The Classical Music Network (English) Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:08:04 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/ http://www.concertonet.com/images/concertonet.jpg http://www.concertonet.com/
M. DeYoung, R. McKinny (© Felix Sanchez)



Houston Grand Opera's impressively consistent run of five Benjamin Britten operas, initiated with a stunning Billy Budd in 2008, reaches a delicate, understatedly potent conclusion in this production of The Rape of Lucretia. With a smart, economic visual design, thoughtful casting and excellent leadership and execution from the pit, this is a home run. It is a bittersweet triumph, as there are many other treasures from this composer's pen deserving production on the Brown Theater stage, but we must celebrate the series' high points, of which there are many]]>... Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8145
(Courtesy of Phoenix Symphony)


Just a few days ago, Conductor Michael Christie was appointed Music Director of Minnesota Opera. He will step down from his current position at the helm of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra in 2013, after a six-year tenure.


The program opens with Sibelius’ Third Symphony, a piece that Christie knows well and for which he received a special prize at the first international Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in 1995.

Christie’s approach to the Allegro moderato is vivid and crisp, with trenchant lower strings, while cellos and basses offer a]]>... Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8140
N. Sierra & M. Walters (© R. Zendarski/FGO)


With Luisa Fernanda and La rondine Florida Grand Opera got off to an atypical and rather daring start. But by this time, the audience must be ready for one of their familiar friends. When an audience has seen so many Rigoletto’s there are bound to be some who loved so-and-so’s “Caro Nome” more and thought that since the baritone has not sung yet at the Met, he couldn’t be worthwhile; so doing a standard is not easy. Even the great ]]>... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8127
(© Ken Howard)


Despite a shocked audience on opening night in December of 1905, Salome was an immediate success, and to this day the one act opera continues to raise eyebrows while allowing wide berth for directorial approaches and varying degrees of controversial flavor. San Diego Opera’s Seán Curran production is riveting, yet conservatively compelling.



Based on Oscar Wilde’s play, Richard Strauss pared the French text to make a score void of any impertinent embellishments with a storyline that is concise, clean, but filled with emotional drama. The demands in finding five principals t]]>... Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8126
A. Shagimuratova (© Felix Sanchez)


We go see La traviata to hear the role of Violetta Valéry. The casting of this role breathes life into the entire piece and can conquer almost any other misgivings one has about any given production. Houston Grand Opera features the ideal Violetta in Albina Shagimuratova's, whose presence in Houston has been a constant crescendo. Combining all of the wonderful aspects of her impassioned Gilda in 2009's Rigoletto to her technically stunning and emotionally involved ... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8137
S.-Y. Li & M. Zifchak (© Tim Fuller/AO)


Expectations ran high these past weeks in Phoenix' operatic circles. This new production of Madama Butterfly, sold out for several weeks, was announced with anticipatory glee and excitement. We would shed tears, no doubt about that, but we would be overcome by the beauty of sets, costumes and voices. So, were we? For the most part, yes (except when a cell phone rang at the very moment the orchestra paused). This production is alluring, well sung and it never loses momentum.



Kristine MacIntyre’s direction remains in the mainstream of today’s perceptio]]>... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8123
(© Roger Mastroianni/CO)


This program is really something that Miamians should be proud of. Of course, the Cleveland Orchestra has given some great performances here, but this program wasn’t selections from the concert repertory’s A list; maybe not even the B. Respect was shown that we are ready to explore things that are more demanding and for many far more rewarding than another Pictures at an Exhibition or Scheherazade. I doubt that even those who live only for the beautiful and comforting top ten classical hits were not impressed with this program.


It seemed unusual to start t]]>... Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8122
G. Dudamel (© Anna Hult)


The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s ongoing “Mahler Project” continued this week with a single performance of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony. The L.A. Phil brought the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela to collaborate on the massive Eighth Symphony, and also share in the workload. The piece is legendary in its scope and unparalleled in its emotional breadth. After Sunday night’s performance, at least one thing is certain: though the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra is not the Berlin Philharmonic, nor the L.A. Phil, it really did not matter to the packed audience in Disney Hall. ]]>... Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8112
S. Radvanovsky & M. Giordani (Courtesy L. of C.)


