Ayane Kozasa viola debut at Trinity Center

A dazzling viola debut (and that’s no joke)

In her Philadelphia recital debut, Ayane Kozasa transformed the ugly duckling of instruments into the belle of the ball.

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Orchestra plays Brahms and Berlioz (2nd review)

An experiment in the nosebleed section

Does music in concert halls really sound best in the balconies? Conventional wisdom thinks so. But is this notion fact or fantasy?

Steve Cohen

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Hélène Grimaud tackles Brahms (1st review)

Grimaud meets the gruff German genius

Johannes Brahms was a musical genius who never quite polished his rough edges. Hélène Grimaud gave his brawny first Piano Concerto a deeply poetic and thoughtful reading.

Dec 10, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dover Quartet at the Perelman

Curtis scores again

The Dover Quartet’s musicians were just 19 years old when they formed at Curtis in 2008, and by appearance they still look like kids. Possibly because for them the music is so fresh, they seem almost effortlessly to take the listener immediately into the depths of the music.

Victor L. Schermer

Dec 07, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Tempesta di Mare and 1807 & Friends

Do I hear a harpsichord?

Tempesta di Mare and 1807 & Friends inadvertently conducted an unplanned dialogue on a perennial question: How do you play Baroque music under modern conditions?

Tom Purdom

Dec 03, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Jeffrey Siegel’s ‘Keyboard Conversations’ at the Perelman

The second coming of Leonard Bernstein

Jeffrey Siegel is a rare bird in Classical music circles: A world-class pianist whose words speak as eloquently as his fingers.

Steve Cohen

Dec 01, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Lyric Fest salutes Benjamin Britten

A sensitive soul in peace and war

You can’t appreciate Benjamin Britten’s importance if you limit your listening to one or two types of music, as most of us do. You must listen to his major contributions to opera, choral music, orchestral music, art song and chamber music.

Tom Purdom

Nov 26, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

How jazz rescued Classical music

The death and rebirth of Classical music radio

Thanks to deregulation, Classical music radio has struggled since the ’90s. But thanks to some shrewd managers at WRTI and an unlikely musical ally— jazz— it’s now flourishing in Philadelphia.

Clarence Faulcon

Nov 24, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Choral Arts celebrates Britten’s 100th

The people's composer

Benjamin Britten cherished the amateur choral and instrumental groups that play an important role in British social life. Choral Arts celebrated his 100th birthday with a concert that captured that spirit.

Tom Purdom

Nov 19, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

Between composers and musicians

It’s all in the timing

A while back, some composers began writing exact durations, in seconds, over their musical notations. But timing is what musicians do. Take that away from them and you take the music away from them.

Kile Smith

Nov 19, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read