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Classical
New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks 2013
The NY Phil made their triumphant return to the Borough City of Brooklyn (thanks for the correction, Marty Markowitz) last night for the first of their annual series of Concerts in
Traveling through “The Planets” with the New York Philharmonic and NASA
by Melanie Wong As part of their Summertime Classics Series conducted by the boisterous Bramwell Tovey, the New York Philharmonic presented The Planets: An HD Odyssey, at Lincoln Center’s Avery
“A Dancer’s Dream” at the New York Philharmonic
At the end of each of his first two seasons as music director of the New York Phil, Alan Gilbert staked his claim as an innovative, boundary-busting programmer with semi-staged performances
Make Music New York 2013
I only got to see one performance this year during the seventh-annual Make Music New York: the day-long feast of free outdoor music, which this year coincided with the first National
JACK Quartet and Joshua Roman at (le) Poisson Rouge
Ancient and innovative can easily coexist. In music especially, composers and peroformers throughout history have looked back for guidence and inspirtaion as they move forward. Steve Reich has openly written about the debt his music owes to the 13th century French composer Pérotin and one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest achievements was his rediscovery of J.S Bach’s music with his mounting of the St. Matthews Passion.
On Sunday night, the JACK Quartet and guest cellist Joshua Roman continued this tradition of finding inspiration in history and programmed their findings next to the rule breakers of today. They presented three madrigals by the intensely expressive renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, arranged for sting quintet by JACK violinist Ari Streisfeld, as well as works by Joshua Roman, Brian Ferneyhough and a new piece, premiered by the quintet just three weeks ago in Seattle, by Jefferson Friedman.
New York Philharmonic Plays Dukas, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky
by Caroline Sanchez Having only ever seen the New York Philharmonic in outdoor venues as part of their Concerts in the Parks series, I can technically call Saturday night’s concert
Stonewall Chorale Brings Fiery “Carmina Burana” to Church of the Holy Apostles
by Michael Cirigliano II Marking the end of their 36th season, the Stonewall Chorale—the nation’s first LGBTQ chorus—presented an intense reading of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, using its alternate orchestration
Jennifer Koh and Ensemble LPR at (le) Poisson Rouge
Last night, trailblazing violinist Jennifer Koh was joined by Ensemble LPR at (le) Poisson Rouge. They came together for a night of music by John Zorn, Charles Wuorinen, and Ludwig van Beethoven as a part of the LPR X5 festival. All of the pieces, ‘Passagen’ by Zorn, ‘Spin-5 for Violin and 18 Musicians’ by Wuorinen, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony brought a sense of wild abandon that perfectly complemented the youth and excitement of both Koh and Ensemble LPR.
Koh brought a fiery passion to John Zorn’s ‘Passagen’ for solo violin, which, like Wuorinen’s, was written for Ms. Koh. The piece is rife with rapid shifts from tight, intense tremolos and harsh pizzicato to tender ghostly harmonics. Sometimes, just sometimes, Koh coaxed out a single pure clean ethereal note or phrase that would sing out from the chaos before it was swallowed up again. The uneven rhythmic chords and pizzicato playing gave a distinctly Bartokian flavor, a flavor that was enhanced by Koh’s savage bowing.