Henze's "Elegy For Young Lovers'

Never trust a megalomaniacal poet

In a well-sung and well-played production, Hans Werner Henze's 1961 composition, Elegy For Young Lovers, lived up to its advance hype. The drama, alas, did not.

Steve Cohen

Mar 24, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Between Bach and "O-o-h Child'

Kicking down the (musical) door, then and now

What does the drummer in “O-o-h Child” by the Five Stairsteps have in common with the cellist in a Bach Cantata? Well, try listening to either work without them.

Kile Smith

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina ' at the Met

Perpetually suffering Russia

The Metropolitan Opera's revival of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, rarely performed outside Russia, is a primer in the history of that country's unexampled suffering, and, for all its flaws, a testament to our common humanity.

Robert Zaller

Mar 20, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Max Raabe's Weimar cabaret at the Merriam

Old world, new sound

Max Raabe's burnished baritone voice, pomaded hair, white satin bow tie, tails and patent leather shoes all speak of a gentler time in Germany, before the unspeakable crimes committed in World War II.

Merilyn Jackson

Mar 17, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Jerusalem Quartet plays Shostakovich

The caged nightingale had to sing

The Jerusalem Quartet's traversal of three mid-period Shostakovich quartets took stamina of every variety, but its musicians met the challenge, and brought out something other groups haven't: Shostakovich's deep affinity with Jewish music.

Robert Zaller

Mar 17, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Solzhenitsyn returns with the Chamber Orchestra

Eroica without the hero worship

Ignat Solzhenitsyn demonstrated that he's the ideal conductor for a symphony that's supposed to be a “grand and inspiring essay.”

Tom Purdom

Mar 06, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

AVA's "Pelléas et Mélisande' (2nd review)

Love sacred and profane

The Academy of Vocal Arts' production of Debussy's seldom-performed Pelléas et Mélisande made the most of its slender means in projecting the work's richness. This Wagnerian riposte to Wagner's assertion of the primacy of human passion is only partly realized dramatically, but superbly garbed musically.

Robert Zaller

Mar 06, 2012 · Articles · 8 minute read

Bass-baritone Eric Owens in recital

Not so menacing after all

Eric Owens, so persuasive as an opera villain, demonstrated in an intimate recital that he can be Romantic and even downright comic.

Steve Cohen

Mar 03, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Rock 'n roll: Doomed to disappoint

Locked in to the backbeat: The lure (and limitations) of rock

There's no rock if there's no backbeat. It's the element that teases you into believing any direction is open, any option is possible. Which is a delusion, of course.

Kile Smith

Mar 03, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

The Met's "Ernani' in HD-Live

Move over, Joan Sutherland

Anyone who thinks opera today suffers from a dearth of great Verdi singers needs to hear Angela Meade and her fellow soloists in the Met's telecast Ernani.

Steve Cohen

Mar 03, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read