The Composer Comes First: A Conversation with Manfred Honeck
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been attending concerts at Heinz Hall for nearly 30 years, a byproduct of some longstanding personal ties I have to the Steel […]
Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Soar with Bruckner 8 at Heinz Hall
PITTSBURGH, PA Last weekend, I attended a recording session of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Heinz Hall. Ok, that needs some clarification. After witnessing the PSO’s triumphant return to Carnegie
An American Cacophony: Tom Service on Trump’s MAGA Orchestra
Watching the absurdly-long State of the Union last night, I couldn’t help but think of this equally-absurd image of Trump conducting an orchestra of his MAGA cronies. Look closely and
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Returns to the Met
Most of today’s opera companies stage productions according to what’s known as the stagione system, where a single opera remains onstage for the duration of its run, as opposed to
New Music Dispatch: Tristan Perich at Issue Project Room and David Moore at Roulette
Having documented contemporary music in New York for the better part of two decades, I’ve had a front row seat to the evolution of several well-known musicians as they developed
What Price Glory? A Word on Music Directors
“Conducting has become the profession of a traveling salesman… A conductor has to stay put to educate an orchestra.” – William Steinberg (1899-1978) former music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer Triumph with Mahler 3 at Carnegie Hall
Despite the prevalence of Finnish conductors at the top of today’s orchestra heap – think Esa-Pekka Salonen, Klaus Mäkelä, or Susanna Malkki, among many others – it’s easy to forget
For Tamás Vásáry (1933-2026)
Recorded at the International Piano Competition “City of Vigo”, 2018. Telegraph obit here.
How to Get to Carnegie Hall: After 50 Years, the Colorado Symphony Returns with Itzhak Perlman
When you live in New York, where we’re spoiled by a never-ending stream of visiting international orchestras, not to mention our very own world-class orchestra, it’s easy to forget that