Classical Music Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 29

BWW Reviews: SF Symphony Hosts A NIGHT AT THE OSCARS
by Harmony Wheeler - February 17, 2014

"Beautiful." "Overwhelming." "Beyond description." All simple words to explain music and its connection to our souls. But Jon Burlingame has a natural, pleasant way of describing music. The leading writer and expert on film and television scores began San Francisco Symphony's Night at the Oscars wit...

BWW Reviews: Best Date Night Ever: San Diego Opera's ELIXIR OF LOVE
by Erica Miner - February 17, 2014

Once more, with feeling! This year's SDO Valentine offering, Donizetti's 1832 comic masterpiece, 'Elixir of Love,' echoed last season's midwinter love fest, the composer's 'Daughter of the Regiment.'...

BWW Reviews: Opera Philadelphia Presents Golijov's AINADAMAR
by Marakay Rogers - February 14, 2014

Opera Philadelphia presents its staging of Golijov's controversial short opera on Garcia Lorca...

BWW Reviews: DRUMS AND DVORAK Collide at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
by Jessica Dennett - February 13, 2014

The performance began with a Prelude video about Colin Currie who is a famed Percussionist and who was the guest performer of the evening. It was interesting but unnecessary, and a rather lack luster opening to the performance. Before any music gets played the Concertmaster walks onto the stage and ...

BWW Reviews: Michael W. Smith Shines at Kennedy Center Concert Debut
by Jennifer Perry - January 27, 2014

A rare concert event proved to be a must-see....

BWW Reviews: Baltimore Symphony's Tribute to Marvin Hamlisch Highlights Strength of His Music and Character
by Jennifer Perry - January 24, 2014

A heartfelt tribute to a great composer, one has to admire the musicianship on display at this concert....

BWW Reviews: Baltimore Symphony's 'Off the Cuff': Dvorak's New World Symphony
by Charles Shubow - January 17, 2014

Maestra Marin Alsop conducts a music appreciation evening for lovers of Dvoraks's 9th Symphony before a packed house....

BWW Reviews: Hartford Stage, Hartford Symphony Orchestra Collaborate on Dreamy MIDSUMMER NIGHT
by Lauren Yarger - January 10, 2014

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BWW Reviews: Modernist Score Releases Trials of Skylight's El Cimarrón
by Peggy Sue Dunigan - January 09, 2014

The truth in a story can move an audience to powerful reflection. The Skylight Music Theatre presents a brief production run of El Cimarron in the Studio Theatre to open 2014. A stage where the uncomfortable truth of slavery unfolds through the trials of a runaway Cuban slave, Esteban Montejo, and t...

BWW Reviews: WEST SIDE STORY Still Shows Many Faces
by Erica Miner - January 07, 2014

The day Leonard Bernstein died, a sense of gut-wrenching loss pervaded the musical world. Anyone who had watched and listened to his extraordinary music making could not help but be affected by his passion and reverence for music. Those of us lucky enough to have known and worked with him and availe...

BWW Reviews: Bernadette Peters' New Year's Eve Concert at the Eccles Center Was a Smashing Success
by Tyler Hinton - January 03, 2014

Bernadette Peters' New Year's Eve concert at the Eccles Center, presented by the Park City Institute, was a smashing success. The concert was a thoroughly entertaining opportunity to see a living legend do what she does best. An ovation is well deserved by the Park City Institute for treating Utah...

BWW Reviews: BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL Sings 'Happy Holidays' with NSO - What a Performance!
by Charles Shubow - December 13, 2013

NSO presents a wonderful holiday celebration....

BWW Reviews: VOICES FOR RELIEF Typhoon Haiyan Fundraiser From Academy of Vocal Arts Alumni and Residents
by Marakay Rogers - December 12, 2013

Tenor Jeffrey Halili and fellow graduates and resident artists of Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts performed November 30 (and again on December 14) at Philadelphia's First Presbyterian for American Red Cross typhoon relief...

