Music
1939 results
Page 162
Wagner's "Ring' cycle (Part 3: "Das Rheingold')
Gold, power, sex, love: Wagner's Rheingold daydream
Wagner's Das Rheingold introduced a new form of opera, far removed from the tradition of Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi, and even different from Wagner's own earlier romantic operas like Lohengrin and Tannhauser. The orchestra states the themes, sets the mood and remains pre-eminent throughout.
Articles
7 minute read
Opera Company's Ravel/Puccini double bill
Ravel meets Puccini (with a little help from a projector)
Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges runs only 45 minutes, and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi barely 55, but in tandem they make a full and satisfying evening, thanks especially to clever staging and excellent performances.
Articles
4 minute read
Curtis Orchestra plays Russian masterworks
Are second thoughts best?
Curtis Orchestra's final concert of the season featured second thoughts on Russian masterworks by Prokofiev and Stravinsky. I'm not sure why Philadelphia couldn't hear some of Valery Gergeiev's recent traversal of the Prokofiev symphonies (which went to Washington), but the Curtis performances were at least a consolation prize. The caliber of this student orchestra, despite the annual changeovers of its graduation cycle, easily stands comparison with most professional groups anywhere.
Articles
4 minute read
Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust'
Faust is damned (and I'm bemused)
The Damnation of Faust is the kind of work that throws the literary half of my personality into a state of head-shaking bemusement. The musical half, on the other hand, revels in every bar. And this time I had no complaints with Simon Rattle.
Articles
3 minute read
Mitsuko Uchida at the Perelman
The agony and the ecstasy
Mitsuko Uchida's piano recital at the Perelman was, in some surprising ways, a deeply unsettling experience. But in the end, she demonstrated why she is a musical legend.
Sonata form (Part 11): Recapitulation
How Beethoven changed everything
Beethoven devoted most of his career to intensifying the inherent drama of sonata-form. Ultimately he drilled so deeply into its bedrock that the form itself became barely recognizable in his very last works. In this 11th installment in his series on sonata-form, Dan Coren moves on to the recapitulation section.
Wagner's "Ring' cycle (Part 2)
The Ring keeps changing (but then, so did Wagner)
For the past half-century, producers of Wagner's Ring have focused on the characters' psychology, much more than on the telling of a story. Instead of celebrating German forests, castles and genius, they tapped into themes like fear of death and loss of control. All well and good. But must the original version disappear altogether?
Articles
5 minute read
The Baroque revival: Three concerts
Telemann's revenge, or: The sheer delight of going for Baroque
For musicians, today's Baroque revival has created new opportunities and challenges. For those of us who sit in the audience, it has broadened our experience and added new names to the musical firmament that were once long forgotten.
Articles
4 minute read
Sandro Russo's Lisztomania
Franz Liszt is his agent
The pianist Sandro Russo has no agent, but his obsession with the music of Franz Liszt has opened global opportunities for him. His latest coup: a DVD recorded on Liszt's own 1862 Bechstein piano. (With a video excerpt of Russo playing Liszt's Bechstein.)
Articles
5 minute read
Masur conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra
Do I hear a symphony— before intermission?
By opening with a symphony, the popular guest conductor Kurt Masur challenged the established order of things at the Philadelphia Orchestra. In his closing piece he demonstrated a dash of audience savvy as well.
Articles
3 minute read