How About a Little Pipe Music at Geffen Hall?

The internationally heralded organist, Paul Jacobs, has written an impassioned plea for inclusion of a pipe organ in the renovation plans for Geffen Hall.  His perceptive and strongly persuasive article appeared in the December 17, 2019 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
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Mind-Popping Ear-Oppens-ing Excitement

Pianist Ursula Oppens gave a recital at BargeMusic as a part of their Legendary Pianists series on December 13, 2019. Her program featured Maurice Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales and La Valse, as well as works by John Corigliano and Conlon Nancarrow's two canons written for Ms. Oppens...
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Wa Concert Series presents “The Perilous Pursuit of Perfection: The Music of Anton Webern and J.S. Bach” in Review

Charles Neidich’s latest themed concert paired two masters of musical construction separated by two hundred years of music history: Anton Webern and J.S. Bach. No less fastidious a master than Maurice Ravel said (I paraphrase): “My goal is technical perfection. Since that is unattainable, I know that I may strive to come a little closer to it each day.” … The final song from the Trakl series was offered as a true encore—the savvy audience that attends the WA series is not afraid of a little serialism- they applauded long and loud. The customary curated feast of food and drink was delicious as always. A word to the wise, this series has been and will continue to be one of New York’s most valuable gems—please support it.
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Wa Concerts presents Wind and Fire in Review

Charles Neidich (Wa’s Artistic Director)
Just when one cannot imagine Wa Concerts getting any more delicious, they do, and this past weekend they offered Licorice, not the confection, but the delightful assemblage of clarinetists known as the New York Licorice Ensemble (though knowing Wa there was probably some of that confection around too, as they offer a veritable feast to the audience after each concert). The New York Licorice Ensemble, named for the instrument’s jazz-age sobriquet “licorice stick,” is composed of thirteen award-winning clarinetists, of whom we heard eight (all female) on this occasion, led by founder-director Ayako Oshima. Nine of the ensemble’s clarinetists live in Japan, while four live in New York, but they have toured widely and recorded on the Penguin Record and NAR labels in Japan. This concert was your reviewer’s first hearing of them, but one trusts there will be many more, as they seem destined for larger audiences than what the intimate Tenri space can hold (to read more about them visit: The New York Licorice Ensemble.
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JAMES ADLER, PIANO A YAMAHA ARTIST SERVICES PIANO SALON, NOVEMBER 12, 2019

It’s always a pleasure to attend a Yamaha piano event. Some take place in the more intimate halls around Manhattan, but most are in Yamaha’s New York show room on Fifth Avenue. The main room, where the recitals are held, has been acoustically treated (Yamaha’s Active Field Control system), and the sound is as well-balanced and lively as many of the purpose-built auditoria in the city. Mr. Adler was playing a Yamaha CFX (9-foot) concert grand, which perhaps had more power than the space needed. There is usually some gracious touch, like a reception, but the most unique characteristic of Yamaha concerts, is the feeling that Yamaha Artist Services, under the leadership of Bonnie Barrett, takes excellent, nurturing care of their artists.This brief, but engaging program featured veteran pianist James Adler, celebrating the release of an Albany Records CD, recorded on the premises...
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Organist Paul Jacobs Puts The Pedal To The Metal On The King Of Instruments

The last time organist Paul Jacobs visited Nashville he and the orchestra won a Grammy for their recording of Michael Daugherty’s Once Upon A Castle. Now as he and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero continue their collaboration, Jacobs is back for another live recording – this time it’s Horatio Parker’s Concerto for Organ. 
Jacobs is known for his astounding feats on the organ, such as his 18-hour marathon of the complete organ works of JS Bach, or performances of all of Olivier Messaen’s organ music from memory. But equally impressive is the list of orchestras with which he has performed as a soloist. He and Giancarlo Guerrero will head to Germany and Poland later this season for additional performances together, with a final stop back in Nashville for Hindemith’s Organ Concerto next year. Jacobs took the time to answer 6 questions about organ playing.
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Nashville Symphony’s Classical Series Continues

It is no exaggeration to say that Paul Jacobs is likely the greatest organist in the world today. Need proof? When he was only 23, Jacobs commemorated the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death by performing all of the composer’s organ works – during one 18-hour performance...
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GIOVANNI BOTTESINI’S COMIC OPERA, ALÌ BABÀ (1871), RECONSTRUCTED AND CONDUCTED BY ANTHONY BARRESE AT OPERA SOUTHWEST

Opera Southwest’s outstanding performance served Bottesini and his forgotten Alì Babà most admirably and made a strong case for its revival to freshen up the repertory with its humanity and fun...
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“NEGLECTED JEWELS” AND “PRISTINE ACOUSTICS:” PAUL JACOBS RETURNS TO NASHVILLE

Ahead of his visit to Nashville on November 21-23, when he will play Horatio Parker’s Concerto in E-flat Minor for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 55 in concert with the Nashville Symphony, we had the opportunity to ask virtuoso organist and Grammy winner Paul Jacobs about the piece, performing at the Schermerhorn with the Nashville Symphony and about his instrument...
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An die Musik in Review

It seems almost impossible that forty-three (!) years ago, pianist Constance Emmerich founded a chamber ensemble called An die Musik (German: To Music, after the title of one of Schubert’s best-loved songs). The instrumentation of oboe, string trio, and piano permits a wide variety of program choices and sonorous variety. And here they are still (with a few changes of personnel along the way), playing to a sold-out house of admirers. This group of musicians has what I will dare to call “musical charisma,” in contrast to the “superstar” assemblages of big-name virtuosi who barely know each other and lack sufficient time to rehearse, playing on the same stage at the same time but without true collegiality. An die Musik is diametrically opposed to that, although its components are no slouches in the virtuoso department...
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James Adler & Yamaha Celebrate Albany CD “Homages & Remembrances” Releas

Composer, pianist, and educator James Adler had a magnificent new CD, “Homages & Remembrances,” released this season by Albany Records and, on November 12 at Yamaha Piano Salon, he officially launched the CD with a virtuoso recital made up of most works on the CD, along with assorted other pieces...
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HOMAGES & REMEMBRANCES

JAMES ADLER
There is no doubt that Adler is a profound musical thinker. He presents us here with a satisfying recital, most notable for the recently composed pieces...
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HOMAGES & REMEMBRANCES

JAMES ADLER
My goal for this article is to discuss the music on my new Albany Records CD, Homages & Remembrances...
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James Adler ‘Homages & Remembrances’

A CD of excellent artistic quality to listen to with great attention...
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Paul Jacobs To Perform Horatio Parker's Organ Concerto With Nashville Symphony & Giancarlo Guerrero

