Music
1936 results
Page 161
Wagner's "Ring' cycle (Part 4: 'Die Walküre')
Die Walkure: Wotan's children (and Hitler's too?)
Wagner really was at the top of his game when he wrote Die Walküre. Perhaps he was energized by the chance to glamorize incest and throw it in the face of conventional society. But his greatest inspiration was the difficult father-daughter relationship between Wotan and Brünnhilde.
Articles
7 minute read
Choral Arts: Bach's B-minor Mass (2nd review)
Bach and religion: What a combination!
A myriad of barriers confronts a successful performance of the B-minor Mass. On this occasion, the audience was rewarded with one of those performances that can be a treasured memory for a lifetime.
Dolce Suono's "Rouge, blanc et bleu' (2nd review)
That obscure but sublime French connection
The long and complex relationship between the U.S. and France is reflected in their music, but with distinct differences in style and approach. Dolce Suono contemplated the musical and historical connections in a concert of three French composers plus a new French-influenced work by Philadelphia composer Andrea Clearfield.
Articles
6 minute read
Four Mother's Weekend concerts (1st review)
Take Mom to a musicale
With masterpieces by Bach, Beethoven and Debussy, and a historical range that covered 1496 to 2009, these four Mother's Weekend concerts should have satisfied any reasonably cultured mother's tastes.
Articles
6 minute read
Simon Rattle conducts Bruckner's Eighth
The temptations of Sir Simon
Is Sir Simon Rattle still the One Who Got Away? In the second of his recent concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the flamboyant conductor offered a spacious and compelling reading of Bruckner's sprawling Eighth Symphony that drew marvelous playing, especially from the strings.
Articles
3 minute read
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My mother's greatest gift
Everything I needed in life, my mother taught me at the piano
My mother, the descendant of slaves, was a piano teacher who never pushed her kids to become musicians. But she insisted that all of us learn to play the piano. The sense of dedication we'd derive from that experience, she reasoned, would lead us to succeed in a profession that provided a good living, whatever it might be.
Articles
8 minute read
Wagner's 'Ring' cycle (Part 1)
An egomaniac for all seasons: Learning to love Richard Wagner
The Metropolitan Opera's current Ring cycle may be the last ever produced in the traditional four-night, 15-hour style envisioned by Richard Wagner. I've attended Wagner's operas for decades. Now I must persuade my neophyte wife to appreciate this brilliant (albeit obnoxious) composer before it's too late.
Articles
6 minute read
Wagner's "Ring' cycle (Part 3: "Das Rheingold')
Gold, power, sex, love: Wagner's Rheingold daydream
Wagner's Das Rheingold introduced a new form of opera, far removed from the tradition of Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi, and even different from Wagner's own earlier romantic operas like Lohengrin and Tannhauser. The orchestra states the themes, sets the mood and remains pre-eminent throughout.
Articles
7 minute read
Opera Company's Ravel/Puccini double bill
Ravel meets Puccini (with a little help from a projector)
Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges runs only 45 minutes, and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi barely 55, but in tandem they make a full and satisfying evening, thanks especially to clever staging and excellent performances.
Articles
4 minute read
Curtis Orchestra plays Russian masterworks
Are second thoughts best?
Curtis Orchestra's final concert of the season featured second thoughts on Russian masterworks by Prokofiev and Stravinsky. I'm not sure why Philadelphia couldn't hear some of Valery Gergeiev's recent traversal of the Prokofiev symphonies (which went to Washington), but the Curtis performances were at least a consolation prize. The caliber of this student orchestra, despite the annual changeovers of its graduation cycle, easily stands comparison with most professional groups anywhere.
Articles
4 minute read