Piffaro's annual Christmas concert

A Renaissance-American Holiday Fete

Piffaro’s annual holiday program once again presents a Renaissance fete that reflects our American mashup of Christian holy day, pagan winter solstice, and end-of-the-year bash.

Tom Purdom

Jan 02, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

Composer intent

The sound of the music

I accepted a commission to rework one of my pieces because I relished the challenge of changing it, to see if it would still work. Composers love creating problems to solve.

Kile Smith

Jan 02, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

Verdi’s twin passions (Part 1)

Verdi’s central character: himself

Verdi’s music stirred patriotic fervor among Italians and also plumbed the emotional price that society exacts from those who love deeply. Both stemmed directly from his own personal experiences.

Steve Cohen

Dec 28, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read

Bach Festival’s Cantata series

Bach with a dash of Bacchus

The Bach Festival Cantata Series provided another reminder of why Bach’s music cheers us: because no matter what the subject, we can feel his sheer delight in his own creativity.

Tom Purdom

Dec 24, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dolce Suono confronts totalitarianism

Up from tyranny

All the pieces on Dolce Suono’s “Return to Russia” program came with stories that connected them to the history of 20th Century totalitarianism.

Tom Purdom

Dec 17, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

The Met’s ‘Falstaff,’ set in the ’50s

Sir John orders room service

The Met’s new version of Verdi’s Falstaff brings that portly symbol of vice and gluttony from medieval morality plays into the 1950s. Verdi and Shakespeare alike would turn over in their graves.

Steve Cohen

Dec 17, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

‘Così fan tutte’ goes back to the '60s

At last, a credible Così

Così fan tutte has confused operagoers for years. With the help of marijuana and hallucinogenics it suddenly became clearer. With that curious and mind-bending help, this concept by Nic Muni made sense. .

Steve Cohen

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Concert Operetta salutes Eddy and MacDonald

‘America’s Sweethearts,’ off screen

Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald are remembered today as romantic movie stars, but they were flesh-and-blood people, as I can attest.

Steve Cohen

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Saved by rock ’n roll

No kidding: How rock expanded my musical horizons

It’s easy for a professional Classical musician like me to get stuck in a rut. Then rock music reminded me why I became a musician in the first place.

Michael Lawrence

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

Three things I try to learn from Bach

The power of embarrassment (and other lessons from J.S. Bach)

Bach’s music doesn’t grasp, rant or bemoan, because he has it already. But if it’s not your thing, he won’t storm the heavens or renounce the earth or curse you for your philistinism: He’s not going to change, just to find out what your thing is.

Kile Smith

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read