Grammy-award winning American organist Paul Jacobs appears as soloist in Horatio Parker's renowned Organ Concerto with the Nashville Symphony and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, Thursday evening, November 21, 7:30 pm at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, (One Symphony Place, Nashville, TN 37201). Performances will be repeated at the same venue on Friday evening, November 22, 8 pm and Saturday evening, November 23, 8 pm. The program includes works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Rachmaninoff…
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Yamaha Artist Services Presents Alexander Kobrin In Zankel Hall At Carnegie Hall Debut

Yamaha Artist Services presents the brilliant pianist Alexander Kobrin-most noted for his win at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 2005-in his recital debut at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall (881 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019), Thursday evening, December 19, 2019, at 7:30 pm. The program will feature piano sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms, as well as Schumann's Waldszenen.
This recital also marks the upcoming release of Mr. Kobrin's newest disc on the Centaur label, which was recorded in August 2019 using Yamaha's exclusive new recording technology on the Bösendorfer Disklavier 280VC. The disc explores four Beethoven piano sonatas: Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7; Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Op. 13 (Grande Sonata Pathétique); Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; and Sonata No. 11 in B-Flat Major, Op. 22…
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Yamaha Artist Services Presents Alexander Kobrin In Zankel Hall At Carnegie Hall Debut

Yamaha Artist Services presents the brilliant pianist Alexander Kobrin-most noted for his win at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition in 2005-in his recital debut at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall (881 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019), Thursday evening, December 19, 2019, at 7:30 pm. The program will feature piano sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms, as well as Schumann's Waldszenen.
This recital also marks the upcoming release of Mr. Kobrin's newest disc on the Centaur label, which was recorded in August 2019 using Yamaha's exclusive new recording technology on the Bösendorfer Disklavier 280VC. The disc explores four Beethoven piano sonatas: Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major, Op. 7; Sonata No. 8 in C Minor Op. 13 (Grande Sonata Pathétique); Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2; and Sonata No. 11 in B-Flat Major, Op. 22…
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Opera Southwest 2019-20 Review: Alì Babà

Oct. 20, 21019 Opera Southwest made history by reviving Giovanni Bottesini’s rarely performed opera “Alì Babà.”
In many ways, the performance was almost like a world premiere because it was the first time the opera was being performed as the composer intended with its recitatives included. As noted in the program notes, Bottesini’s opera world premiered in 1871 but with the recitatives in an English translation; it was later shown in the 1920s and 1930s in a scaled-down puppet format…
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An Die Musik Returns For Annual New York Concert At Merkin Concert Hall, November 10, 2019

Each season An die Musik (oboe, string trio, and piano), co-founded in 1976 by pianist Constance Emmerich, returns to an enthusiastic and overflowing crowd at Merkin Hall to perform with imagination, brilliance, and warmth. This year's only New York concert takes place on Sunday afternoon, November 10, 2019, 4 pm at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY. The artists performing this fall with An die Musik will be Mark Peskanov, violin; Nicholas Mann, viola; Robert Ingliss, oboe; Thomas Demenga, cello; and Constance Emmerich, piano…
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An Die Musik Returns For Annual New York Concert At Merkin Concert Hall Nov. 10

Each season An die Musik (oboe, string trio, and piano), co-founded in 1976 by pianist Constance Emmerich, returns to an enthusiastic and overflowing crowd at Merkin Hall to perform with imagination, brilliance, and warmth. This year's only New York concert takes place on Sunday afternoon, November 10, 2019, 4 pm at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY. The artists performing this fall with An die Musik will be Mark Peskanov, violin; Nicholas Mann, viola; Robert Ingliss, oboe; Thomas Demenga, cello; and Constance Emmerich, piano…
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An die Musik

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KC Symphony show on Bach, Brahms and myth of William Randolph Hearst

The Kansas City Symphony’s associate conductor, Jason Seber, will conduct his first main series concert Oct. 25-27 at Helzberg Hall.
Seber will lead the orchestra in Edward Elgar’s arrangement of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor and Brahms’ powerful Symphony No. 4. Organist Paul Jacobs will join the orchestra for “Once Upon a Castle” for organ and orchestra by contemporary American composer Michael Daugherty…
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Organ Recital With Paul Jacobs

The only organist to have won a Grammy, Paul Jacobs is renowned for his fierce musical connoisseurship and formidable skill. Experience his technique in a prismatic program of organ showpieces, from the astoundingly intricate beauty of J.S. Bach’s Passacaglia, Mozart’s delightful Fantasia for clockwork organ, to Vierne’s grandly scaled Symphony No. 6…
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ORGAN RECITAL WITH PAUL JACOBS

The only organist to have won a Grammy, Paul Jacobs is renowned for his fierce musical connoisseurship and formidable skill. Experience his technique in a prismatic program of organ showpieces, from the astoundingly intricate beauty of J.S. Bach’s Passacaglia, Mozart’s delightful Fantasia for clockwork organ, to Vierne’s grandly scaled Symphony No. 6…
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Sinfonia Da Camera To Host ‘Homecoming At The Hall’

Sinfonia da Camera, the professional chamber orchestra in-residence at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, is in concert Saturday night at Krannert's Foellinger Great Hall.
On this homecoming weekend at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus, the title of the concert is "Homecoming at the Hall."
Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline spoke with Sinfonia da Camera's music director, Ian Hobson, about the program.
"We've got one very famous piece, which I think is very appropriate for the fall, that's Dvořák's eighth symphony," Hobson said. "At the beginning of the program, we have a short piece called "Pastorale d’été" by Honniger.
"And the central piece on the program is very unusual. It is a concerto by David Canfield, but it's a 'Concerto after Elgar.' It is performed by our principal violist Csaba Erdélyi."
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Pianist-Composer James Adler To Appear In Solo Recital At Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon

Pianist and composer James Adler will give a solo recital to celebrate the launch of his most recent recording, Homages & Remembrances on Albany Records, at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon (689 5th Ave # 3, New York, NY 10022), Tuesday evening, November 12, 2019, at 7 pm. In homage to his older brother Norman, who died in 2016 and who was the first to encourage his musical studies, Mr. Adler programmed this repertoire with the idea of remembering the past…
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Pianist-Composer James Adler To Appear In Solo Recital At Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon

Pianist and composer James Adler will give a solo recital to celebrate the launch of his most recent recording, Homages & Remembrances on Albany Records, at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon (689 5th Ave # 3, New York, NY 10022), Tuesday evening, November 12, 2019, at 7 pm. In homage to his older brother Norman, who died in 2016 and who was the first to encourage his musical studies, Mr. Adler programmed this repertoire with the idea of remembering the past…
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Pianist-Composer James Adler: CD Celebration Recital

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What’s going on? | Oct. 12-18

…Ascendance in Watsonville (Oct. 13)
The Santa Cruz Symphony will begin its season at the Henry J. Mello Center from 2-4:30 p.m. World-renowned pianist Jon Nakamatsu will perform Beethoven’s magisterial piano concerto no. 5, “The Emperor,” and Grammy award-winning composer & DJ Mason Bates will perform his wildly popular showpiece for DJ and orchestra, “Mothership.” For information visit santacruzsymphony.org…
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The Cleveland Orchestra: Tchaikovsky's 5th.

