Cominati might be pushing 40, but you’d never know from looking at the young, stylish, unmistakably – almost stereotypically – Italian man taking stage: With the jet black mane

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1143341404569678482006-03-22T21:49:00.000-05:002006-03-25T21:50:04.576-05:00

While Ionarts was either living the lush life in Paris or busy missing the Hesperion XXI concert in Baltimore, we have to thank George A. Pieler for helping out at the Washington National Opera's 50th Anniversary Gala. Fifty years is a long time for an American opera company to have run continuously, and the Washington National Opera wants to celebrate. The WNO Golden Gala Sunday night provided

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142781461456161072006-03-19T22:17:00.000-05:002006-03-19T10:23:28.490-05:00

We won’t speculate about the reasons – but tickets for the Takács Quartet’s performance at the Corcoran Gallery on Friday, March 31st are on sale through http://ticketplace.tranguard.com/tx_venue.asp?id=61&tgs=493888:9034547&cart_id=">TicketPlace.org. There is no reason(1) whatsoever you should not show up at the best chamber music venue in Washington to hear (one of) the best String Quartet(s)

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142781503794722022006-03-19T10:18:00.000-05:002006-03-19T10:22:39.043-05:00

It's official: Kurt Masur is out for the LPO's Washington performance. Replacing him is not Osmo Vänskä as we had previously suggested (the wish having been the father of the rumor?) but Charles Dutoit Yan Pascal Tortelier. [Whaaat? Tortelier, not Dutoit? No offense, but that sucks. And I was just going to tout Dutoit as another improvement over solid-stolid Kapellmeister Masur.]Anyway... it

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142779863111257842006-03-19T09:50:00.000-05:002006-03-19T10:03:23.033-05:00

With perhaps half the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater filled on Tuesday night, 26 years old flutist Dóra Seres, the 2005 Young Concert Artist International Competition winner took the stage in a program with a highly entertaining selection of works ranging from the romantic (Carl Maria von Weber) to the contemporary (Lowell Liebermann) touching on several composers that are – outside the flute

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142632434351560552006-03-17T16:53:00.000-05:002006-03-17T16:53:54.380-05:00

Ludovic Morlot stepped in for Yuri Temirkanov during the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s run of concerts this week. With him came a different opening of the concert: Instead of the Armenian Suite by the Philadelphia native Richard Yardumian we were served a smart but slightly glib Manfred Overture of Schumann’s. With this orchestral warm-up based on Lord Byron poetic drama out of the way,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142633222680691152006-03-16T17:05:00.000-05:002006-03-17T17:07:02.686-05:00

The – in this case anonymous – brass fanfares that the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra opens its concerts at Strathmore with, serve several purposes at once: they expose the musicians a bit more (and doing that by what they do best: play music), it’s a more effective last call for the audience to be seated than the regular gong and light-flickering, and it allows people to be a minute or two late

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142633139248271752006-03-15T17:05:00.000-05:002006-03-17T17:05:39.253-05:00

David Robertson stepped in for the indisposed James Levine last Saturday. It was but one of the replacements that haunt this month: WPAS and the Baltimore Symphony have a few more to offer: sadly, Murray Perahia will not be able to play his recital at Strathmore on March 29th. He is being replaced by Peter Serkin – a player who has a certain following in the area, but there is no point in

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142632909031931132006-03-12T17:01:00.000-05:002006-03-17T17:02:35.060-05:00

When James Levine fell on his arm at the end of the March 1st Beethoven/Schoenberg performance in Boston and consequently had to cancel his appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra during its U.S. tour – including its Washington stop on a warm, gorgeous Saturday – Marek Janowski (New York, March 6th) and David Robertson stepped in to ensure the show went on. Currently at the helm of the St.

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142632852369320282006-03-11T17:00:00.000-05:002006-03-17T17:00:52.376-05:00

Carl Nielsen’s Woodwind Quintet, Schubert’s Shepherd on a Rock and three assorted songs, Elliot Carter’s Eight Etudes and a Fantasy, Beethoven’s Quintet in E-flat Major: a chamber music event’s program can’t look a lot better on paper than that. A bit of flair from the rare beauty, a little dose of sugar, a modern digestif from the master, and the rarely heard work of a mainstream composer, in

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142632809841968202006-03-08T16:59:00.000-05:002006-03-17T17:00:09.846-05:00

F. Schubert, Impromptu D935, 3 Klavierstücke, Sonata D850 in D, Matthias SoucekContinuing their 2006 Mozart celebration at the Austrian Embassy, the Embassy Series invited Austrian pianist Matthias Soucek to D.C. for two recitals last Friday and Saturday. Friday the young artist, already well known in Austria, offered Mozart’s Sonata K570, the “Ah, vous dirai-je Maman” Variations, Liszt, Ravel,

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1142632765553607332006-03-07T16:58:00.000-05:002006-03-17T16:59:25.693-05:00

When the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presented its 2006/2007 season a few weeks back, Ionarts had the chance to briefly speak to Maestra Alsop and ask her a few questions – an opportunity we naturally jumped at with delight. Marin Alsop, at a very vital half-century young, immediately comes across as uncomplicated, down-to-earth, and practical: a first – well: second – sign that she isn’t your

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1141545001788417862006-03-05T02:49:00.000-05:002006-03-17T16:57:44.333-05:00

One of the best and least obtrusive Mozart tributes of 2006 is the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s cycle of Mozart quintets, each with a different, up-and-coming young quartet, all with Tapping-ex-Takács (one word, no introduction necessary) as the extra viola. Ingenious mixture of youthful enthusiasm and veteran brilliance unleashed unto the best chamber works Mozart ever wrote is just about a

jflnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600910.post-1141368941450168832006-03-03T01:55:00.000-05:002006-03-03T01:56:49.166-05:00

J. Sibelius, S.Khatchaturian Violin Concertos, , Khachatryan/Krivine/Sinfonia VarsoviaThe Armenian Sergey Khachatryan, the current Queen Elizabeth competition winner (and consequently playing the Huggins Stradivarius previously played by Baiba Skride and http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2005/10/pure-beauty-first-then-rage-and.html">Nikolaj Znaider) can be seen and heard several times in the Washington

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