Two concerts in art galleries

Can music and pictures coexist?

Holding a concert in an art gallery is a risky business. The very different sensations of aural and visual stimuli compete for attention, often to the detriment of one and occasionally of both. Two recent concerts took this risk, yielding results that mostly honored their roots.

Dave Allen

Dec 21, 2008 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra 2001 plays Messiaen

Legacy of a cosmic romantic

Orchestra 2001 marks the 100th birthday of Olivier Messiaen with two pieces that capture the cosmic and deeply personal feelings behind his work.

Tom Purdom

Dec 16, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

In Praise of Christmas Carols

Beyond Muzak: A few kind words for Christmas music

This is the time of year when no one can escape Christmas music. Which may be a good thing, since they're beautifully written. A professional musician offers her guide to making the most, musically, of the holiday season.

Maria Thompson Corley

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

Lucinda Williams and Bob Dylan

Lucinda Williams and Bob Dylan: Two trains running (in opposite directions)

I can't believe that the renowned perfectionist Lucinda Williams doesn't know, in her heart of hearts, that her latest album, “Little Honey,” is a mess. Bob Dylan's impact on our culture, on the other hand, continues to be as deep as Beethoven's or Shakespeare's.

Dan Coren

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 8 minute read

"Damnation of Faust' at the Met

The other Faust also rises

Berlioz wrote The Damnation of Faust in 1846 as a concert opera. The Met's new production is a multi-media extravaganza marked by striking imagery.

Steve Cohen

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

Ricardo Morales plus

A showcase for Morales (and two others)

Novel programming adds extra spice to a recital that features clarinetist Ricardo Morales and two other local stars.

Tom Purdom

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lidia Kaminska accordion recital

To take the accordion seriously? That is the question

Lidia Kaminska's accordion made a big hit with a big crowd. But one audience member would have been happier if the program had included more collaboration with other instruments.

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 3 minute read

Daniel Barenboim's all-Liszt piano recital

The astonishing Daniel Barenboim

Daniel Barenboim's all-Liszt recital of Italian-themed works combined scholarship, musicianship and technical brilliance in equal measure to make a forceful case for the problematic Hungarian master. I still can't tell you how Barenboim does it, but his performance was astonishing, and, for me, revelatory.

Robert Zaller

Dec 14, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read

A pianist and her memory

The pianist who recovered her memory

Concert pianists are expected to perform from memory. That was no problem for me until my psyche was permanently scarred in an auto accident. But over many years, as I was forced to cope with things far more crucial than missing a passage in a piece of music, I learned to trust my inner resources.

Maria Thompson Corley

Nov 26, 2008 · Articles · 6 minute read

Opera Company's "Italian Girl in Algiers'

The lighter side of Islam

The Opera Company of Philadelphia takes few risks in its entertaining staging of The Italian Girl in Algiers, even though Rossini’s opera offers a potentially controversial ridiculing of Islam.

The Italian Girl in Algiers. Opera by Gioachino Rossini; libretto by Angelo Anelli; directed by Stefano Vizioli. Through November 23, 2008 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust St. (215) 732-8400 or .www.operaphilly.com.

Jim Rutter

Nov 23, 2008 · Articles · 4 minute read