Can black opera save Classical music?

Beyond Leontyne Price: For whom the black operatic bell tolls

Exciting and innovative black operas are struggling because white audiences tend to avoid them. But all classical music groups are struggling because white audiences tend to avoid them. Is there a common cause here? And might there be a solution to both problems?

Maria Thompson Corley

Jul 17, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Rachmaninoff's "Aleko' by Russian Opera Workshop

A Rachmaninoff opera? Who knew?

No major American company in this country has ever produced Rachmaninoff's unfortunately neglected Aleko. Ghenady Meirson's Russian Opera Workshop offered a taste of what we've missed.

Steve Cohen

Jul 03, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dolce Suono at Laurel Hill

Smiles of a summer night

Dolce Suono's “Concert by Candlelight” at Laurel Hill contained enough depth to repay close attention without disturbing a relaxed summery mood.

Tom Purdom

Jul 03, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Stokowski's lesson: Develop local talent

One more lesson Yannick can learn from Stokowski

The Philadelphia Orchestra began as an ensemble consisting of European immigrant musicians. Stokowski, Ormandy and Mary Louise Curtis Bok nurtured the infrastructure for developing homegrown talent and audiences. Boston and Los Angeles have learned that lesson; why not Philadelphia, where the idea first took root?

Clarence Faulcon

Jun 30, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Thomas Frank's "Pity the Billionaire'

Herbert Hoover or FDR? Playing the hindsight game with Obama

Thomas Frank's new book seeks to explain the resurgence of the Republican Party over the past four years in terms of the Tea Party phenomenon and its shrewd exploitation by Republican strategists. He is far less persuasive in accounting for the dissipation of the once-in-a-generation mandate Democrats seemed to have won in 2008.

Robert Zaller

Jun 30, 2012 · Articles · 7 minute read

What I learned from whale watching

Captain Ahab, meet Charlie Manuel: Lessons of a novice whale-watcher

What do composers and conductors share in common with sea captains, farmers and Major League baseball managers? As I learned on my first whale-watching expedition, it‘s a certain fixity in the eyes that enables you to see things no one else ever noticed before.

Kile Smith

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Concert Operetta does Victor Herbert

Grownups in Herbert-land

Lasting romantic love, Victor Herbert-style, may be a delusion. But it's a more useful delusion than many of the fantasies peddled by the arts these days.

Tom Purdom

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Yannick's homage to Stokowski (2nd review)

Stokowski's excitement, rekindled

At last weekend's Stokowski's celebration, the performances justified the palpable excitement. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has set the bar for the Philadelphia Orchestra very high indeed.

Steve Cohen

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Yannick's homage to Stokowski (1st review)

Yannick's Stokowski quandary: Showmanship or artistry?

In four memorable concerts this past weekend, the Philadelphia Orchestra's new leader, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, paid homage to the showmanship and musicianship of its late conductor Leopold Stokowski. He also demonstrated that he still has a thing or two to learn from Stoky.

Victor L. Schermer

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Stokowski's forgotten Youth Concerts

The maestro who listened to teenagers

Leopold Stokowski may have terrorized his musicians, audiences and board members, but he forged a genuine connection with teenagers that the Philadelphia Orchestra hasn't achieved since his departure.

Steve Cohen

Jun 19, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read