Music
1951 results
Page 145
Natalie Merchant on tour at the Merriam
Professor Merchant lets her hair down
In her latest song cycle, singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant interprets the words of others through a dizzyingly diverse collection of musical influences, ranging from traditional folk and bluegrass to klezmer, Celtic, classical, jazz and, even a little rock 'n roll.
Articles
3 minute read
Varèse festival in New York
A sudden thirst for Varèse (but only in New York)
Edgard Varèse's music has no melodies and virtually no tonal implications; it's all wild, intense blocks of sound filling up musical and physical space. New York audiences went wild over it, and so did I.
Chris Isaak at the Keswick
A troubadour's lighter side
Chris Isaak has made his reputation as a tormented rockabilly troubadour, but his live performances reveal another side: A singer who refuses to take himself as seriously as he takes his music.
Articles
3 minute read
Orchestra's Chamber series: Maurice Wright
Maurice Wright's trifecta
The once-underappreciated composer Maurice Wright rounds out a winning season with a romp from his past.
Articles
3 minute read
Laurie Anderson at World Café Live
A legend with a laptop
Laurie Anderson brings her quirky take on life in America to Philly, raising a question: How should an audience respond to an artist who has made a career of defying any categorization?
Articles
3 minute read
Frank Loesser's enduring power
Why mama starts to weep: The inexplicable power of a song
As a pre-teen and young teen in the late 1940s and early '50s, I often found myself singing two old songs to myself. I had no idea how they got there. Then one day my mother told me.
Articles
3 minute read
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A pianist reconsiders "Jonathan L. Seagull'
The concert pianist's life: My problem with Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Even as a concert pianist, I can't help wondering: Is anything worth the degree of single-mindedness depicted in the popular bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull?
Articles
5 minute read
Philadelphia Orchestra's lightweight Mann season
Those light summer evenings just got lighter
In the past, the Philadelphia Orchestra's opening night at the Mann initiated a group of programs that resembled the concerts it presents during its regular subscription season. Those days seem to be over.
Articles
4 minute read
Opera Company's "Orphée et Eurydice' (3rd review)
More endearing than the Met?
Unlike the Met's elaborately complicated staging of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, Robert Driver's Philadelphia version strives for simplicity. In many respects it's the more endearing of the two.
Articles
4 minute read
Opera Company's "Orphée et Eurydice' (2nd review)
The gaze of the other
The Opera Company of Philadelphia's Orphée et Eurydice offers a rare staging of Gluck's opera, a work of great historical significance that has retained its freshness and loveliness after two and a half centuries. Robert B. Driver's production has good singing and pacing to commend it, and fine scenic design. This version of the Orpheus legend has a happy ending, but not before going through its tragic paces too.
Articles
5 minute read