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‘Maren of Vardø’ by Vulcan Lyric

The devil to pay

A horrifying true story from 17th-century Norway receives a surprisingly innocent treatment in this world premiere opera production.

Steve Cohen

Aug 04, 2015 Articles 3 minute read

Chris Squire in Columbia, South Carolina, 1974. (Photo by Hunter Desportes via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Three things I learned from Yes

We craved rhythms that would pound in a chest where we hoped was a heart, and, oh, we wished for melodies that would soar above the cracking ruins of an imagined world. We wanted Yes, and then Yes came, and Yes was ours.

Kile Smith

Jul 21, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

Hey — I’ve heard of him. Lang Lang and Katharine McPhee. (Photo by Chad J. McNeeley, USN; public domain)

The pianist as collaborator

Musical collaborations can be intimate experiences. Like other intimate experiences, the result is ultimately more satisfying with give and take, and respect — the kind of respect that at least mentions your name and lets your face show up for a moment if you're performing with someone on YouTube.

Maria Thompson Corley

Jul 19, 2015 Articles 4 minute read

Erté's Art Deco take on the Queen of the Night.

Delaware Valley Opera Company's 'Magic Flute'

A steampunk night at the opera

You don’t have to be a fan of opera or classical music to have a great time at the Delaware Valley Opera Company’s low-budget but thoroughly charming production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, in which opera meets vaudeville for an evening of fun.

Michael J. Miller

Jul 18, 2015 Articles 2 minute read

Portrait of Anton Rubinstein by Ilya Repin.

Russian Opera Workshop present Rubinstein's 'The Demon'

The Demon comes to Philadelphia

The Russian Opera Workshop presented the Philadelphia premiere of one of Russia’s most popular operas.

Tom Purdom

Jun 30, 2015 Articles 3 minute read

Saying the magic word: Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory in “My Dinner with Andre.” (© 1981 - New Yorker Films)

On saying "thank you"

My dinner with Beethoven

Why do we say "thank you," and who do we say it to?

Kile Smith

Jun 23, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

Schuller with his French horn, c. 1940s.

Gunther Schuller: An appreciation

Gunther Schuller had more musical careers than Leonard Bernstein, including composer, conductor, educator, French horn player, author, and longtime advocate of the co-existence of jazz and classical music.

Bruce Klauber

Jun 23, 2015 Articles 2 minute read

Ornette Coleman in 2011. (Photo by Michael Hoefner via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

Ornette Coleman: An appreciation

Time catches up to Ornette

Live long enough, as jazz innovator Ornette Coleman did, and it can help your public catch up to you — even to music like his, which was once well ahead of its time.

Michael Woods

Jun 16, 2015 Articles 4 minute read

18th-cenutry plus modern: Curtis Opera Theatre's "Rake's Progress" (photo by Karli Cadel)

The spring opera season in Philadelphia

A plethora of operatic options

The 2014-2015 opera season in Philadelphia ends with an array of productions from many eras.

Susan Gould

Jun 16, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

The undeniably winsome Mary Elizabeth Bowden. (Photo via summitrecords.com)

Mary Elizabeth Bowden; David Crumb; Barbara Westphal & Christian Ruvolo

Celebrating Philadelphia composers

Three recent CDs highlight the music of composers with Philadelphia connections, from Samuel Barber to Andrea Clearfield.

Jun 13, 2015 Articles 5 minute read