BWW Reviews: AVA's COSI FAN TUTTE Shows How To Do An Update That Works
by Marakay Rogers - December 03, 2013

The Academy of Vocal Arts performed an updated version of Mozart's comic opera that makes sense in its handling and boasts some fine performances...

BWW Reviews: Back to the 18th Century with Labadie, Persson and the New York Philharmonic
by Richard Sasanow - November 12, 2013

Handel wrote over 1000 da capo arias—a musical mainstay of Italian baroque operas--during his career, but none more thrilling than “Let the Bright Seraphim.” The showpiece for soprano and piccolo trumpet, which comes at the very end of the oratorio SAMSON, was a joyous crowd-pleaser at the New York ...

BWW Reviews: Penderecki 'Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos' Makes Philharmonic Debut
by Peter Danish - November 12, 2013

The brilliant Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki seems to be enjoying something of a renaissance - especially in New York this month! His works were performed in at least three concert halls over the last month and the composer himself made appearances at several of the performances. While hardly ...

BWW Reviews: SVADBA (Wedding) Makes US Premiere At Opera Philadelphia
by Marakay Rogers - November 09, 2013

The Queen of Puddings production of Ana Sokolovic's short opera made its US premiere at Opera Philadelphia with the assistance of FringeArts and a raucous reception...

BWW CD Reviews: David Lanz's Beautiful MOVEMENTS OF THE HEART
by Chris Gibson - November 08, 2013

The latest release by pianist/composer David Lanz is called MOVEMENTS OF THE HEART, and that title accurately sums up the tone and tenor of the CD. These thirteen songs reflect the variety of emotions and feelings that accompany being in love. Fittingly enough, two of the compositions are co-written...

BWW Reviews: EVENINGS AT ELDER HALL 2013: CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA: Young Musicians Thrill Audiences with Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra
by Barry Lenny - October 29, 2013

The eighth and final concert in the Evenings at Elder Hall concert series, Concerto for Orchestra, was a chance for the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the anniversaries of three great classical composers, Benjamin Britten, Witold Lutos?awski, and Richard Wagner....

BWW Reviews: Piffaro's RETURN OF THE PIPES Features Royal Favorites
by Marakay Rogers - October 28, 2013

The first concert of Piffaro's season featured a young recorder virtuoso, bagpipers, favorite composers of the royal courts, and a royal composer, Henry VIII...

BWW Reviews: Ann Hampton Callaway Sings Streisand Songbook with Baltimore Symphony
by Charles Shubow - October 22, 2013

Pops Conductor Jack Everly helms entertaining evening of great music...

BWW Reviews: The POPS' Viva Philadelphia! Celebrates Philly's Italian Musical Heritage
by Marakay Rogers - October 16, 2013

Maestro Michael Krajewski, Poperazzi, and Philadelphia's own Eddie Bruce celebrate everything from Mario Lanza to The Four Seasons, with dashes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and Paganini, for the opening of the POPS season...

BWW Reviews: Triple-Threat at Carnegie Hall--DiDonato, Levine and the MET Orchestra
by Richard Sasanow - October 16, 2013

After a triumph in Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE at the Met, James Levine made it two in a row, as he returned with the MET Orchestra and soloist Joyce DiDonato to Carnegie Hall early this week for a concert of far-reaching styles and depth....

BWW Reviews: Ian Hobson Plays Brahms - All of It!
by Peter Danish - October 11, 2013

The esteemed pianist Ian Hobson is giving New York an early Christmas present. He is performing the Herculean task of playing all of Johannes Brahms piano music in a cycle of fourteen concerts over the course of two months. To assist him in the task, he is bringing along an eclectic group of world-c...

BWW Reviews: The Philadelphia Orchestra With Choral Beethoven and Muhly
by Marakay Rogers - October 05, 2013

Yannick conducts the Orchestra, massed choirs, and soloists (including award-winner Shenyang) in Beethoven's Ninth and a mass by Muhly...