Verdi’s great warhorse occupies a prominent place in Chicago’s 2011-2012 season, especially for its casting of the rising spinto soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role. Having only taken on the role last season, Radvanovsky was the indisputable star of the show and lived up to high expectations. There is a sturdy, metallic quality to the voice, which both supports astonishingly well-formed high notes and can shrink into the most delicate piano. It is difficult to imagine a soprano singing today who is better suited to the role.



Radvanovsky’s]]>... Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8136
A. Pieczonka (© Michael Cooper)


In the six seasons since the Canadian Opera Company moved into the Four Seasons’ Centre Tosca is the first opera to given a second run - and just four years after its first outing. I was among many who grumbled about this, given that the company performs only seven productions in a season. All is forgiven.


This is Paul Curran’s third experience with the production as it has also been presented by the company he heads, Oslo’s Norwegian Opera. Instead of giving us a business-as-normal restatement, he has managed to present a staging that is both thoughtfully worked ou]]>... Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8130
H. Omura & D. Shin (© Yves Renaud)


For the third offering of its 2011-12 season, Opéra de Montréal (OdM) mounted a handsome, new, in-house production of Il trovatore. It featured a strong, international cast with principals from Japan, Korea and Italy as well as Canada. Lyric soprano Hiromi Omura shone as Leonora. Her pure vocal line was capable of subtle sensitivity (notably in the convent scene) and soaring power in the coloratura passages. Tenor Dongwon Shin as Manrico matched her in power but sometimes had difficulty with his lower notes. Canadian baritone Gregory Dahl impressed as Count di Luna. Altho]]>... Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8106
(© Gaston de Cardenas)


Florida Grand Opera has been adventurous. In its twenty seasons before this one, the company introduced that same number of works to the repertory for the first time. This season, their 71st, opened with the company’s introduction to zarzuela (Luisa Fernanda). Now comes their first stab at La rondine, the only major Puccini work they have never mounted.


From its conception this opera has had trouble and American audiences have never taken to it. It’s Puccini, so naturally there are some beautif]]>... Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8105
J. Lamon (© Dean Macdonnell)


To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its artistic director, Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra has fulfilled a long-held desire and performed Handel’s “Musical Drama” of 1745, Hercules.


The venue for this special set of performances is Koerner Hall (capacity over 1000), just a few blocks from the orchestra’s usual venue, the Trinity-St Paul Centre, a church seating about 770. Handel’s drama, originally presented in oratorio form, is semi-staged under the direction of Marshall Pynkoski, co-director of Opera Atelier which in recent years has employed ]]>... Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8101
H. Graf (© Christian Steiner)


Although it got off to a slow start, the final concert of the Houston Symphony's three part "RachFest" ended with a bang. Hans Graf's somnambulant take on the Vocalise was fussy and overemphasized the subdivisions of the pulse. The immortal melody and lush harmonies plodded along instead of flowing naturally forward. The orchestra followed the baton's every move, but seemed stuck in sotto voce mode throughout the piece.



Fortunately, Kirill Gerstein and Graf were a near-perfect pair in the concerto that followed. As in his wonderful performance of the th]]>... Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8099
P. Szot (© Laura Marie Duncan)


Music has been integral to the life of the venerable Carlyle Hotel since the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers became its first tenant. The heart of this musical life is the Café Carlyle, an elegant, intimate space with murals by Marcel Vertès. Over the years, the supper club has featured cabaret greats from Bobby Short to Ute Lemper. Currently, the artist in residence is the marvelous and marvelously versatile Brazilian baritone, Paulo Szot.


In the space of two years, I have seen Szot in a remarkably diverse series of roles and locations. He made his Metropolitan Opera ]]>... Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8110
J. Ehnes (Courtesy of NWS)


South Floridian music lovers are very lucky people. Since 1987 we have had the New World Symphony. Then we get guest conductors like James Conlon who are respectful enough to give us both one of the warhorses along with a piece that isn’t offered very often. This is really what matters. The trick is to bait us with something we love and then expand our musical education. The bait this time is one of the most beloved violin concertos, the Tchaikovsky. It has often been commented that when violinist Leopold Auer was chosen to premiere it, he declined saying it was “unplayable.” Now that 130 years have pas]]>... Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8082
J. Kronenberg & C. Guerra (© Mitchell Zachs)


Because of so many choreographic train wrecks over history, it is not unfair that we are suspicious of new works. But Balanchine, Robbins, Tudor, Taylor, MacMillan, etc. all had to start somewhere; and though they might not have always been great, because they were true artists, they were almost always interesting. Liam Scarlett has had considerable success as a dancer and choreographer at Royal Ballet in London, so for Miami City Ballet to commission him is a signal that he has paid his dues. It can be exciting to see the early work of a young choreographer and imagine where ]]>... Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8072
P. Heras-Casado (Courtesy of CSO)


The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra began the New Year by extending a warm welcome to guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and a warm welcome back to pianist Emanuel Ax. The two shared a program of 18th, 19th and 20th-century music that went down well with the post-holiday crowd.



