The Classical Music Network (English) Wed, 30 Apr 2025 22:01:45 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/ http://www.concertonet.com/images/concertonet.jpg http://www.concertonet.com/
Y. Nézet-Séguin/S. Phillips
(© Nicholas Eastop - Scenkonstmuseet/Dario Acosta)


“As merry as a lark and as melodious as a nightingale.”
Paul Verlaine on Emmanuel Chabrier


“A saint.”
Arnold Schoenberg on Gustav Mahler


Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin has unerring taste in codifying his programs. Last night he conducted his Metropolitan Opera Chamber Orchestra in a concert which could be called Seven Metamorphoses in Three Acts.


First was a Baudelaire poem changing to a Manet painting and finally changing]]>... Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16908
A. Nelsons & BSO (© Marco Borggreve)


“You don’t have a peaceful revolution. You don’t have turn-the-other-cheek revolution. There is no such thing as a non‑violent revolution.”
Malcolm X


“Music is a means capable of expressing dark dramatism and pure rapture, suffering and ecstasy, fiery and cold fury, melancholy and wild merriment–and the subtlest nuances and interplay of these feelings which words are powerless to express and which are unattainable in painting and sculpture.”
Dmitri Shostakovich


A strange week in New York for radical po]]>... Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16895
FLUX Quartet, J. King with abstraction of Palestinian flag
(© Samuel A. Dog)


“The horror, the horror.”
Spoken by Kurz, in Heart of Darkness, by Josef Conrad


“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.”
Spoken by Ariel in The Tempest by William Shakespeare


Yes, the excuses for these Palestine Quartets are as fraudulent as they are manifold. The wars in Gaza, the colonial expansions in the West Bank are “political”, “historically irreconcilable”, “barbarity versus civilization” (or in James Joyce’s words, “syp]]>... Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16893
(© Ossama el Naggar)


Buenos Aires is an amazing city. It’s a cosmopolitan megalopolis more reminiscent of Paris or Madrid than a typical Latin American city. Musically, it’s most famous for its 2,500‑seat opera house, Teatro Colón, completed in 1908. All the greats of twentieth century opera sang here, including Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson and Luciano Pavarotti. However, Buenos Aires is so much more than the Teatro Colón; it has a rich musical tradition that encompasses various styles.


The city’s early music scene is not huge, but it’s inten]]>... Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16899
S. Mercurio (© Juan Diego Castillo/Courtesy of the Bogotá International Classical Music Festival)


On the last day of the Bogotá es América Siglos XX y XXI festival, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra played a sold out matinée concert of music by John Williams. This was in stark contrast with a much more serious one given by the same orchestra the previous day that featured music by Copland, Barber and Dvorák. It also attracted an altogether different crowd of mostly children and adolescents accompanied by parents and grandparents. Given the longevity of Williams’ career, most of the content featured was from]]>... Sat, 19 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16892
S. Mercurio


Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), commissioned by legendary American soprano Eleanor Steber (1814‑1990), was set to a text by poet James Agee (1909‑1955). The work paints a nostalgic picture of the American poet’s native Knoxville, Tennessee.


Julieth Lozano, heard two days earlier in the Festival’s Gala liríca, possesses a supple lyric soprano not dissimilar to Steber’s. It’s feminine, fruity and richly distinct. The lyrics are a man’s idyllic vision of his childhood, and the music evokes nostalgi]]>... Fri, 18 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16897
Rudersdal Chamber Players (© Courtesy of the Artists)


“Ruders can be gloriously, explosively extrovert one minute-withdrawn, haunted, intently inward-looking the next. Super-abundant high spirits alternate with pained, almost expressionistic lyricism; simplicity and directness with astringent irony.”
Stephen Johnson


“I write to entertain, enrich and to disturb, not necessarily in that order.”
Poul Ruders


The opening concert of Cutting Edge’s “New Music Festival 2025” lived up to its name. The four performers of Rudersdal Chamber Players are wel]]>... Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16885
B. Garcés, R. Díaz‑Cajamarca
(© Juan Diego Castillo/Courtesy of the Bogotá International Classical Music Festival)


In 2012, Bogotá, Colombia’s capital, was designated by UNESCO as a Creative City of Music, the first Latin American city to be bestowed this title. That same year the idea was born to create a biennial music festival. The first edition of this festival, “Bogotá is Beethoven,” took place during Holy Week in 2013. Subsequent festivals had various themes: Mozart in 2015, Romantic Russia in 2017, Brahms, Schubert & Schumann in 2019, Bach, Handel & Vivaldi in 2021 and “France: La Belle Epoque” ]]>... Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16890
P. Kopatchinskaja/J. Hrůsa (© Courtesy of the Artist/Petra Klacková)


