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Levine, BSO give Tchaikovsky fresh life at Tanglewood opener
LENOX - Torrential rains this week threatened to turn Tanglewood into one giant green marsh - before arriving I was told by one local to bring a kayak - and news of recent staff layoffs at the Boston Symphony Orchestra forced by a declining endowment also threatened to dampen spirits in advance of last night’s season opener.
BSO kicks off Tanglewood season
CLASSICAL MUSIC TANGLEWOOD
‘The Music Instinct’ probes neuroscience of song
Our children won’t believe it when we tell them that we lived through those benighted years before the arrival of functional MRI scans, when conductors just gave downbeats, and rock stars just crooned. These days, both do so with their brain activity closely monitored. Babies have been wired up, stories of musical “brainworms’’ have made the bestseller list, Yo-Yo Ma ...
Yehudi Wyner recalls his expansive career
If you go to a classical concert in Boston - one with music that really matters, whether old or new - there’s a good chance you’ll find the composer Yehudi Wyner perched near the back of the hall, surveying the scene with warm eyes and a knowing presence. Bump into him at intermission and he might dispense a wry joke ...
Classical music picks
CLASSICAL MUSIC “SICK PUPPY’’ This annual new-music seminar at New England Conservatory draws its memorable nickname from its acronym, SICPP, or the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice. Jonathan Harvey is this year’s composer-in-residence and his works are featured in free programs at 8 p.m. June 19, and the SICPP Iditarod June 20, with six hours of music by Ives, ...
Renaissance music with lasting joy by the BEMF
Friday night the Boston Early Music Festival presented music from both ends of the vast terrain it covers. The evening began with a recital showcasing period approaches to Beethoven, only to be followed by two nicely contrasting programs in Emmanuel Church that plunged backward several centuries, focusing on both sacred and profane aspects of Renaissance music.
Critic's picks - classical music
BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL The biennial festival and exhibition draws to a close today with the Flanders Recorder Quartet appearing in Jordan Hall (at 12:30 p.m.) and the final local performance of Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea" at the Calderwood Pavilion (at 3:30 p.m.) 617-661-1812, www.bemf.org.
With Micrologus, Italian court music that is lovelorn and saucy
The Boston Early Music Festival builds in intensity as the week unfolds, and the pace has officially started picking up. Wednesday the festival's exhibition opened at the Radisson Hotel, and at Jordan Hall, BEMF presented three different concerts - at 5, 8, and 11 p.m. - in addition to a performance of Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea" at Calderwood Pavilion. The ...
Dialogos revives a biblical heroine's haunting tale
As the British novelist L.P. Hartley famously wrote, "The past is a foreign country," and it often feels all the more foreign the further back you go. Medieval music and poetry can be a difficult sell for today's audiences, as surface charms translate but a deeper engagement with the materials proves elusive. It takes an eloquent artist and a patient ...
Italian court music, tender and racy
The Boston Early Music Festival builds in intensity as the week unfolds, and the pace has officially started picking up. Yesterday the festival's exhibition opened at the Radisson Hotel, and at Jordan Hall, BEMF presented three different concerts - at 5, 8, and 11 p.m. - in addition to a performance of Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea" at Calderwood Pavilion. The ...
Out of Renaissance Croatia, the haunting story of a biblical heroine
As the British novelist L.P. Hartley famously wrote "the past is a foreign country," and it often feels all the more foreign the further back you go. Medieval music and poetry can be a difficult sell for today's audiences, as surface charms translate but a deeper engagement with the materials proves elusive. It takes an eloquent artist and a patient ...
Boston Early Music Festival stages a Monteverdi masterpiece
Stravinsky kept a portrait of Monteverdi next to his piano, as if the two composers were keeping tabs on one another across three centuries. "I feel very close to him," the modern master once explained, adding that "perhaps he is the first great musician to whom we can feel close."
Classical music picks
ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL The annual June festival continues today with an enticing program featuring the Borromeo String Quartet (above) and guest clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. On the bill will be Brahms's sublime Clarinet Quintet as well as works by Bach and Lera Auerbach. On Tuesday, the excellent St. Lawrence String Quartet pulls into town, with music by Haydn, Mendelssohn, and ...
Classical music picks
CLASSICAL MUSIC BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Dvorak's Sonatina shines bright
ROCKPORT - The Rockport Chamber Music Festival opened its new season last night at the Rockport Art Association, probably for the final time. For many years the galleries have served the festival well, but its future lies a short walk up Main Street, where foundations have recently been laid for a new seaside concert hall, the Shalin Liu Performance Center. ...
Critic's picks: Classical music
CLASSICAL MUSIC CHORUS PRO MUSICA
Critic's picks - classical music
CHORUS PRO MUSICA This chorus has just named Betsy Burleigh as its next music director, but for the annual opera in Jordan Hall it will be led by former music director Jeffrey Rink. This year it's Puccini's "Turandot," with Othalie Graham in the title role, Kip Wilborn as Calaf, and Eleni Calenos as Liu. May 31 at 3 p.m., $37-$77, ...
Classical music picks
CLASSICAL MUSIC BOSTON MODERN ORCHESTRA PROJECT
Critic's picks - classical music
ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL This popular North Shore festival has big plans for a new concert hall slated to open next summer, and its offerings next month should help build some momentum for the move. The Cleveland Orchestra's concertmaster William Preucil will open the season in a recital partnered by pianist (and Rockport artistic director) David Deveau. Other highlights should ...
Michael Tilson Thomas went from Yiddish theater to Tanglewood
The conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has led the San Francisco Symphony since 1995. He is also closely associated with the New World Symphony, a professional training ensemble he founded 22 years ago. Recently, he has been in the news for leading the YouTube Orchestra, whose members auditioned via web video from more than 30 countries and came together last month ...
Boston Pops, Cook open new season at Symphony Hall
The Boston Pops opened its 124th season last night in Symphony Hall. All the traditional festive elements were in place - a brassy John Williams number, a filmic paean to Boston, the classic Souza march, and the balloon drop - but between the lines it was a bit subdued by Pops standards, and I imagine intentionally so. Too much symphonic ...