Buxtehude Consort plays Telemann and Handel

An 18th-Century treat for 21st-Century commoners

For us commoners whose living standards are slipping farther behind those of the super-rich, the Buxtehude Consort offered a rare chance to live like an 18th-Century aristocrat.

Tom Purdom

Feb 21, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Brentano Quartet's three tough pieces

The audience deserves a hand, too

The Brentano Quartet programmed three challenging pieces, in the process reminding the audience that artists deal with their inner conflicts not by resolving them, but by portraying them.

Tom Purdom

Feb 21, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Curtis Orchestra plays Bernstein and Prokofiev

The late great symphony (and on orchestra without pension issues)

The 1940s were the climactic period of the modern symphony, a fact not unrelated to the programmatic needs of World War II. Prokofiev's Fifth celebrated the end of the war, while Leonard Bernstein's Second explored postwar Angst. Both were vigorously performed by the Curtis Orchestra in its midwinter concert.

Robert Zaller

Feb 18, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Wagner's “Götterdämmerung” at the Met

The letdown of the gods: Robert Lepage phones it in

What's the meaning of Wagner's Ring cycle— the destruction of civilization or the birth of a new world? Robert Lepage's tepid Götterdämmerung suggests a third possiblity: nothing much, really.

Steve Cohen

Feb 14, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Chamber Orchestra spotlights McGill and Mackey

If Mozart used Twitter

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia paired the rising young clarinetist Anthony McGill with a world premiere by Steven Mackey, whose career straddles the worlds of rock and the Big Five orchestras.

Tom Purdom

Feb 14, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

Dolce Suono: Mahler and Schoenberg

The not-so-odd couple

Mahler the traditionalist and Schoenberg the atonal apostate actually liked and respected each other. But at this concert, Shulamit Ran's Moon Songs spoke to me above all.

Tom Purdom

Feb 07, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Tempesta di Mare's "Italians in Vienna'

When Italy conquered Austria

Tempesta di Mare's “Italians in Vienna” raises an interesting question: Who was greater— Vivaldi, or the Hapsburg Emperor Leopold I? Tempesta di Mare: “Italians in Vienna.” Vivaldi, Concerto for Two Flutes in C, and Perche son molli; Caldara, Concerto for Cello in D Minor; Parsile, Le sofferte; Jommelli, Trio No. 6 for Two Flutes and Cello in D; Fux, Trio Sonata in A; Badia, La Fenice. Michael Maniaci, soprano; Emlyn Ngai, concertmaster. February 4, 2012 at Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St. (215) 755-8776 or www.tempestadimare.org.

Tom Purdom

Feb 07, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Verdi's "Oberto' by AVA

Before Verdi was Verdi

Verdi demonstrated amazing talent in this first effort, staged when he was 26 years old. Credit AVA's Christofer Macatsoris for beating Muti and Levine to the punch.

Steve Cohen

Feb 06, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Nicola Luisotti leads the Orchestra

Leaping Luisotti, or: The return of the hyperkinetic conductor

Guest conductor Nicola Luisotti opened his debut performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra with the hokiest of Stokowski's Bach transcriptions. More substance emerged in the Shostakovich Violin Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, but Luisotti's podium antics didn't enhance his otherwise straightforward readings.

Robert Zaller

Feb 04, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Leila Josefowicz at the Perelman

Unexpected pleasures

From de Falla to John Adams, the violinist Leila Josefowicz explored the world beyond the standard repertoire. I ended up getting my biggest satisfactions from the three pieces I had least looked forward to.

Tom Purdom

Jan 31, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read