“Chemiluminescence is the emission of light (luminescence) as the result of a chemical reaction, i.e. a chemical reaction results in a flash or glow of light. A standard example of chemiluminescence in the laboratory setting is the luminol test. Here, blood is indicated by luminescence upon contact with iron in hemoglobin.”
Wikipedia


“I do not like the term ‘neoclassicism’. The word is overused. It means nothing at all. The composer can re‑use the past and at the same time move in a forw]]>... Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16872
R. Gleadow (© Robert Hugh Wesley)


The entire plot of Mozart’s fabled opera Le nozze di Figaro (1786), based on Beaumarchais’s play La Folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (1784), takes place in one day. The frenzied action in Lorenzo Da‑Ponte’s exceptionally well‑written libretto makes it one of the most dramatically compact and successful operas. A brilliant performance makes one feel this relentless pacing. The opera has five major characters: Figaro; his soon‑to‑be wife Susanna; the Count and Countess Almaviva; and the adolescent page, Cherubino. It also features six secondar]]>... Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16853
B. Bernheim, M. Viotti (© Vincent Pontet)


French operas of the nineteenth century were once among the most popular in the repertoire. In the last half century, they’ve fallen out of fashion. One reason is the loss of national singing schools, especially the French, in this globalized opera world. Without an understanding of the French style, and without the required elegance and clear diction, for the audience these operas are a painful exercise in dated mannerisms or, more commonly, sadly generic pieces utterly lacking in style.


Luckily, there have been a few singers over the years, few native ]]>... Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16850 Just over a month ago, I saw Patrice Chéreau’s staging of Elektra at Berlin’s Staatsoper. Only in Germany’s capital with its three opera houses may one see two exceptional productions of Strauss’s opera with first‑rate singers within such a short period. As the recent production was truly amazing, I didn’t expect to be as overwhelmed mere weeks later, but I was.


Austrian poet/playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874‑1929) managed to abridge his own play Elektra (1903), making the opera (based on Sophocles) more suited for another art form. The result is probably the most intense work ever written for the operatic stage. A Berlin]]>... Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16845
L. Tézier (© Jenny Bohse)


“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” wrote Lord Acton (1834- 902). Power may have its advantages, but it’s also a huge burden. Those who hold it may gratuitously abuse it, but even the most virtuous must oppress and castigate to maintain it. Simon Boccanegra was a fourteenth century Genovese pirate who managed to get elected as Doge of Genova, then a major maritime power. Boccanegra’s interest in this powerful position was elevating his station to be worthy of Maria, daughter of the patrician Giacopo Fiesco. Disapproving of his daughter’s affair with Boccanegra, ]]>... Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16848
F. Lazarevitch (© Jean‑Baptiste Millot)


Lorsque François Lazarevitch a fondé l’ensemble Les Musiciens de Saint‑Julien en 2005, s’imaginait‑il que l’aventure durerait toujours vingt ans après ? De leur premier disque, consacré à des danses issues du cœur des campagnes françaises au Moyen Age sur les thèmes des bergers et du loup, au plus récent disque, rassemblant des airs de cour du XVII^e siècle (Robert de Visée, Jean‑Baptiste Lully, Honoré d’Ambruis...) en passant par leur superbe recueil « Le Berger poète » ou leur tr]]>... Sat, 15 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16825
M. Bengtsson, P. Jekal (© Monika Rittershaus)


Detractors of Richard Strauss (1864-1949) are wont to note the composer’s arrogance and tendency to flaunt his personal life and success, citing his symphonic poems Ein Heldenleben (1899), Sinfonia domestica (1904) and his opera Intermezzo (1924) as proof of this supposed self-aggrandisement. But more impartial observers sympathize with the inherent challenges facing successful artists privy to incessant chatter and gossip – especially famous ones. Since his symphonic poem Don Juan (1889) premiered when he was all of twenty‑five, Strauss w]]>... Thu, 13 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16846
J. Osborn, N. Alaimo (© Jonathan Berger/Opéra royal de Wallonie)


It’s generally acknowledged that Rossini’s final opera, Guillaume Tell (1829), is his greatest. Most unusually, Rossini declared it to be his last opera while composing it, though he was only in his thirties (he was to live nearly four more decades). This decision may explain the composer’s great efforts and superlative results. Having lived in Paris since 1824, he’d absorbed the musical trends of the city of lights, then the musical centre of the world. Guillaume Tell is indeed a grand opéra rather than a typical bel canto one. It p]]>... Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16842
(© Agathe Poupeney/Opéra national de Paris)


The Sleeping Beauty (1890), the second of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets, is much less frequently performed than Swan Lake (1877) and The Nutcracker (1892). It’s also the most “French” of the three; the other two take place in Germany and The Nutcracker is based on Nussknacker und Mausekönig (1816), a tale by German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1766‑1822).