Spanish-born Heras-Casado, 34, who made his CSO debut, bears watching, chiefly because Cincinnati is in the thick of a music director search (former CSO music director Paavo Järvi stepped down at the end of the 2010-201l season). Newly-appointed principal conductor of the Orchestra of S]]>... Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8071
K. Gerstein (© Marco Borggreve)


Despite any arguments to the contrary, it is odd to begin a festival celebrating the music of Rachmaninoff with a work by Wagner. Guest conductor Edward Gardner offered an awkward apologia before diving into the Meistersinger prelude, citing the influence of Tristan und Isolde on The Isle of the Dead. Perhaps this is true at a superficial level, but neither of those works was present here. Indeed, the major qualm I'd have with the Houston Symphony's tripartite RachFest is the lack of imagination in its conception. Sticking solely to the composer's "hits," no matter ho]]>... Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8070
A. S. von Otter (© Courtesy of the Artist)


During the intermission of the New York Philharmonic concert, I overheard a patron’s outrageous remark: “New York tonight is really cold.”

What???, I wanted to ask. After listening to Anne Sofie von Otter sing for 25 minutes, you dared mention the word “cold?” Absurd! For this Swedish mezzo-soprano, wrapped in a dazzling tangerine-colored mega-skirt, and at the top of her musical form, still has that warmth, that purity, that utter grace in every line, that transcends mere meteorology.

Granted, Ms von Otter’s voice often surpasse]]>... Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8058
(© Philippe Jasmin)


The bane of every music critic is finding enough to say about a performance that is almost perfect. I usually aim for restraint and try not to gush when I’ve been overwhelmed by a concert. But Thursday evening’s ultimate performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and his Orchestre Métropolitain at Montreal’s Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste (concluding a tour of five city boroughs) was sensational.



It was one of those occasions where everything came together with perfection. Nézet-Séguin maintained a dynamic, rhythmic pulse throughout the evening wi]]>... Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8056
Musica Sacra (© Richard Ten Dyke)


There are so many reasons to treasure Carnegie Hall. Aside from its glorious acoustics and the plethora of fine musical talent who perform there, there is something else uniquely experienced there. It’s history, a dimension perhaps often taken for granted by those who live on the other side of the Atlantic. But New Yorkers have so few physical landmarks to connect us to our past. The tendency here – alas -- is to tear down the old and venerable and replace it with the new and tacky. In fact, Carnegie Hall only escaped such a fate (replacement by an office building) thanks to the her]]>... Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8057
Voices of Ascension (© Kenneth Kauffman)


Now in their 22nd season, Voices of the Ascension is an ensemble of exquisite refinement and expressiveness. Although they do travel and perform, we in New York tend to feel rather proprietary about this wonderful group. And while they give the people of New York the gift of music all year round, Christmas is always rather special. I reviewed the choir on their home ground two years ago (Read here) just as they were about to set off on a pilgrimage around the city occasioned by refurbishment of their ]]>... Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8044
(© Marty Sohl)


For the holiday season, the Metropolitan Opera mounts a work in English geared for parents and their children, the Julie Taymor Magic Flute has been a great success in prior years.

This year’s treat is a production by Richard Jones of Hansel and Gretel first seen at the Met in 2007 and before that at the Welsh National Opera. The current production replaced a traditional Met staging that lasted more than 30 years. Based on a story ]]>... Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8065
M. Panuccio (Courtesy of the Artist)


Italian-American lyric tenor Marco Panuccio, 37, now singing leading roles on opera stages in Europe and the United States, calls Cincinnati home. It was for Cincinnati that he created O Holy Night, a Christmas show that played in five cities this year: Shillington, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Winter Park, Florida; Augusta, Georgia; and Cincinnati. The December 16 show in Cincinnati’s magnificent St. Peter in Chains Cathedral downtown elaborated on the others by including, in addition to piano and organ, members of the St. Peter in Chains Cathedral Choir led by An]]>... Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=8034