Airs Monday, October 7, 2019, at 1 p.m. The Cleveland Orchestra 2019 season continues on Red River Radio with maestro Franz Welser-Möst leading the orchestra in Haydn's Symphony No. 34 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. In between these works we'll hear organist Paul Jacobs will be featured in "Okeanos” for Organ and Orchestra by Deutsch.
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Organist Paul Jacobs To Give Solo Recital At San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall

Grammy-award winning American organist Paul Jacobs will return to San Francisco Symphony's Davies Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102) to open the organization's Organ Recital Series, Sunday afternoon, October 20, 2019, at 3 pm. His program will include an array of organ showpieces, from the intricate beauty of J.S. Bach's Passacaglia, Mozart's delightful Fantasia for clockwork organ, to Vierne's grandly scaled Organ Symphony…
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Organist Paul Jacobs To Give Solo Recital At San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall

Grammy-award winning American organist Paul Jacobs will return to San Francisco Symphony's Davies Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102) to open the organization's Organ Recital Series, Sunday afternoon, October 20, 2019, at 3 pm. His program will include an array of organ showpieces, from the intricate beauty of J.S. Bach's Passacaglia, Mozart's delightful Fantasia for clockwork organ, to Vierne's grandly scaled Organ Symphony…
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Nakamatsu Goes Informal at the Steinway Society

For piano music lovers in the South Bay, there has not been a better ticket than the Steinway Society series. The Society has consistently presented world-class masters as well as promising young talents. With the sudden sale and closure of its home, The Trianon Theatre in San Jose, the society had to scramble to secure alternate venues, and will present its 2019-20 concerts throughout the greater San Jose area.
The Society’s 25th season opened with a sold-out recital by local favorite Jon Nakamatsu, at the McAfee Center in Saratoga, organized around the musical impromptu. Nakamatsu began with an inquisitive reading of two by Chopin: Op.29 in A-flat Major and Op.51 in G-flat Major. Within the opening measure of Op. 29, he made it clear that his was not going to be an orthodox, passive account. He approached the first measure cautiously as if the notes had just come to his mind with some trepidation, then the second measure that repeats the first measure exploded with confidence and infectious joy. Though carefully constructed, the spirit of free-flowing, improvised composition permeated the performance with a sense of curiosity and exploration. In the later Op. 51, contrasted with the youthful A-flat major work, he projected a sense of immense contentment…
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John Frayne | Soloists shine in Sinfonia da Camera show

The opening concert of the Sinfonia da Camera on Sept. 14 offered a striking contrast of two soloists at varying points in their careers, mature Stefan Milenkovich and eight-year-old Ella Wimbiscus, the winner of the Sinfonia da Camera Concerto Competition.
The concert began with Ian Hobson leading the Sinfonia in a sparkling performance of Johannes Brahms’ “Variations on a Theme by Haydn.” There is now general agreement that the theme is not by Haydn, and equal agreement that the theme was called “Chorale St. Antoni” in the wind divertimento in which Brahms first saw it…
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September 23

…September 24…
Paul Jacobs, organist 
Léon Boëllmann: Suite Gothique, Op. 25 
Thierry Escaich: “Eaux natales” from Poéme pour orgue 
Jeanne Demessieux: Twelve Preludes on Gregorian Themes 
Charles-Marie Widor: “Andante Sostenuto” from Symphonie Gothique, Op. 70 
Louis Vierne: Symphonie in B minor, Op. 59 
7:30 p.m. St. Ignatius Loyola Church…
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Community Performance Series launching 30th anniversary season in Potsdam

The Community Performance Series will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a season of guest artists.
Their calendar includes Broadway vocals and improvisational comedy, jazz and percussion.
The 2019-20 CPS Guest Artist Series season features… Paul Jacobs (Ranlett Organ Recital), Sunday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m., Helen M. Hosmer Concert Hall, Crane School of Music
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A night with the organ

Paul Jacobs is a famed organist, the chairman of the department at Juilliard. (Grant that a famous organist is not very famed in the world at large.) He is embarked on a three-recital series exploring “The Great French Organ Tradition.” The first recital took place on Tuesday, September 10, at Juilliard. The third will take place next Tuesday at Saint Ignatius Loyola Church. The middle one took place two nights ago at another church, Saint Mary the Virgin…
Time to say something about Jacobs’s playing? It was superb. From the first page or two, you knew that this was a man who knew what he was doing. Jacobs is no-nonsense. He does not fuss over music or cute it up. He just plays it, straightforwardly and rightly. His judgment is well-nigh unerring. He has fabulous fingers (and feet). If you were releasing a recording of Tuesday night’s recital, you would not have to doctor it at all. There was scarcely a missed note. Jacobs has an acute sense of rhythm—crucial in a musician, and maybe especially in an organist. He knows how to deal with dynamics, colors—everything…
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All the Classical Music You Should Catch in Cleveland This Fall (and Winter)

ClevelandClassical.com's concert database lists more than 200 events between now and the end of December, and more will pop up overnight like mushrooms. Here's a selection of particularly interesting concerts, arranged in alphabetical order by category…
Cleveland Chamber Music Society will celebrate its 70th season and the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth with a three-concert marathon of his complete violin sonatas played by James Ehnes with pianist Andrew Armstrong. The first program has already taken place, with the rest to follow in the winter and spring. Other fall performances will feature the Jerusalem Quartet (Oct. 22 at 7:30), pianist Till Fellner (Nov. 12 at 7:30), and the Dover Quartet (Dec. 3 at 7:30)…
The Cleveland Orchestra will host Mitsuko Uchida in a rare solo recital of late Schubert sonatas at Severance Hall (Nov. 3 at 3). And in a similar program, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society will sponsor Austrian artist Till Fellner in Mixon Hall at CIM (Nov. 12 at 7:30)…
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Jacobs’ French organ series hits cruising speed

The second concert in organist Paul Jacobs’ “Great French Organ Tradition”—which took place Tuesday night at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin—set the previous week’s opening event in perspective as the cocktail that prepared the appetite for the main course.
The first concert, in Paul Hall at Juilliard, introduced the foundations of this national music, and explained what made it both explicitly French and unique. Tuesday night, as Jacobs played the organ in the gothic expanse of the church, one heard his concept, and this music, brought to fruition…
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Paul Jacobs to perform at Utica’s Grace Church Sunday

UTICA, N.Y. — Grammy award-winning organist Paul Jacobs, who has performed to acclaim around the world, will be performing an organ concert at Grace Episcopal Church in Utica on Sunday, Sept. 22, beginning at 3 p.m.
The concert is free and open to the public. Parking for the church, located on the corner of Genesee and Elizabeth Streets in downtown Utica, is available in nearby off-street lots…
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The Overture: September 16-22

