American String Quartet with Lydia Artymiw

The American String Quartet and pianist Lydia Artymiw dug into Haydn, Shostakovich and Dohnanyi with obvious relish, and paid tribute to Mstislav Rostropovich in a moving encore.

American String Quartet, with Lydia Artymiw, pianist. May 2, 2007 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, (215) 569-8080 or

Robert Zaller

May 05, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra plays John Adams

I had the impression that the Orchestra had become a collective ecosystem, like a coral reef, teeming with the minute details of self-perpetuating organic processes. Has anyone at the Orchestra considered trying to hire Donald Runnicles? This guy is the real deal.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Works by John Adams, Bruch. Donald Runnicles conducting; Janine Jansen, violin solo. April 20-21, 2007 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center. 215. 893.1900 or

Dan Coren

Apr 28, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

A trio of violin concerts

The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestra 2001 and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia inadvertently present an unplanned three-concert violin festival, covering the Western tradition of violin music from 1733 to sometime around ten p.m. EDT on April 14, 2007.

Orchestra 2001: Clearfield Romanza for Violin and Orchestra with Gloria Justin; James Freeman conducting. April 14 2007 at Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce Sts. 215-922-2190 or

Tom Purdom

Apr 28, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

Kronos Quartet plays "Sun Rings'

Sun Rings is a meditation on the Voyager space probes of the 1970s, full of furious action, accompanied by non-stop visual projections. I loved it. The audience loved it. Then we read the Inquirer critic's review.

Sun Rings. Composed by Terry Riley. Kronos Quartet, April 19, 2007 at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. www.kronosquartet.org.

Dan Coren

Apr 28, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

Lyric Fest's 'American Poets in Song'

The Lyric Fest song series surveys the huge library of songs based on American poetry created by American composers. Every selection met my primary test for song settings: The music always added something extra to the words.

Lyric Fest: American Poets in Song. Timothy Bentch, Suzanne DuPlantis, Leslie Johnson, Randi Marrazzo, Randall Scarlata, Elizabeth Weigle, Paul Sperry, vocalists; Laura Ward, piano. April 15, 2007 at First Presbyterian Church, 21st and Walnut.

Tom Purdom

Apr 24, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

Vox Ama Deus performs Verdi's "Requiem'

Verdi’s Requiem was a good choice for a Good Friday tribute to the fallen of Iraq and Afghanistan, but it’s also a piece that moved Vox Ama Deus out of its normal range of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical periods.

Verdi Requiem. Vox Ama Deus: Tatyana Galitskaya, soprano; Tatyana Rashkovsky, mezzo-soprano; Kenneth Garner, tenor; Ed Bara, bass; Valentin Radu, conductor. April 6, 2007, at Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center. (610) 688-2800 o

Tom Purdom

Apr 21, 2007 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lucinda Williams (Round Two)

Dan Coren responds to reader comments about his paean to Lucinda Williams: “Do you have Google alerts set for Lucinda Williams? Surely you haven’t been reading my classical pieces in the hope that one day I’d write about her music.”

Dan Coren

Apr 17, 2007 · Articles · 3 minute read

Boreyko conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra

The Russian conductor Andrey Boreyko brought an interestingly offbeat program to town, as well as a somewhat wayward beat of his own. Boreyko’s gyrations were so distracting that I had to avert my eyes in the end to hear the music.

Philadelphia Orchestra. Andrey Boreyko, conductor; Piotr Anderszewski, piano. April 12-14, 2007 at Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 893-1900 or www.philorch.org.

Robert Zaller

Apr 17, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

Beaux Arts Trio plays Schubert and Shostakovich

The opening of Schubert’s Notturno did everything it’s supposed to; the opening of Shostakovich’s Second Piano Trio didn’t. You can’t play Shostakovich’s music if you can’t work your way into the tensions that harry a creative artist trapped in a society dominated by the tragedies of war and the whims of a capricious tyrant.

Beaux Arts Trio: Schubert Notturno, Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Turnage A Slow Pav

Tom Purdom

Apr 10, 2007 · Articles · 3 minute read

Philomel and Piffaro do the Hapsburgs and Louis XI

Most history texts will tell you the Hapsburgs married their way to the top. But how many historians could play the music composed for one of those marriages?

Philomel: “The Princess and the Flea: A New Look at Music and Manners in the Court of Louis XIV.” March 23, 2007 at Christ Church, Second and Market Sts. (215) 487-2344 or www.philomel.org.

Piffaro and Parthena: Music by Or

Tom Purdom

Apr 10, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read