When an autistic child enjoys performing

Making music with Malcolm

It wouldn't have occurred to me that my autistic son might want to appear in a musical, but he did.

Maria Thompson Corley

Mar 24, 2014 · Articles · 6 minute read

Solzhenitsyn plays Prokofiev

Prokofiev in deadly earnest

Prokofiev’s war sonatas are rarely played in the West. Russia itself seems at stake in this music, and there’s probably no living pianist who can play them better than Ignat Solzhenitsyn.

Robert Zaller

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

Another first for the Philadelphia Orchestra

An orchestra program without an orchestra? Actually, yes

The Philadelphia Orchestra expanded its repertoire with its first performance of Fauré’s Requiem and five pieces that prove you can present an orchestra concert without an orchestra.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

A Sunday with AVA and Chestnut Street Singers

War and peace, music and politics

When you listen to music based on a religious or political text, to some extent you’re sharing the feelings of the people who believe in those words.

Tom Purdom

Mar 22, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

Poulenc’s ‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’

What would Pope Francis say?

An uneven production revealed the limitations of Poulenc’s revered but sad French opera about the sufferings of nuns during the French Revolution.

Steve Cohen

Mar 17, 2014 · Articles · 2 minute read

Two salutes to Louis XIV, musician

Oh, to be the Sun King's lute teacher

What’s the essence of French Baroque style? For me, and apparently for Louis XIV as well, it’s a combination of elegance and pleasure.

Tom Purdom

Mar 13, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

Robert Ashley and new music

A founding father of new music (with a sense of humor, too)

Robert Ashley, one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood musical artists of our time, left in his wake a handful of musical artists who helped to transform American music in the mid-20th century. I recall him as a colorful and unpretentious friend as well.

Joseph Franklin

Mar 11, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

Beethoven and Shostakovich at the Kimmel

Art and adversity

Talent, even genius, may not be enough for art. As both Beethoven and Shostakovich demonstrated, sometimes you need something even more: courage.

Robert Zaller

Mar 10, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

The Johannes String Quartet plays Mozart, Dutilleux, and Brahms

Mingling and schmoozing

Theater producers are discovering the value of audience interaction. Classical music organizations have been offering it for years.

Tom Purdom

Mar 04, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

Dolce Suono plays Jay Reise's 'Shadow of the Red Sea Swallow'

The swallow at bay

Is music the only art that can depict the last flight of an extinct bird?

Tom Purdom

Feb 27, 2014 · Articles · 2 minute read