The Overture is a rundown of live music and performances happening in the Champaign-Urbana area (and the outskirts) each week…
Jupiter String Quartet with Jon Nakamatsu
► Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (Foellinger Great Hall) // $31+ // 7:30 p.m.
Jupiter String Quartet is this season's artist-in-residence at Krannert Center, and for this performance, JSQ has invited pianist Jon Nakamatsu to join. If you are looking for some mid-week strings, here's your ticket on Tuesday.
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John Frayne | Krannert Center fall 2019 season preview, Part III of III

The following Krannert Center for the Performing Arts concerts will take place in Foellinger Great Hall with a start time of 7:30 p.m., except as noted…
…At its Nov. 22 concert, the Sinfonia da Camera, conducted by Ian Hobson, will take part in a performance of the evergreen favorite “H.M.S. Pinafore,” with words by W.S. Gilbert and music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. The director will be Dawn Harris, whose work with semi-staged G.& S. operettas has been often enjoyed in the past by Krannert audiences (“Mikado” in 2014 and “Pirates of Penzance” last November). Veteran G&S patter song singer Boyd Mackus will play Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.
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Arts review: Austin Symphony pays tribute to Jane Sibley with ethereal requiem

…the Austin Symphony fashioned its season-opening concert, curiously titled “Triple Delight,” around a seraphic requiem that also, according to a curtain speech, commemorated the victims of 9/11.
But first, the orchestra, in tandem with Chorus Austin, introduced Franz Schubert’s short, uplifting “Magnificat,” a joyous setting of the hymn. It sounded, however, this time as stiff and perfunctory as other traditional framing devices used to preface otherwise outstanding Austin performing arts events, all of which should be carefully reexamined.
Next up was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, originally a showcase for Mozart as virtuoso pianist. Acclaimed American pianist Jon Nakamatsu wasted no time demonstrating his interpretive agility, while the orchestra provided the solid, rational base for his fluid musical speculations. Ensemble and soloist acted more like equal partners during the protracted and poignant Andante, which listeners my age will never be able to disassociate from the 1967 Swedish film “Elvira Madigan,” or at least the ubiquitous circulation of its soundtrack…
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The Critic’s Notebook

“The Great French Organ Tradition, Pt. I,” featuring Paul Jacobs, in Paul Hall at the Juilliard School (September 10): Perhaps no instrument suffers in audio recordings so much as the organ. It breathes life into the space that it fills: listening to Saint-Saëns with headphones is one thing, but in a church or concert hall his compositions for organ make the walls, the seats, and even the audience vibrate with the pure stuff of music. This Tuesday, September 10, the organist Paul Jacobs will give the first of three concerts featuring music from some of the greatest French composers for the instrument. In addition to garnering wide acclaim as a performer, Jacobs serves as the chair of the organ department at Juilliard, so concertgoers can expect the benefit of a thoughtful and illustrative program. —RE
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10 Months of Classical Concerts You Won’t Want to Miss

September…
PAUL JACOBS This stylish organist travels among several instruments in New York for a deep dive into the French organ tradition: Messiaen, Vierne, Widor and others. He plays the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Midtown Manhattan on Sept. 17, then St. Ignatius Loyola on the Upper East Side on Sept. 24. stmvirgin.org, stignatiusloyola.org
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Critic’s Choice for 2019-20

…Beethoven’s Piano Concertos No. 1-5. Fort Worth Symphony. January 4, 2020.
The Fort Worth Symphony and Cliburn Foundation won’t wait around to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. They’ll go into action as soon as 2020 begins, performing all five of his piano concertos in a pair of concerts the same day. Pianists Joyce Yang, David Fray, Jon Nakamatsu, George Li and Till Fellner will take turns at the keyboard. cliburn.org/cliburn-at-the-bass/…
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Jacobs opens French organ series with user-friendly program

The esteemed organist Paul Jacobs is also a teacher, and the title of his Tuesday night recital had a professorial ring: “The Great French Organ Tradition.” 
A dry title yet one that was belied by Jacobs’ expert playing and his personable stage manner. Paul Hall—at Juilliard, where Jacobs teaches—was unexpectedly filled to capacity for this first program in a three-concert survey of French organ music…
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Things to do in Austin the weekend of Sept. 12-15

1. “Triple Delight”
8 p.m. Sept. 13 and 14. $21-$100. The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive. 512-476-6064, austinsymphony.org
The Austin Symphony Orchestra’s season opener proves all great things come in threes. “Triple Delight” features a trio of classical pieces, including Schubert’s short but powerful “Magnificat in C Major.” The final two pieces will bring additional artists to the stage at Dell Hall. The award-winning pianist Jon Nakamatsu performs Mozart’s crowd-pleasing “Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major,” and our town’s own Chorus Austin accompanies the orchestra for Maurice Duruflé’s breathtaking “Requiem, Op. 9.” Come early for more classical music-related fun.
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THE GREAT FRENCH ORGAN TRADITION: THREE CONCERTS ON THREE ORGANS BY PAUL JACOBS

Organist Paul Jacobs, chair of Juilliard’s organ department, will perform a three-recital series in September 2019 featuring a program of works drawn from throughout the great French organ tradition. Mr. Jacobs stands out as among the organists of today for his interpretative intellect, virtuosity, and musicological learning. He opens the series performing on the Holtkamp organ in Juilliard’s Paul Hall on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, at 7:30pm. The series continues on the 1933 Aeolian-Skinner “Opus 891” at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, at 7:30pm, and concludes on St. Ignatius Loyola’s 1993 Mander Organ on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 7:30pm. 
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Reunions, fundraisers draw West Valley residents

…Bay Area native Jon Nakamatsu opens the 25th season of Steinway Society-The Bay Area Sept. 21 at Saratoga’s McAfee Performing Arts Center…
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Ayako Oshima Neidich, Clarinet | Pre-College Faculty Recital

From Tokyo to Prague (Via New York) Ayako Oshima, Clarinet Mohamed Shams, Piano Charles Neidich, Guest Clarinet Takashi YOSHIMATSU 4 Pieces in Bird Shape Akira MIYOSHI Perspective en Spirale for Clarinet Solo Elliott CARTER Hiyoku Bohuslav MARTINU Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano
Venue: Paul Hall at The Juilliard School
155 W. 65th St. 
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6 Classical Music Concerts to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend

Our guide to the city’s best classical music and opera happening this weekend and in the week ahead…
PAUL JACOBS at Paul Recital Hall (Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m.). That the organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral survived the fire in April is little short of a miracle, so it’s a good time for Jacobs, one of our leading organists, to celebrate the culture that this instrument still represents. In the first of three concerts this month under the rubric of “The Great French Organ Tradition,” Jacobs plays works by Marcel Dupré, Nadia Boulanger, César Franck, Jehan Alain, Naji Hakim, Camille Saint-Saëns and Alexandre Guilmant.
212-769-7406, juilliard.edu
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New works push off at Bargemusic’s Here and Now Festival

