Music
1926 results
Page 145
When classical musicians play pops
Confessions of a classical pianist: Give me a funky beat now and then
What kind of music do classical musicians listen to when they want to let their hair down— especially if they're black?
Articles
3 minute read
Opera Company's "La Traviata' (2nd review)
If Violetta were 20 years older…..
The Opera Company's stunning production of La Traviata, updated to the Roaring ‘20s, shouldn't be discarded just because it's anachronistic. But how can we see the Violetta-Alfredo relationship as more upsetting in a sexually liberated age? Let me suggest a solution.
Articles
5 minute read
From Schubert to John Adams, in three days
Fascist music? Who cares?
Two concerts from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society hop from the tried and true to the new and noisy. I enjoyed both.
Articles
5 minute read
AVA's "La Bohème'
A Bohème you can believe in
Everyone in the cast of AVA's La Bohème displayed youthful fervor and sang at a level equal to or better than what one sees in professional opera houses. Watch especially for soprano Na Li Youm, whose large yet intimate voice will take her far (even if she's too healthy-looking to play the consumptive Mimi).
Articles
3 minute read
Opera Company's flapper 'Traviata' (1st review)
A flapper Traviata
The Opera Company of Philadelphia's latest production of La Traviata is set not in the repressed 1840s but in the Roaring 1920s. It's a first-rate production with two ideally cast new faces. But the anachronistic setting undermines the opera's timeless message about the individual's place in society.
Articles
6 minute read
Variations on Beethoven's Variations, by Network For New Music
If Beethoven could do it….
Inspired by Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, Network For New Music called for 25 new variations from 25 present-day composers. The result certainly didn't sound like a single, cohesive work, yet it captured a range of drama, emotion and texture that honored Beethoven's model.
Articles
3 minute read
The vanishing Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra: On Tour, or AWOL?
Other orchestras go on tour, but few vanish for a month at a time as regularly as Philadelphia's. You have to wonder if our great orchestra is considering a relocation to Tokyo.
Articles
2 minute read
Grofe's lost "Café Society' rediscovered
Back to the '30s, for one afternoon
A missing piece of Philadelphia arts history was retrieved and revived when Philadelphia Sinfonia, a youth orchestra led by musical director and conductor Gary White, performed Ferde Grofe's long-forgotten Café Society.
Articles
3 minute read
Philadelphia Singers and Bach Festival
Rachmaninoff meets a sticky challenge
The Philadelphia Singers apply their talents to a Rachmaninoff work that combines creative genius with one of the world's most appealing liturgical traditions.
Articles
4 minute read
Roberto Diaz, master of the viola
Diaz: Something for the eye, too
At his recent recital, the violist Diaz made no effort to woo the audience with flashy movements. His demeanor provided appropriate visual backup nevertheless.
Articles
3 minute read