Ruggero Leoncavallo’s name is forever tied to that of Pietro Mascagni.
Month: December 2011
“‘I Heard a Voice’: the Music of the Golden Age”
In contrast to much music-making on the continent, English composers born in the last quarter of the sixteenth century seem to have embraced a notable degree of stylistic continuity.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina e la Compagnia dei Musici di Roma, Messa di Santa Cecilia
Homage could take diverse forms in Counter-Reformation Rome, and this excellent recording by ensemble officium, Messa di Santa Cecilia, focuses on a particular instance that was interestingly polyvalent.
The English Oratorio: A Celebration (Barbican Hall, London)
When we think of the ‘English oratorio’, the composer whose name
most readily comes to mind is George Frideric Handel, the ‘adopted’
Englishman who in the first half of the eighteenth-century both anticipated and dictated English musical and theatrical taste.
Die Meistersinger von N¸rnberg, Royal Opera House
Perhaps it’s no accident that Graham Vick’s Die Meistersinger von N¸rnberg returns to the Royal Opera House for the Christmas season. Red, green, gold, sumptuous colours that warm a long, grey evening.
The Bostridge Project: ‘Ancient and Modern’
This latest instalment of Ian Bostridge’s ‘Ancient and Modern’ series juxtaposed the tender melancholy of the Elizabethan age with the modernist anxieties of the early twentieth century, revealing both a sensitivity to textual nuance and profound human sensibilities which transcend temporal epochs.
Jonathan McGovern, Wigmore Hall
2011 has been a good year for baritone Jonathan McGovern: 2nd prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, the Karaviotis Prise at the Les Azuriales Ozone Young Artists Competition, and the John Meikle Duo Prize at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition are just some of the awards he has garnered.
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Cantatas
In Wilhelm Weitsch’s well-known painting of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, the eldest son of Johann Sebastian seems far distant from the cantorial world of his father.
Operas of Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau, an organist and music theoretician, was active for much of his life in musical centers distant from the cultural juggernaut of Paris.
Vivica Genaux — An Interview
I spoke with Vivica Genaux in December 2011, when she stopped in New York at
the end of one of her concert tours.