Seasons come and go, the school year starts and ends, the sun rises and sets, but Bargemusic abides. The classical music hall that floats off the Fulton Ferry landing is not only one of the most pleasant venues in New York city, but the most stalwart, with concerts almost year round.
For Labor Day weekend Bargemusic continued its recent tradition of presenting new compositions via the Here and Now series. The latest mini-festival concluded Sunday afternoon with a range of solo and chamber pieces — all premieres with the exception of Stanley Walden’s Deadications, which was being heard in New York for the first time.
With brand new music, there is always the danger that the quality of the performance will obscure that of the composing, and there was some of that Sunday afternoon. The piano four-hands team of Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal opened the concert playing Jonathan Howard Katz’s Crescive Waltzes, and the experience dipped in and out of clarity and murk. The music had more to do with memory than dancing — there was an unexpected amount of haunting lyricism — but though it didn’t seem in any way technically demanding, the performance felt unsure, and smacked of too little preparation.
Oppens played Paul Chihara’s The Storm, an energetic bit of sound-painting, with rolling chords and rhythms taking one away from the lovely day outside the barge. Modest, but self-contained and effective, and closing with a witty quote from Beethoven’s “Storm” Sonata, Op. 31, No. 2, the music brought more life to the proceedings…
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Here and Now Festival

Showcasing new and recent music over Labor Day weekend has become a lively tradition at Bargemusic. This year’s festival features premières by the composers Paul Chihara, Louis Karchin, Kathleen Supové, David Taylor, Stanley Warner, and Jonathan Criner, among others. Performers include the trombonist Taylor and the pianists Supové, Ursula Oppens, and Jerome Lowenthal.
— Steve Smith
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Paul Jacobs

The Grammy Award winner Paul Jacobs devised a three-part series honoring the French organ tradition before the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, but his concerts—full of magnificent, transporting, and enduring music—take on new resonance in light of the cathedral’s near-total ruin. (Its organ survived.) Pieces by Franck, Dupré, Saint-Saëns, and Guilmant promise a mesmerizing start to the series at Juilliard’s Paul Hall, and subsequent concerts at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Sept. 17) and St. Ignatius Loyola Church (Sept. 24) include works by such masters as Olivier Messiaen (“Messe de la Pentecôte”) and Louis Vierne (Symphony No. 6, Op. 59).
— Oussama Zahr
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James Adler: Neue Ideen für die Bilder eine Ausstellung

The American pianist and composer James Adler has put together a varied program containing works closely linked to the CD’s title Homages & Remembrances. The first piece is a tribute to the American composer Paul Turok, a student of Karol Rathaus, who died in 2012. The short Passacaglia begins quite dramatically and ends very calmly. The variable moods are reproduced here very well and can be regarded as parameters for the whole CD. The next work is Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 311, which Adler dedicates to his mentors Seymour Lipkin and Rudolf Serkin. Adler performs the outer movements very playfully and gives the Andante con espressione a charming character, without giving too much importance to the ‘con espressione’. Debussy’s Arabesques are of great importance to James Adler, because he received the score from his older brother, who led him to study music. His genuine sound is a real pleasure. Adler composed Elegy for Norman in memory of his brother, who had died in the meantime. The two-movement work for flute and piano begins with a lyrical and lovingly formulated lament. The second movement, Celebration, is based on the traditional Jewish Sabbath song L’Chah Dodi. In Afrikaans Herrineringe means memory. The South African composer Henco Espag (*1987) wrote the piece in memory of his brother who died in 2017. It is a tender reminiscence that is repeatedly disturbed by dark elements. Then a dance-like melody emerges, which also ‘stumbles’ several times, symbolizing the coming end of life. The longest work on the CD is Mussorgsky’s composition Pictures at an Exhibition, which is an homage to the late painter Viktor Hartmann. James Adler plays the music in an incredibly imaginative way and allows himself numerous agogic as well as dynamic liberties in order to achieve a maximum of effect. He succeeds in creating a truly exciting and fascinating interpretation. The shifts in Vecchio Castello are as astonishing as the unusual rhythms of the Tuileries, in which suddenly not only playing children can be ‘seen’, but also loving glances of mothers and governesses. The chicken ballet is differentiated to a degree I have never heard before. We could give our readers more details, but the best thing is to listen to the recording.
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Classical Music in New York City This Week - September 1-September 8

From the New York Philharmonic to churches and smaller concert halls, you'll find the best of New York's classical music in City Guide's calendar. When it comes to acoustics, famous destinations like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center are world-class attractions and we've got every upcoming performance listed in our system. 
Here and Now Labor Day Festival - Bargemusic
September 01, 2019 - Brooklyn
Here and Now Labor Day Festival 2019 Jonathan Howard Katz "Crescive Waltzes" for 4 hands piano (*World Premiere) Ursula Oppens, piano; Jerome Lowenthal, piano Paul Chihara "The Storm" (*World Premiere) Ursula Oppens, piano Stanley Walden "Deadications" (*NY Premiere,) In Memory of…What Happened (George Tabori) The Mothers (Helen Dolgin & Henrietta Brody-Walden) Toccata Incessante (Jacques Levy) Time Enough… (Jacob and Mickey Druckman) Cancion Sin Palabras (Arthur Bloom) …Like a Mountain Railroad (Phillip West) Daniel Schlosberg, piano Marty Regan "Medusa's lair" (*World premiere) Yoko Reikano Kimura, shamisen Jonathan Cziner, piece for cello and piano (*World premiere) Julian Schwarz, cello; Marika Bournaki, piano David Taylor, Soul Mates (*World Premiere) David Taylor, Bass Trombone; Kathleen Supové, piano…
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Churches in South Hills offer music for classical fans

In 2000, Paul Jacobs was looking for a venue where he could embark on a musical endurance run.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, Jacobs was planning on staging an 18-hour marathon of Bach’s complete organ works. He would take a few quick breaks, but otherwise plow through Bach’s preludes, sonatas and fugues from dawn until midnight, and audience members would be able to come and go as they pleased…
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John Frayne | Krannert Center fall 2019 season preview, Part I of II

This fall Krannert season, continuing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Krannert Center, will begin with Ellnora: The Guitar Festival…
The Sinfonia da Camera, conducted by Ian Hobson, will open its season with a concert on Saturday, Sept. 14. Violin virtuoso Stephan Milenkovich, familiar to Krannert audiences, will perform the solo in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a melodious work that holds its place in the top 5 violin concertos of the 19th century…
The concert will end with one of Brahms’ chamber music masterpieces, his Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34. In this work, the Jupiters will be joined by pianist Jon Nakamatsu, who was the winner of the Gold Medal at the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Foellinger Great Hall…
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10 Must See Operas For The Fall Season 2019 [North America Edition]

