Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra

Mahler, more or less

Conductor Gianandrea Noseda led a somewhat rocky performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra, along with the orchestra’s premiere of an unusual piece: a concerto for tuba.

Robert Zaller

Mar 27, 2015 · Articles · 4 minute read

The Chamber Orchestra with Sean Chen

A Sunday afternoon musicale

A musical world citizen led the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia through four thoroughly enjoyable pieces from the core of the 19th-century repertoire.

Tom Purdom

Mar 24, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg with the Philadelphia Orchestra

A celestial celebration

Perhaps to celebrate the solar eclipse, the Philadelphia Orchestra presented an out-of-this-world concert.

Linda Holt

Mar 24, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

40 Voices Singing

Singing the names of the stars

The Chestnut Street Singers surrounded their audience with fascinating sounds.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2015 · Articles · 2 minute read

Temple University Concert Choir: Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir

Contrasting expressions of the sacred

This youthful choir performed difficult scores with great skill and glowing voices. George Bernard Shaw bemoaned that “Youth is wasted on the young,” but these gifted and devoted singers remind us that such is not always the case.

Victor L. Schermer

Mar 20, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read

'La Bohème' at AVA

Tomorrow's opera stars today

The prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Auditions last week announced 17 semifinalists who will compete for the top prizes onstage at the Met on March 22. Not only were four of them resident artists at the Academy of Vocal Arts, three of them sang the lead roles in the AVA’s recent La Bohème.

Steve Cohen

Mar 20, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lyric Fest: Kile Smith's 'In This Blue Room'

A dialogue between the sexes

Lyric Fest presented a Kile Smith premiere that raises an interesting question.

Tom Purdom

Mar 17, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Piffaro and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Viva the duke, viva the lute

Piffaro visited 15th-century Ferrara, and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presented its second foray into the art of the lute.

Tom Purdom

Mar 17, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Cristian Măcelaru conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra

Pastoral days and sleepless nights

Rising star Cristian Măcelaru led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance that was stronger on gusto than nuance.

Linda Holt

Mar 17, 2015 · Articles · 3 minute read

Strauss’s 'Ariadne auf Naxos' by Curtis Opera

The lady left behind

Love is, by turns, the human problem and its solution, and Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, in the Curtis Opera Theatre’s excellent production, shows its facets — and its extremes — brilliantly.

Robert Zaller

Mar 14, 2015 · Articles · 5 minute read