By Sedgwick Clark Just as New York Philharmonic audiences had gotten used to hearing Alec Baldwin’s subdued tones asking them to turn off their cell phones, they were surprised to hear Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson making a Sweeney-themed plea before the orchestra’s five performances of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (3/5-8). And then, before Alan […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 27, 2014 MUNICH — In eight days in May 2004, as a kind of audition for the post of principal conductor, Valery Gergiev drove the London Symphony Orchestra brilliantly, if roughly, through recorded concerts of all of Prokofiev’s symphonies. Acclaim ensued, he got the job, and two years later the […]
Read the rest of this article »By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: Does a conductor who has been approved for an O-1 visa need to bring the original approval notice to the consulate or will a color scan of the original work? We have been getting conflicting information, including a representative at the consulate telling us on […]
Read the rest of this article »This week, Cantaloupe released Rushes, Michael Gordon’s latest recording. An album length piece for multiple bassoons, it layers ostinatos of repeated notes into buzzing micro-polyphonic textures. It is much like Timber, his recent work for percussionists playing wooden slats, but, of course, the permutation of pitches are more accentuated by Rushes’ bassoons. You can hear […]
Read the rest of this article »By ANDREW POWELL Published: March 24, 2014 MUNICH — Few conductors can jump into a Berg-Zemlinsky-Honegger program on three days’ notice and lead it fluently without change. Enter Clement Power (33), a gray-haired Londoner, for the Münchener Kammerorchester’s March 13 subscription concert here at the Prinz-Regenten-Theater. The newcomer showed an easy rapport with the players […]
Read the rest of this article »By Sedgwick Clark I’ve heard nearly every one of Gustavo Dudamel’s New York concerts. At first I had my quibbles, but I always walked out of the hall with a smile. His music-making made me feel good to be alive. In two concerts at Avery Fisher Hall this past weekend, his Los Angeles Philharmonic played […]
Read the rest of this article »In “La Curva” (The Curve, 2011), seen March 16 at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, Galván transforms flamenco dancing’s noble male image. The experience is like watching a painter create a cubist portrait. Except in this case what Galván presents is not a fractured face, but a full-blooded person, with his androgynous, grotesque, buffoonish, and madman characteristics, as well as his regal, virile side.
Read the rest of this article »Milton Babbitt: All Set Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, conductor BMOPsound CD One of the challenges for the reception of music by Milton Babbitt (1916-2011) has been the difficulty the composer encountered in finding performers up to the task of recording his ensemble works with clarity and precision. While one is grateful for […]
Read the rest of this article »By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: What’s the new “normal” in reviewing and exchanging contracts? We are receiving an increasing number of contracts that had been issued as PDF files coming back as word files or even revised PDF files which means I have to read every single line of the agreement […]
Read the rest of this article »By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. A young artist who seeks my advice from time to time recently asked me about a note she was planning to write to a conductor following what she thought was a very successful collaboration. She wanted to be sure that what she had drafted was […]
Read the rest of this article »
