Odd Couple
I was back at Carnegie on Friday to hear Pierre-Laurent Aimard for the second night in a row, this time playing the big hall with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra. Once again,
Classical
Counterpoint
I'm not exactly sure what Pierre-Laurent Aimard is trying to prove at Zankel tonight by alternating the even, contrapuntal tones of Bach with Elliott Carter's terrifying helter-skelter, but the contrast,
Lukas
On Sunday, composer, conductor and pianist Lukas Foss passed away at the age of 86, at his home here in New York. There are kind notices about Foss in the Times and on other blogs, where you
Mean Fiddler
Forget Perlman, forget Bell, forget Jean-Luc Ponty: for my money, the best violinist I've ever seen is a diminutive gypsy from Hungary named Roby Lakatos. Born into a famous family of
Quotable
"All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din…Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum, With cello, boom box,
Quotable
“I first heard it at Carnegie Hall when I was 15 or 16. More than half the audience walked out very angrily. That made me like it even more.” – Elliott
Tough Times
It's not the happiest of times in the rarefied world of big-time music, as these recent announcements can attest. Ticket sales are down, endowments are shrinking, donations are way off.
Three-Out-of-Four Ain’t Bad
Last night, I was swayed by this week's NY Phil program of 20th Century French works to make my first appearance of the season at The Barn (a.k.a. Avery Fisher