BWW Review: GUSTAVO DUDAMEL AND THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC PLAY BRUCKNER at Geffen Hall At Lincoln CenterNovember 27, 2019No one knows what is going on underneath the modest exterior. Such was the case of Austrian-born Anton Bruckner (1824-1896). A man whose personal credo seems to have been 'say little but do much,' Bruckner managed to overcome a difficult early life with a huge amount of perseverance, not to mention musical talent. He became an expert organist and choral director, channeling his rich interior life, a life of passionate devotion to God (if not people), into his remarkable choral compositions and eleven symphonies. Like a number of other nineteenth century composers whose Muse did not come to them until middle age, Bruckner's compositional phase did not begin until he was nearly forty years old, and he did not find great appreciation outside musical circles until some twenty years later. He was fortunate to have experienced this approbation during his lifetime, however delayed.
BWW Review: PORGY AND BESS at The Metropolitan OperaSeptember 26, 2019Opening Night at the Metropolitan Opera! The very words tingle with palpable electricity and anticipation. Whether you attend in person, or go to the Times Square simulcast, or whether you listen on the radio or on the Met website, you are participating in one of the most thrilling events of the New York City musical year.
BWW Review: BEETHOVEN INTIMATE LETTERS at Italian Academy At Columbia UniversityNovember 4, 2018ASPECT Foundation for Music and Arts has other ideas about concert presentation. Using a combination of well-chosen visuals, fascinating descriptions of composers' lives and musical motivations, together with stunningly played music, the standard concert format is nowhere in evidence. The audience is engaged. It learns. It's a brilliant concept.
BWW Review: ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA WITH NOBU TSUJII at Carnegie HallSeptember 24, 2018Anyone who has ever taken piano lessons, whether as a child or as an adult, will vouch for the fact that it is not an easy instrument to learn. Reading music simultaneously on two separate lines, instantly coordinating what the eye sees with what the hands play can take years to perfect. Now, imagine what this experience must be like for a person who has been blind since birth, for him or her to sit down at the piano, and play a concerto by Chopin. Nobuyuki Tsujii (or Nobu, as he prefers to be known), is that person. His performance with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on September 20, 2018 at Carnegie Hall was nothing short of extraordinary.
BWW Review: HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN at 59E59September 7, 2018A beautiful room decorated to the nines for Christmas, candles all aglow, with a Steinway concert grand at center stage is your first glimpse into the life of America's most prolific and famous songwriter.
BWW Review: THE EMERSON QUARTET BECOMES A QUINTET FOR A NIGHT at Alice Tully Hall At Lincoln CenterAugust 3, 2018As has become the norm with the Mostly Mozart Festival in recent years, the Monday, July 30th Emerson String Quartet concert at Alice Tully Hall included some unusual programming choices. Aided and abetted by guest violist Ms. Nokuthula Ngwenyama, the quartet became a quintet and presented a fascinating program of less familiar works by some very familiar composers to the sold-out house.