Joanna Barouch - Page 2

No 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.

An delightful evening of great music and learning was presented at the Italian Academy at Columbia University.

A Baroque composer, albeit the most important of his time (or of all time, as many are of the opinion) on the same program as a Romantic composer, one of the plethora of musical innovators of the 19th century? How could such music possibly be of interest?

Opening 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.

The fifth season of Summer Evenings during the 2019 Mostly Mozart Festival presented 3 delightful concerts, featuring soloists Anthony McGill, clarinet, and Sharon Isbin, guitar.

Who was Clara Schumann, and why is the Chelsea Music Festival celebrating her this year?

Members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performed at the 92nd Street Y with virtuoso harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani in a concert which included works by Martinu and de Falla.

After suffering a hand injury several years ago and a subsequent three year break from concertizing, Israeli-born pianist Benjamin Hochman made his successful re-entry onto the New York musical scene on February 17, 2019

????Mr. Kavakos and Ms.Wang are frequent collaborators in concert and on recordings. There is such a rapport between them that an easy flow of ideas and emotions inform all of their performances.

The American-born, Pulitzer Prize winning composer Julia Wolfe, has written a tour-de-force oratorio about the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of March 25, 1911, utilizing a huge cast of singers and instrumentalists. Fire in My Mouth(a quote drawn from an interview with fervent labor activist Clara Lemlich) is an absorbing, emotionally charged, and draining performance.

​​​​ Opera stories thrive on the tension of good versus evil, of light versus darkness, and although the outcomes are not always happy, there's always an interesting tale to be told.

On Sunday, December 9, cellist Steven Isserlis brought his ebullient style to the 92nd Street Y in a concert with members of the string section of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

ASPECT 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.

On Friday October 26, 2018 the mostly sold-out crowd of avid listeners heard the music of a slate of 19th and early 20th century Russian composers, conducted by the Russian-born conductor Tugan Sokhiev in his New York Philharmonic debut series.

The Emerson String Quartet's concert on Sunday, October 21, 2018 was a rich and satisfying chamber music feast.

Anyone 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.

A 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.

As 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.

For certain xenophobic East Coast opera lovers, the words 'St.Louis' and 'Opera' could seem like an oxymoron. However, this would be an invalid assumption.

On Friday, April 27th 2018, the Emerson String Quartet collaborated with celebrated Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. The concert, presented at Carnegie Hall, featured Mr.Kissin in each work on the program.