Dolce Suono confronts totalitarianism

Up from tyranny

All the pieces on Dolce Suono’s “Return to Russia” program came with stories that connected them to the history of 20th Century totalitarianism.

Tom Purdom

Dec 17, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

The Met’s ‘Falstaff,’ set in the ’50s

Sir John orders room service

The Met’s new version of Verdi’s Falstaff brings that portly symbol of vice and gluttony from medieval morality plays into the 1950s. Verdi and Shakespeare alike would turn over in their graves.

Steve Cohen

Dec 17, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

‘Così fan tutte’ goes back to the '60s

At last, a credible Così

Così fan tutte has confused operagoers for years. With the help of marijuana and hallucinogenics it suddenly became clearer. With that curious and mind-bending help, this concept by Nic Muni made sense. .

Steve Cohen

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Concert Operetta salutes Eddy and MacDonald

‘America’s Sweethearts,’ off screen

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald are remembered today as romantic movie stars, but they were flesh-and-blood people, as I can attest.

Steve Cohen

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Saved by rock ’n roll

No kidding: How rock expanded my musical horizons

It’s easy for a professional Classical musician like me to get stuck in a rut. Then rock music reminded me why I became a musician in the first place.

Michael Lawrence

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

Three things I try to learn from Bach

The power of embarrassment (and other lessons from J.S. Bach)

Bach’s music doesn’t grasp, rant or bemoan, because he has it already. But if it’s not your thing, he won’t storm the heavens or renounce the earth or curse you for your philistinism: He’s not going to change, just to find out what your thing is.

Kile Smith

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Ayane Kozasa viola debut at Trinity Center

A dazzling viola debut (and that’s no joke)

In her Philadelphia recital debut, Ayane Kozasa transformed the ugly duckling of instruments into the belle of the ball.

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Orchestra plays Brahms and Berlioz (2nd review)

An experiment in the nosebleed section

Does music in concert halls really sound best in the balconies? Conventional wisdom thinks so. But is this notion fact or fantasy?

Steve Cohen

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Hélène Grimaud tackles Brahms (1st review)

Grimaud meets the gruff German genius

Johannes Brahms was a musical genius who never quite polished his rough edges. Hélène Grimaud gave his brawny first Piano Concerto a deeply poetic and thoughtful reading.

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dover Quartet at the Perelman

Curtis scores again

The Dover Quartet’s musicians were just 19 years old when they formed at Curtis in 2008, and by appearance they still look like kids. Possibly because for them the music is so fresh, they seem almost effortlessly to take the listener immediately into the depths of the music.

Victor L. Schermer

Dec 07, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read