Lenape Chamber Ensemble's 25th anniversary concerts

The evolving Western mind, in three pieces

For its 25th anniversary concerts, the Lenape Chamber Ensemble offers a quick lesson in modern sensibility: The line from Haydn to Dvorak to Shostakovich defines the ascent of individuality, self-consciousness and inner conflict in Western thought.

Victor L. Schermer

Jul 12, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Pirates of Penzance' in Oregon

Hoisting the Victorians, Oregon-style

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, in its 76th year, has discovered new territory: Gilbert and Sullivan. In The Pirates of Penzance, the Festival demonstrates that lampooning Victorian assumptions remains as relevant as ever.

Marshall A. Ledger

Jul 05, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Andrew Rudin's 40-year retrospective

Grand old man of new music

The new music composer Andrew Rudin has accumulated an impressive body of work for more than 40 years— not by imitating old masters, but achieving the same impact in his own way.

Tom Purdom

Jul 02, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

The Crossing's 'Month of Moderns'

Kile Smith's music for the stoic heart

Kile Smith may be more comfortable with Christian texts, but his foray into Stoic philosophy displays all the inventive expressiveness that marks his Christian works.

Tom Purdom

Jun 28, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Chestnut Street Singers: American songs

New voices in town

A new chamber chorus satisfies the four basic requirements of good a cappella choral music: Strong voices, good harmony, close coordination, and astute selections.

Tom Purdom

Jun 20, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Henze's "Phaedra' by the Opera Company (3rd review)

Phaedra's big problem (and it wasn't onstage)

I would go back to see and hear Phaedra again in a heartbeat. But dozens of Opera Company subscribers, unjustly afraid of 12-tone music, let their seats go vacant.

Steve Cohen

Jun 12, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Philadelphia's Bach Festival

More Bach for your buck

Modern arrangements of Baroque musicians require scholar-musicians steeped in a tradition that died 200 years ago and blessed with creativity and taste. Philadelphia's Bach Festival provided an ample supply in a single packed weekend.

Tom Purdom

Jun 08, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Henze's "Phaedra' by the Opera Company (2nd review)

The artist as his own legend

Hans Werner Henze is the major composer of German opera since Richard Strauss, but productions of his work on this side of the Atlantic are infrequent at best. His 14th and latest opera, Phaedra, is static despite the dramatic legend on which it's based, but the music is fresh and inventive, and Tamara Mumford outstanding in the title role.

Robert Zaller

Jun 06, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

Henze's 'Phaedra' by the Opera Company (1st review)

A spectacular new work of art

Hans Werner Henze's Phaedra demonstrates convincingly that contemporary opera can deliver the wow factor. The Opera Company of Philadelphia took a huge chance in staging this new production, and it paid off.

Jun 06, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Don Giovanni,' reconsidered

Will the perfect Don Giovanni please stand up?

If Don Giovanni is a “perfect” opera, why did Mozart cut and replace major arias? And why do many conductors (like Christofer Macatsoris) reinstate the original version?

Steve Cohen

Jun 04, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read