So it seems. Having faced Darth Vader, John Williams is now arguing, it seems, with something more tangible — and in ways that suggest he has no fears about doing so. Or what his audience might think about it. Maybe this is me projecting my gloves-off exasperation at our COVID-dominated world, but Williams's Violin Concerto No. 2, premiered July 24 with the Boston … [Read more...] about John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2: Is he raging at The Force?
Hans Werner Henze: The Last Interview?
Months before his death, he reached back 50 years in his mind to talk about his "odd, old Elegy."
At last! Live music, pure and uncompromised
The July 4th weekend came with an obviously heightened sense of independence from the COVID-era restrictions. With it came my first entry into a concert that could've happened before March 2020: Bargemusic at Brooklyn's Fulton Ferry Landing hosted a July 3rd recital by the bold, provocative pianist Beth Levin playing selections from Brahms's Op. 119, Schumann's Symphonic … [Read more...] about At last! Live music, pure and uncompromised
Hello, Toscanini. And Hello, Doris Day — Hiding out from 2021 in the 1950s, musically speaking
On many days lately, the last places I've wanted to be are 2020 and 2021. And living outside of the present is clearly optional. Encouraged by pandemic restrictions, I retreated to my decade of origin — the 1950s — creating in my apartment a musical time capsule that could only have been experienced in 1960 or before. That's thanks to Brooklynites who have been clearing out … [Read more...] about Hello, Toscanini. And Hello, Doris Day — Hiding out from 2021 in the 1950s, musically speaking
Words to live by: Don’t shoehorn grand opera
Grand opera is somehow rising again — despite restrictions that limit its fundamental grandeur. That impossibly expansive genre, so greatly missed since the lockdown, faces profound challenges that are being met by the most resourceful minds in the business, and in ways that remind us what we're still missing, while attempting to deliver the goods — with much more success … [Read more...] about Words to live by: Don’t shoehorn grand opera
Is it possible to mourn James Levine?
Yes, but with an enormous asterisk. With an air of mystery that was typical around James Levine's private life, the Metropolitan Opera conductor's death in Palm Springs at age 77 was announced on Wednesday, roughly a week after his actual passing on March 9. No explanation, of course. With his history of hiding physical ailments (including Parkinson's disease) and … [Read more...] about Is it possible to mourn James Levine?