Prince Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky (1835-1909), Director of the Imperial Theatres and an ardent Francophile, is said to have specifically chosen the story of Slee]]>... Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16857
(© Bettina Stöss)


While the advance of time is inevitable, few are able to accept its progression, nor the subsequent changes to one’s surroundings. Many can identify with this statement, considering the often radical changes to their own societies, downfalls in their social standings or the decline of their nation’s power. Such was the predicament of the most talented and prolific composer-librettist team in operatic history, rivaled only by Mozart and Da Ponte. Austria’s Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the major poet, novelist and playwright, was Richard Strauss’s coveted librettist, and their fruitful collaboration yielded ]]>... Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16841
Y. Lim (© Ralph Lauer/The Cliburn)


“I made up my mind that I will live my life only for the sake of music, and I decided that I will give up everything for music... I want my music to become deeper, and if that desire reaches the audience, I’m satisfied.”
Yunchan Lim


Two 20th Century Titans were on the program for the second London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) last night. And one of the Titans was probably unknown to much of the audience.


Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto is a titanic job for any pianist even if the main theme is dreary. Wi]]>... Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16809
C. Unterreiner, K. Lindsey (© Wiener Staatsoper/Michael Pöhn)


Werther is one of Massenet’s more robust operas, unlike its protagonist’s emotional state which is far from stable. But the story is simple and believable – these are real people with relatable problems – and the music is direct. Having set the scene, the opera gets on with things in its bourgeois fashion and the audience does not have to grapple with some of Massenet’s wilder exoticisms apparent in works such as Esclarmonde or Thaïs, which came either side of Werther. It does mean that Werther has to convince the viewer a]]>... Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16818
A. Pappano, J. Jansen (© Musacchio & Ianniello-EMI Classics/Lukas Beck)


“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything, Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”
Plato


“Musical innovation is full of danger to the State, for when modes of music change, the laws of the State always change with them.”
Plato


Harvard-trained Leonard Bernstein and self-educated Franz Liszt were both at home translating unmusical authors–Plato. Petrarch, Shakespeare, Goethe, Dante and Vo]]>... Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16806
Musica Viva NY (© Musica Viva.com)


“A need to concentrate on each sound, so that every blade of grass would be as important as a flower. I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.”
Arvo Pärt


When I first heard the Latvian Radio Choir several years ago, it became apparent that Latvia–and Estonia and Lithuania–probably had choral singers rivaled only by the choirs of Wales. Musica V]]>... Sun, 02 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16801
R. Muti (© Todd Rosenberg)


“Music does not know the difference between people; it only speaks to their hearts. It is the only form of communication that can bring this terrible world together.”
Riccardo Muti


“One single cymbal clash by Bruckner is worth all the Brahms symphonies, with the serenades thrown in.”
Hugo Wolf


In a predictably sumptuous, rich concert by Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, four notes stood out. Anton Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony had the heavenly themes, those grand climaxes to make the firmament ring, ]]>... Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16798
Y. Nézet‑Séguin, J. Wolfe (© Allie Ippolito)


A gripping presentation of Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 concluded a long, but immersive concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra on February 28. Led by Yannick Nézet‑Séguin in the orchestra’s home in Marian Anderson Hall, the program began with a powerhouse statement on the objectification of women and shifted into an effusively romantic 19th century symphony before concluding with the Brahms. Hélène Grimaud was the piano soloist as the Philadelphia Orchestra launched into one of the most startling renditions of the Brahms First that I can recall. It wasn’]]>... Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16800
R. Willis-Sørensen, A. Isaev (© Camilla Greenwell)


The Royal Opera has a problematic relationship with Il trovatore and never gets it right: productions come and go almost as swiftly as their casts. Adele Thomas obviously had many good ideas for her staging (revived efficiently by Simon Iorio), but ultimately they fall flat. The opera’s programme is littered with paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, erupting with enjoyably grotesque creatures and hideous perversities. Thomas has attempted to replicate this dystopian nightmare onstage, and talks about “a world in which monsters and heaven and hell are not mere concepts....w]]>... Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.concertonet.com/scripts/review.php?ID_review=16793