The 2019-20 season is about to start with numerous new productions, revivals and world premieres.
Like we did with the International houses, OperaWire has selected the 10 Must-See productions that you cannot miss this fall at the North American companies…
1.  Ali Baba – Opera Southwest, New Mexico 
Ashraf Sewailam, Monica Yunus, Christopher Bozeka, Kevin Thompson, Darren Stokes, and Laurel Semerdjian star in Giovanni Bottesini’s acclaimed work from 1871. This American premiere will see Maestro Anthony Barrese reconstruct the score from the composer’s original manuscript. The work, which premiered to great acclaim in the 19th century, was lost after its premiere has not been heard in over a century.
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KEYBOARD EMOTING

A great deal of the emotion of Thalberg’s music is feigned, just like a great deal of the emotion in today’s pop music: his works’ primary intent is to entertain. But that need not be the sole purpose of piano works, even virtuosic ones, as is shown on a new Albany Records release featuring pianist/composer James Adler. The disc bears the title “Homages & Remembrances,” and its emotional underpinning is clearly genuine: the whole recital was inspired by the death of Adler’s older brother, Norman. The question for listeners, though, is not one of sincerity – that is surely present here in abundance – but one of whether the recording works from a strictly musical standpoint. The answer is a qualified “yes,” qualified because the CD contains so disparate a mixture of music that its primary attraction will likely be the playing of Adler rather than the works themselves…
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The Week in Arts: Alton Brown Returns; Lil Nas X Plays the Hit

Classical Music: New Music Floating on the East River
Aug. 30-Sept. 1; www.bargemusic.org
Take a weekend’s worth of cutting-edge music and put it on a boat in the East River, and you get the Here and Now Labor Day Festival at the Brooklyn gem Bargemusic, a barge anchored next to the Brooklyn Bridge that provides one of city’s best recital halls. Over three evenings, listeners can take in a bevy of pieces performed by chamber musicians: The featured composers, including Jonathan Howard Katz, Louis Karchin and Paul Chihara, are not necessarily household names, but all of the works presented are brand-new — a series of world premieres in disparate musical idioms. And the roster of performers is top-tier, including the two-piano superteam of Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal as well as the composer and pianist Kathleen Supové, who will play some of her own new works. WILLIAM ROBIN
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New York's Concerts At St. Ignatius Announces Their 2019-20 Season

Formerly known as Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, the series based at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola marks its 31st season with choral works by Verdi and Rossini and special guests including the Tallis Scholars, Paul Jacobs, and Amjad Ali Khan.
For three decades, the magnificent Church of St. Ignatius Loyola (980 Park Avenue) has presented choral masterworks, recitals on its N.P. Mander Organ, and guest artists from around the world on the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series. The newly-rechristened series Concerts at St. Ignatius continues the legacy of excellence of both its own choir and orchestra led by Artistic Director K. Scott Warren, as well as in the exemplary roster of guest artists performing during this 31st season…
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Kennett Symphony concert at Longwood Gardens a tribute to America

The Kennett Symphony’s concert this past Saturday was titled “Symphony Under the Stars: America the Beautiful” because Music Director Michael Hall programmed a completely American theme. The delightful selections included works by 20th century American composers John Williams, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Peter Boyer, and George Gershwin who were among the first composers to create a distinct American sound and flavor – blending jazz, ragtime, and folk into classical pieces that were light, bright and totally suited for the outdoor concert…
Thomas Nickell, who is exclusively represented by Alexander & Buono International, is a talented young (20 years old) pianist who performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and was rewarded by a standing ovation. Thomas is also a composer who has been globe-hopping throughout Europe and the USA with public performances of the important piano repertoire as well as his own compositions.
Thomas began his professional career at age 13 and had his Carnegie Hall debut last year. He is fond of American music – a good fit for Saturday’s concert. There are many years ahead to fine-tune Mr. Nickell’s considerable gifts and I look forward to following the further development and career of this talented young artist…
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On Stage: Kennett Symphony under the stars

A great way to spend a warm summer evening is to sit in the audience at the Open Air Theater at Longwood Gardens (1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square 610-388-1000, www.longwoodgardens.org) with a mild breeze blowing and the Kennett Symphony playing onstage,
That scenario will exist on August 17.
The featured attraction at Longwood Gardens on Saturday evening will be a concert by Kennett Symphony at 7:30 p.m. in Longwood’s Open Air Theater. Visitors to the site will also be able to check out Longwood’s amazing horticultural attractions and enjoy the new, improved fountain display…
Under the baton of Conductor and Music Director Michael Hall, the Kennett Symphony will perform a variety of classics with an American theme.
The program for Saturday night’s performance features John Williams’ “The Cowboys: Overture”; Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto, Movement I”; Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo”; Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide”; Peter Boyer’s “Rolling River (Sketches on “Shenandoah”); George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue”; and Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of “America the Beautiful”…
The program will also feature performances by Kenneth Naito on violin and Thomas Nickell on piano…
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A French Organ Celebration

… Paul Jacobs, chair of the organ department, will present a concert series devoted to this repertoire on three consecutive Tuesdays, beginning with a program in Paul Hall on September 10. The concerts will not proceed continuously in chronological order, but will each be self-contained samplings of music from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. In putting together these programs, Jacobs said he “wanted to offer, here in New York, a glimpse of this tradition over the past 200 years, including the familiar with the exotic, the profane with the sacred, the intimate with the sublime”…
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James Adler’s New “Homages & Remembrances” CD Released by Albany Records

Composer, pianist, and educator James Adler, with close ties to the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps (LGBAC) Symphonic Band and Queer Urban Orchestra (QUO), for which his life partner Scott Oaks plays flute, has a magnificent new CD, “Homages & Remembrances,” just issued by Albany Records and available through www.albanyrecords.com, www.arkivmusic.com, and www.adleroaksmusic.com.
The emphasis here is on Adler’s virtuoso pianism, as displayed in his work with the two New York City ensembles cited above; in his periodic James Adler and Friends recitals; and in performances at venues from the Madison Square Garden Felt Forum, now the Hulu Theater, to the Cornelia Street Café. Here Adler plays works by late colleagues, tributes to departed siblings, and classic favorites, which also reflect the theme of “Homages & Remembrances.” Adler recorded this music this year and last at Yamaha Artist Services Piano Salon in Manhattan…
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Al Music Fest Perugia i “giganti” del pianoforte

PERUGIA – Ponte di Ferragosto all’insegna della musica classica a Perugia grazie ai concerti proposti dal Music Fest Perugia, in scena fino al 20 agosto, giorno in cui maestri e musicisti provenienti da ogni parte del mondo lasceranno la città per nuove mete internazionali. Martedì 13 agosto è la volta di due ‘giganti del pianoforte’, gli americani Jerome Lowenthal & Ursula Oppens, che terranno il loro Master recital alla sala dei Notari alle 18.15. A precedere il saggio, alle 14, un Marathon recital mentre il concerto serale, anche questo alla sala dei Notari, è affidato alla pianista sudcoreana Yoonie Han, che alle 21 si esibirà accompagnata dalla Virtuosi Brunenses Orchestra diretta da Gaddiel Dombrowner.
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Kennett Symphony Performance

Thomas Nickell will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as part of a program of music by American composers, entitled Symphony Under the Stars: America the Beautiful.
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ANOTHER RECREATION FROM OPERA SOUTHWEST: “ALI BABA” DEBUTS THE 47TH SEASON IN OCTOBER!

