Orchestra 2001 and New Philadelphia Classical Symphony

Do these settings add anything to the poems? In this case, the answer is a definite yes. Luis Prado’s music has the same impact as a reading by a good actor.

Orchestra 2001: Kim, Three Poems in French; Prado, Two Poems of Joan Hutton Landis (Jodie Karin Applebaum. Soprano). Ligeti, Violin Concerto (Jennifer Koh, violin, James Freeman, conductor). February 25, 2007 AT Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St. (215) 922-2190 or

Tom Purdom

Mar 13, 2007 · Articles · 7 minute read

Orchestra plays Shostakovich and Mozart

Ingo Metzmacher’s eclectic program with the Philadelphia Orchestra included a radiant performance of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham, and a welcome if not fully idiomatic reading of Shostakovich’s long-suppressed Fourth Symphony.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Weber Overture to Der Freischütz; Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5; Shostakovich Symphony No. 4. Ingo Metzmacher, conductor; Gil Shaham, violin. March 8-10, 2007 at Verizon Hall

Robert Zaller

Mar 13, 2007 · Articles · 6 minute read

Guide to Philadelphia music groups

These days Philadelphia abounds in serious music groups. How is a music lover of limited time and budget supposed to sort them out? Our highly opinionated critic, Tom Purdom, takes a stab at that challenge in the guide that follows. Bookmark this guide, or print it out and stick it on your refrigerator for quick reference, and your musical life is likely to become infinitely richer.

Tom Purdom

Mar 11, 2007 · Articles · 20 minute read

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Riccardo Chailly and his Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra were in fine form in a program that juxtaposed sunny early Schumann and conflicted mid-period Mahler. Chailly represents the sterner European ethic, which asks performers and listeners alike to put in their time, and so we got a gracious plenty.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performs Schumann and Mahler. Riccardo Chailly conducting. March 4, 2007 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center

Robert Zaller

Mar 06, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

A composer's education

As a child, I thought of music making as a very private, intimate activity that gave me comfort and a sense of all being right with the world. As an adult, I’m still struggling to shake off that notion and move on to a more mature sharing of ideas through music.

Lloyd Smith

Mar 06, 2007 · Articles · 7 minute read

Penn Symphony plays Berlioz

I regard the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique as a grisly accident on the highway of music history. It took guts for Penn’s student orchestra to perform it. Few other amateur orchestras could do as well with this hair-raising piece.

Penn Symphony Orchestra
February 24, 2007 at 
Irvine Auditorium. 215-898-6244 or www.sas.upenn.edu

Dan Coren

Mar 03, 2007 · Articles · 6 minute read

Orchestra chooses Dutoit

Charles Dutoit, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s choice as interim leader, may have antagonized his musicians and impulsively quit two conducting posts. But as I learned in the course of tangling with him, he’s also a dependable professional who’s capable of eliciting great performances. In short: The right man for an interim job.

Steve Cohen

Feb 24, 2007 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra chooses Dutoit

Charles Dutoit, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s choice as interim leader, may have antagonized his musicians and impulsively quit two conducting posts. But as I learned in the course of tangling with him, he’s also a dependable professional who’s capable of eliciting great performances. In short: The right man for an interim job.

Steve Cohen

Feb 24, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

OCP's "Porgy and Bess' (second review)

I was excited to attend an uncut production of Porgy and Bess, until I attended it. George Gershwin himself would have cut this version— and in fact he attempted to do so before his untimely death.

Porgy and Bess. Music by George Gershwin; libretto by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin; directed by Walter Dallas. Presented by Opera Company of Philadelphia through February 24, 2007 at Academy of Music, Broad & Locust Sts. (215) 893-3600 or

Steve Cohen

Feb 24, 2007 · Articles · 4 minute read

A cornucopia of "œnew" classical music

Contrary to popular belief, we classical music lovers don’t spend our evenings listening to Beethoven’s Fifth over and over again, night after night. Consider the banquet of “old” musical novelties I consumed this past month.

Dolce Suono: Schulhoff Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass with Mimi Stillman, Burchard Tang, Emilio Gravagno. January 24, 2007 at Rosenwald Gallery, Van Pelt Dietrich Library, University of Pennsylvania. 215-898-7088 or

Tom Purdom

Feb 17, 2007 · Articles · 7 minute read