Philadelphia's Bach Festival

More Bach for your buck

Modern arrangements of Baroque musicians require scholar-musicians steeped in a tradition that died 200 years ago and blessed with creativity and taste. Philadelphia's Bach Festival provided an ample supply in a single packed weekend.

Tom Purdom

Jun 08, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Henze's "Phaedra' by the Opera Company (2nd review)

The artist as his own legend

Hans Werner Henze is the major composer of German opera since Richard Strauss, but productions of his work on this side of the Atlantic are infrequent at best. His 14th and latest opera, Phaedra, is static despite the dramatic legend on which it's based, but the music is fresh and inventive, and Tamara Mumford outstanding in the title role.

Robert Zaller

Jun 06, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

Henze's 'Phaedra' by the Opera Company (1st review)

A spectacular new work of art

Hans Werner Henze's Phaedra demonstrates convincingly that contemporary opera can deliver the wow factor. The Opera Company of Philadelphia took a huge chance in staging this new production, and it paid off.

Jun 06, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Don Giovanni,' reconsidered

Will the perfect Don Giovanni please stand up?

If Don Giovanni is a “perfect” opera, why did Mozart cut and replace major arias? And why do many conductors (like Christofer Macatsoris) reinstate the original version?

Steve Cohen

Jun 04, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust' (2nd review)

A century ahead of his time

After ignoring Berlioz's masterpiece for a century, the Philadelphia Orchestra has now performed The Damnation of Faust twice within two years. I'm glad the orchestra's management indulged Charles Dutoit, even if he taxed the audience's endurance.

Steve Cohen

Jun 04, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Coffee Cantata' by Philadelphia Bach Collegium (1st review)

Bach takes a coffee break

Bach's Coffee Cantata, about a soprano who's hooked on caffeine, offers proof that the great Johann Sebastian had a sense of humor.

Steve Cohen

Jun 04, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Savoy Company's "Iolanthe'

Political humor, here and over there

At its 108th annual production, the theoretically amateur Savoy Company demonstrated once again that the enduring appeal of Gilbert and Sullivan is based on qualities that transcend nostalgia.

Tom Purdom

May 31, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust' (1st review)

Dutoit's long goodbye

Charles Dutoit ended his penultimate year as chief conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra with a grand finale worthy of his long (albeit sometimes shabby) relationship with the Philadelphians.

Tom Purdom

May 31, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read

Tempesta di Mare restores Telemann, Fasch and Janitsch

Treasures from the Red Army

By scouring the Red Army archives, Tempesta di Mare resuscitated a few baroque gems, not to mention some quirky valveless horns.

Tom Purdom

May 24, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Orchestra plays Beethoven and Stravinsky (2nd review)

Beethoven's grandest finale

Charles Dutoit's Ninth didn't quite make it into the circle inhabited by Sawallisch and Milanov. But it came close, even if the soloists didn't quite measure up to the occasion.

Tom Purdom

May 24, 2011 · Articles · 3 minute read