Ali Baba – Restored to Life at Opera Southwest!
With a libretto based on “Alì Babà and the Forty Thieves,” the well-known and lively story from One Thousand and One Nights,  Alì Babà was composed by Giovanni Bottesini, an Italian composer and double bass virtuoso, known as the “Paganini of the bass.”
The opera was premiered in 1871 in London, receiving considerable acclaim and numerous performances. However, later the score was lost and the opera has not been heard in well over a century. As with Opera Southwest’s Amleto (Hamlet) project, Maestro Anthony Barrese has reconstructed the score from the composer’s original manuscript, and Opera Southwest will give the work its modern American premiere.
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Symphony en plein air

What should be done with a sound to big for a concert hall? The elegant answer is to perform at Open Air Theatre at Longwood Gardens. The Kennett Symphony will take the explosive keyboard of Thomas Nickell out of doors as part of the "Symphony Under the Stars" scheduled for August 17…
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Chamber Music Festival Features 12 Concerts

The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival’s 40th anniversary season kicks off August 1. Twelve concerts are slated for venues across the Cape from August 1 through 23. The season is organized by Artistic Directors Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse, and Executive Director Elaine Lipton.
Among the highlights is a concert celebrating the 100th birthday of composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein, with special guest appearance by his daughter, Jamie Bernstein, on August 16 at First Congregational Church in Wellfleet…
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Keyboard rarities highlight Burleson’s IKIF program

The theme of pianist Geoffrey Burleson’s Tuesday night recital, as he told the audience, was politics. Rather than escape from the immediate historical moment, Burleson wanted to engage it through music.
But the performance in Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College was part of the ongoing International Keyboard Institute Festival, and so the program was directed less to the conceptual or didactic and more toward the programmatic and, of course, the pianistic.
That meant the unfamiliar, the new, and the surprising. The music came from Liszt, Saint-Saëns (via Massenet and Gounod), Roy Harris, and contemporary composers Mary Kouyoumdjian, David Rakowski, and Marc Mellits…
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Symphony Under the Stars: America the Beautiful

Performers

Thomas Nickell	Piano
Kennett Symphony
Kenneth Ryu Naito	Violin

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Key Pianists Returns To Weill Recital Hall At Carnegie Hall

The imaginative and increasingly important Key Pianists concert series, founded by pianist Terry Eder in 2015, embarks on its fifth season with a recital by James Dick, whom American Record Guide lauded for his "patrician civility and lucid, beautiful sonority," on Thursday evening, October 10, 2019, at 7:30 pm at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His program will include Schumann's Carnaval, Op. 9, Haydn's Piano Sonata in B Minor, and Beethoven's Bagatelles Op. 126, as well as modern American composer Dan Welcher's The Birth of Shiva, for solo piano. On Wednesday evening, March 11, 2020, at 7:30 pm, pianist Ann Schein-cited by Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun as playing with "a disarming combination of tonal fire power and electric phrasing" (October 11, 2011)-will return to the Series for an all-Chopin program, commemorating the 40th anniversary of her series of recitals in Alice Tully Hall of all the solo Chopin repertoire. To close out the season, pianist Jonathan Plowright, noted for "world-class [playing]; understated virtuosity at its best" (BBC Music Magazine), will perform Liszt's Consolations, Brahms' Sonata in F Minor, Josef Suk's Pisen Laski, and two works by Paderewski on Thursday evening, June 4, 2020, at 7:30 pm.
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Key Pianists Returns To Weill Recital Hall At Carnegie Hall

The imaginative and increasingly important Key Pianists concert series, founded by pianist Terry Eder in 2015, embarks on its fifth season with a recital by James Dick, whom American Record Guide lauded for his "patrician civility and lucid, beautiful sonority," on Thursday evening, October 10, 2019, at 7:30 pm at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His program will include Schumann's Carnaval, Op. 9, Haydn's Piano Sonata in B Minor, and Beethoven's Bagatelles Op. 126, as well as modern American composer Dan Welcher's The Birth of Shiva, for solo piano. On Wednesday evening, March 11, 2020, at 7:30 pm, pianist Ann Schein-cited by Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun as playing with "a disarming combination of tonal fire power and electric phrasing" (October 11, 2011)-will return to the Series for an all-Chopin program, commemorating the 40th anniversary of her series of recitals in Alice Tully Hall of all the solo Chopin repertoire. To close out the season, pianist Jonathan Plowright, noted for "world-class [playing]; understated virtuosity at its best" (BBC Music Magazine), will perform Liszt's Consolations, Brahms' Sonata in F Minor, Josef Suk's Pisen Laski, and two works by Paderewski on Thursday evening, June 4, 2020, at 7:30 pm.
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Key Pianists Presents James Dick

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Key Pianists Presents Ann Schein in All-Chopin Program

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Key Pianists Presents Jonathan Plowright

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Kholodenko offers mixed rewards at International Keyboard Festival

This summer’s International Keyboard Institute Festival—a combination of training sessions for student pianists and concerts by the Institute’s faculty—opened on Monday, and Thursday night featured a Masters Series Concert from Van Cliburn winner Vadym Kholodenko at Merkin Hall.
There were peaks and valleys to the evening, related to Kholodenko’s programming choices. A passionate musician with an inherent muscularity and weight to his touch, he plays the music of composers like Liszt and Tchaikovsky with great color, poetry, and verve, and there were some powerful examples of that during the concert.
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Michael Hersch, Carrion-Miles to Purgatory, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Miranda Cuckson, Jay Campbell

Of the future we of course cannot know but with the vibrant presence of present-day Modernist Michael Hersch there seems bound to be a continuingly advanced presence to come. His latest album Carrion-Miles to Purgatory (New Focus Recordings 229) reminds us how his dedicated energies do not flag.
It is a gathering of some three chamber works-- "...Das Ruckgrat berstend" with Patricia Kopatchinakaja on violin/voice and Jay Campbell on cello, "Music for Violin and Piano" with Miranda Cuckson on violin and Michael Hersch himself on piano, and the 15 movements of the title work "Carrion-Miles to Purgatory" with Cuckson and Campbell.
This is in Michael Hersch's wheelhouse--Expressionist, beyond tonal, post-Serialist, ever inventive and flowing with poignancy…
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Manchester Music Festival Season Premiere Concert

