The Academy's acoustics: A forgotten treasure

Let's set the record straight: The Academy's maligned acoustics

Conventional wisdom holds that the Philadelphia Orchestra “has never had a hall worthy of its sound.” Not so. From the Orchestra's founding in 1900, the Academy of Music's acoustics drew nationwide raves from musicians, conductors, audiences and architects alike— until the Academy's stewards began tampering with it in 1960.

Steve Cohen

Dec 01, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read

Orchestra plays Mozart and Bruckner (2nd review)

From one extreme to another

Guest conductor Jaap van Zweden proved he could jump from the small-scale grace of Mozart to the somber massiveness of Bruckner.

Tom Purdom

Dec 01, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Orchestra plays Mozart and Bruckner (1st review)

After perfection, what's next?

The Dutch-born conductor Jaap van Zweden performed Mozart's 19th Piano Concerto and Bruckner's Ninth Symphony in his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with soloist Horacio Gutierrez giving a fine account of the Mozart. Van Zweden knows what he wants and mostly got it from the Orchestra, though the last, dying notes of the Bruckner were almost predictably fluffed in the horns.

Robert Zaller

Dec 01, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Pianist Anna Polonsky at Fleisher

Polonsky aroused

The pianist Polonsky brings a determined personality to the keyboard, and her attack is so concentrated, and so vivid, that at one point the rocking of her body brought a flashback of the New Wave band Devo to mind.

Michael Woods

Nov 28, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Verdi's "Falstaff' by the Academy of Vocal Arts

An intimate Falstaff

Can a mere 17 voices (and no chorus) do justice to Falstaff? As the Academy of Vocal Arts demonstrates, Verdi's last masterpiece is an opera that benefits from intimacy.

Steve Cohen

Nov 22, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Eschenbach conducts Mahler's Seventh

Mahler's mystery (and Eschenbach's)

Gustav Mahler's seldom-performed Seventh Symphony lacks— or deliberately eschews— the narrative drive that makes his symphonies popular, but its appearance in Christoph Eschenbach's assured performance was all the more welcome for its rarity. Make of it what you will, the music is glorious and the invention unflagging.

Robert Zaller

Nov 21, 2009 · Articles · 5 minute read

Dolce Suono: From Clearfield to Mozart

Grace and substance at the Art Museum

Dolce Suono presents a program that ranges from Mozart to Clearfield and glows from start to finish.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 2 minute read

Piffaro's "Portuguese Vespers'

‘God's musicians come from Portugal'

Piffaro presents a historically accurate Vesper service that combines good-humored Portuguese nationalism with a tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Classical Symphony's 19th-Century musicale

Pregnant girlfriends, and other 19th-Century curiosities

Karl Middleman presents a 21st- Century version of a 19th-Century event that acquired a history without actually taking place.

Tom Purdom

Nov 17, 2009 · Articles · 3 minute read

Philadelphia Singers: A lesson in economy

Like Hemingway in music

The Philadelphia Singers have largely abandoned the Baroque and classic choral repertoire to focus on more modern scores. Their first concert this season produced a triumph for the new approach, as well as a four-part lesson in the relationship between music and words.

Tom Purdom

Nov 10, 2009 · Articles · 4 minute read