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

Arvo Pärt and Michel Legrand

Anguish and other 21st-century sentiments

The Mendelssohn Club and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia present two 21st-century pieces that focus on very different sets of contemporary emotions.

Tom Purdom

Feb 27, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

Opera Philadelphia's 'Ainadamar'

A life of frustrated love

This production of Ainadamar effectively blended mesmerizing music and gorgeous images into a visually and aurally stunning experience with dreamlike video projections and steamy flamenco dancing.

Steve Cohen

Feb 20, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

'Die Fledermaus' by the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna State Opera

Different bat-times, different bat-channels

Fledermice (those German bats) have come at us from two directions: glitzy American or schmaltzy Austrian, take your choice.

Steve Cohen

Feb 17, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read