“Stage direction should not follow fashion, for fashion is the sister of death”.
Category: Reviews
At Glyndbourne, more “Other Demons” than “Love”
The haunting, unsettling opening moments of the Glyndebourne premiere of Peter Eˆtvˆsí ìLove and Other Demonsî promised much, with sensitive playing by the solo celesta and harp, flutter-tongued flutes, and jarring bass stings.
SZYMANOWSKI: Songs, Op. 31 and Op. 49.
The lyricism characteristic of the instrumental music of Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) is at the core of his songs, and the two collections found on this recording represent his vocal music well.
Karajan on DG, EMI
The 100th anniversary of his birth inevitably produces a flood of releases from the catalog of conductor Herbert von Karajan.
SMETANA: Dv? vdovy (The Two Widows)
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884) is, perhaps known best for his opera The Bartered Bride (1863, rev. 1870), a touchstone of comic opera fused with eastern-European nationalism and, as much as that work has much to offer, his other efforts deserve attention.
HINDEMITH: Mathis der Mahler
Premiered in 1938 in Zurich, Mathis der Maler was then the most recent of Paul Hindemithís provocative operas.
Medieval Christmas
The festal days of Christmas, New Yearís, St. Stephen and St. Thomas Becket are rich in musical celebration, and this recording from the Orlando Consort brings together a wide range of organa, motets, chansons, and carols to remind us of that fact.
Don Carlo at Wiener Staatsoper
Star-studded casts graced end of the season performances at the Wiener Staatsoper, with two versions of Verdiís Don Carlo on its menu.
Grant Park Music Festival: Sibelius, Szymanowski, Tchaikovsky
For its ninth program of the Summer 2008 season the Grant Park Music Festival offered a balance of vocal, choral, and orchestral works from the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.
Singers from South Africa and Sweden win Seattle Wagner Competition
A soprano originally from South Africa and a tenor from Sweden sang their way to top honors in the 2008 International Wagner Competition staged by the Seattle Opera on August 16 in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, the company’s handsome home.