a virtual journal and essential blog of the classical music scene in greater Boston
Lee Eiseman, publisher; Robert Levin, advisor; David Moran, assisting editor; Bettina A. Norton, emerita editor
Reviews
August 14, 2018
Levitt, Thomas, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff Rhapsodize
by Mark DeVoto
Was Michael Tilson Thomas paying tribute to “Lenny gestures” in the double-handed thrust with shoulder shrug and upward gaze? It all worked well at Tanglewood Sunday for a fine shed concert with pianist Igor Levitt’s Rachmaninoff, Mahler’s First, and a tonally inventive whimsy of Thomas’s own. [continued]
August 13, 2018
Fellows Perform Bernstein’s Last Opera
by Steven Ledbetter
Ozawa Hall was anything but A Quiet Place Thursday, as Stefan Asbury shaped both the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows with elegant control. [continued]
Danes Bat One Out of the Park
by Leslie Gerber
Making a welcome return to Maverick Concerts in Woodstock on Sunday, the Danish Quartet introduced us to perhaps the first string quartet ever written, as well as advocating effectively for Abrahamson and Beethoven. [continued]
August 9, 2018
Adding to a Fistful of Borromeo Raves
by Susan Miron
The Borromeo String Quartet discoursed well-arranged Goldbergs, dark and haunting Schubert, and memorably intense Mendelssohn at Walnut Hills last night. [continued]
August 8, 2018
Opera Company Drops Atomic Bomb
by Steven Ledbetter
When the sun sets on a high plateau to the northwest of the city; the back of Santa Fe Opera’s stage opens to the desert and mountains, and one can see distant lights of Los Alamos, Dr. Oppenheimer’s 0ne-time home. I saw the namesake opera on July 18th. [continued]
August 7, 2018
Emerson’s Divergent Beethovens Down Cape
by Tom Delbanco
The Emerson Quartet opened the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival last Wednesday in Wellfleet’s First Congregational Church with mixed takes on late Beethoven. [continued]
August 5, 2018
Exuberance Reigns at Tanglewood
by Lee Eiseman
The deep and wide importance of Tanglewood activities by young and old and fondly remembered came to vital life last Saturday. [continued]
Passion and Panache at Walnut Hill
by Julie Ingelfinger
Violinist Angelo Xiang Yu and pianist Peter Chuang Chuang Fang brought passion and panache to the Keiter Center Saturday in a spectacular display of technique and musicality. [continued]
Jupiter Quartet and Pianist Generally Satisfy
by Leslie Gerber
In Jupiter String Quartet’s concert at Maverick Concerts concert with pianist Daniel Gortler Sunday, we didn’t hear enough first violin, but it generally satisfied. [continued]
Festive and Contemporary Not Oxymoronic
by Virginia Newes
Tanglewood’s 2018 Festival of Contemporary Music an astonishing array of music from the past few decades, including works by such “elders” as Witold Lutosławski and György Kurtág, as well as brand new compositions by younger composers. [continued]
August 4, 2018
The Gamut of Russian Moods
by Victor Khatutsky
Ken-David Masur led the BSO and pianist Kirill Gerstein in Rach2 and Firebird last night at the Shed. [continued]
Memory and Celebration in Outdoor Requiem
by Sudeep Agarwala
The Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Back Bay Chorale, and One City Choir led by Christopher Wilkins and Scott Allen Jarret recast the Verdi Requiem as a memorial for the late bass-baritone Robert Honeysucker on Wednesday at the Hatch Shell. [continued]
Niu Niu, Sovereign Already
by David Moran
The young pianist reached peak after peak in his mainstream Chinese Performing Arts Foundation Walnut Hill festival recital Tuesday evening. [continued]
August 3, 2018
Paul Lewis: Sound Versus Fury
by Victor Khatutsky
Paul Lewis centered last night’s Ozawa Hall recital on Beethoven Bagatelles with supporting musical commentary from Haydn and Brahms. [continued]
Eighteen Feet of Keyboard at Tanglewood
by Lee Eiseman
Thomas Adès and Kirill Gerstein conjured modernist virtuosity on two pianos at Ozawa Hall Wednesday night. [continued]
SangYoung Kim, Drawing Bright Lines
by Matthew Guerrieri
The South Korean competition laureate brought lean and evident interpretations through steely and intense piano tones at Walnut Hill Wednesday. [continued]
August 2, 2018
The Demon Treads Lively
by Lee Eiseman
Up the Hudson at Bard’s SummerScape festival, the underappreciated Anton Rubinstein returns vitally to sung and acted life upon the wicked stage. The run continues on Friday and Saturday at 2:00. [continued]
Mihae Lee Inks Imaginative Program
by Vance R. Koven
Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival, after 46 years, makes its first appearance on these pages. [continued]
The Press of Larry Weng
by David Moran
Directness waged battle against poetry Monday evening within Larry Weng’s pianism in the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts Walnut Hill Festival. [continued]
July 31, 2018
Bernstein and Peter Pan: Ambivalent Bedfellows
by Adam J. Sacks
Bernstein’s 1950 adaptation paid a visit to the Fischer Center in Christopher Alden’s psychoanalytic production as part of BardSummerScape [continued]
Cape Orchestra Celebrates Summer
by Gigi Mitchell-Velasco
Under founding conductor Matthew Scinto, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra was all-in for a wonderful ride at Pilgrim Congregational Church at Harwich Port on Sunday. [continued]
July 30, 2018
Shanghai Runs Out of Steam
by Leslie Gerber
Making its 25th annual appearance at the Maverick, the Shanghai Quartet gave a sellout crowd plenty to like. [continued]
Transcription and Translation
by Julie Ingelfinger
The elegant young cellist Jiyoung Lee established fine rapport with Saturday’s large audience at Walnut Hill School in an eclectic program featuring musical metamorphosis. The fine pianist Victor Cayres collaborated. [continued]
July 29, 2018
The Human Sweep of Yue Chu
by David Moran
A big guy with a big personality served up large, filling piano portions Friday evening at the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts Festival at Walnut Hill. [continued]
July 28, 2018
American Voices
by Cashman Kerr Prince
Something magical happened in Ozawa Hall Monday when the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra delivered a spectacular concert of music by Bernstein and Copland, with a world première of music by Gandolfi. You should have been there. [continued]