Manchester Music Festival welcomes internationally-renowned classical musicians for five weeks of summer concerts in the Green Mountains of Vermont, on Thursday and Saturday evenings. 2019 concerts feature top musicians who regularly headline the world’s greatest stages and prestigious orchestras.
Program
World Premiere: Christopher Theofanidis: Clarinet Quintet (2019)
Johannes Brahms: String Quintet in F Major, Op. 88
Franz Schubert: Quartetsatz, D. 703
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Guest Artists
Alex Fiterstein, clarinet
Ariel Quartet
Toby Appel, viola
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
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Jon Nakamatsu Piano Concert

San Jose native and Van Cliburn Gold Medal winner Jon Nakamatsu appears in concert in the first Frieda Ann Murphy Memorial Concert sponsored by MTAC, Santa Clara Branch. Repertoire includes Chopin, Schubert, and Brahms.
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Three venerated music festivals open this week

The Manchester Music Festival will raise the curtain on its 45th season of virtuoso chamber music at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 11, at the Southern Vermont Arts Center…
The season lineup includes such luminaries as Jon Nakamatsu, the 1997 gold medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; Alexander Fiterstein, the 2001 winner of the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition; the Ariel Quartet, winner of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; critically-acclaimed composer Christopher Theofanidis–whose original composition written especially for the Festival will be performed at the opening night concert; and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, principal guest conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.
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Michael Hersch to be Composer-in-Residence

Composition department chair Michael Hersch (BM ’95, MM ’97, Composition) will be the 2019-20 Composer-in-Residence with the Camerata Bern in Bern, Switzerland.
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Enjoy string quartet and more at Seal Bay Festival

The internationally celebrated Cassatt String Quartet will be featured in the 17th Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music, with local performances running from July 14 through 17. Established in 1985, the Cassatt String Quartet has collaborated with a vast array of artists and Pulitzer-prize winning composers. This year, the Seal Bay Festival is pleased to celebrate the 75th birthday of the widely renowned and beloved pianist Ursula Oppens.
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Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Presents JUPITER AND ONE JON Concerts

Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) celebrating its 40th anniversary season as Cape Cod's premiere presenter of summer chamber music, presents two performances of its concert Jupiter and One Jon on Monday, August 5, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church: 650 Main Street, Chatham; and on Tuesday, August 6, at Cotuit Center for the Arts: 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28), Cotuit.
The 40th season's second concert Jupiter and One Jon features The Jupiter String Quartet performing works by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. A highlight of the evening is the closing piece, when the four artists become five performing Robert Schumann's "Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Strings" featuring CCCMF Co-Artistic Director and pianist Jon Nakamatsu…
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Cassatt String Quartet at Seal Bay Festival

Cassatt String Quartet will be featured in the 17th Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music, July 10 through 20. This year’s festival celebrates the 75th birthday of renowned pianist Ursula Oppens.
The festival’s theme is “Seeing Sound”; some concerts will be held in art galleries and museums, preceded by a talk given by a visual artist and art historian…
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Dinorah

The mom-and-pop opera company embodied by the now-defunct Amato Opera is as much of a relic of a bygone New York City as an authentic, Italian-speaking Little Italy. The tradition of the down-home opera company lives on, however, in Amore Opera, which rose from the ashes of Amato Opera. Under the leadership of artistic director Nathan Hull, Amore Opera has cut a niche for itself reviving works long ignored by other New York City stages. Meyerbeer’s Dinorah, which was given its first New York-area performances in over a century this March at the Riverside Theater, is the latest in Amore Opera’s efforts to give audiences an opportunity to experience obscure works of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with earnest and charming…performances (seen March 20)…
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LONGTIME ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS OF THE BACH CHOIR OF BETHLEHEM ANNOUNCE THEIR RETIREMENT, FOLLOWING THE 112TH BACH FESTIVAL.

When I was first invited to attend the Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s Christmas Concert in Advent 2014, I had no idea that that and the Bach Festival in May would become annual traditions. I believe that I have missed only one year since then, and now my wife has become as attached to these events as I am. From the gusto with which the people of Bethlehem celebrate the Christmas season, the liturgy celebrated in the local Moravian Church—which includes a prayer for the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II—and the spirit of the Bach Festival, now in its 112th year, one can readily grasp the vitality of tradition in this originally German city—and it’s infectious, I can attest…
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Music Academy of the West Honors ‘Legend’ Jerome Lowenthal at Opening Night Gala

The Music Academy of the West launched its 72nd Summer School and Festival last Friday with its “Honoring a Legend” Opening Night Gala in Montecito. The event celebrated piano master Jerome Lowenthal’s 50th anniversary as an acclaimed piano faculty artist at the academy, with a concert featuring Lowenthal and academy alumni…
The concert program, curated by the honoree, featured star academy alumni pianists Micah McLaurin (2014, 2016), Elizabeth Roe (2001), Evan Shinners (2009) and Orion Weiss (2000), as well as guest artist pianist Ursula Oppens.
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GUITARIST CHRISTOPH DENOTH PLAYS SOUTH AMERICAN REPERTOIRE AT SUBCULTURE, JUNE 10, 2019

To have attended Christoph Denoth’s classical guitar recital at SubCulture on Bleecker Street three nights ago is to have undergone a New York moment very particular to NoHo, the neighborhood where it was performed. Having moved to this swatch of the city three years ago, I’ve come to marvel at its odd but easy mix of strikingly disparate elements—gritty architecture, wildly colorful paintings on the sides or fronts of various buildings mixed into a motley crew of chic clubs, bars, galleries and a cheeky Underground Boxing gym on Bleecker’s easternmost end. SubCulture is a venue for any number of kinds of events and performances, cunningly aligned with the complex gestalt of NoHo for which it could be a symbol. Christoph Denoth’s recital, which is timed to attend the release of his most recent CD “Tanguero”, seemed to me to fit right into Noho and SubCulture’s complex heterogeneity…
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Top pianists take the stage during Southeastern Piano Festival at UofSC

Some of the world’s top pianists will take the stage at the concert halls of the University of South Carolina and Columbia on June 16-23 for the Southeastern Piano Festival.
In its 17th year, the festival offers South Carolinians the rare opportunity to hear renowned artists perform. It also provides 20 of the nation’s top pre-college pianists the opportunity to take master classes with top pianists and university piano faculty as well as perform and compete for prizes…
In addition to Tao’s performance, evening concerts feature guest artists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, Jon Nakamatsu and Marc-André Hamelin…
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Music Academy Celebrates Jerome Lowenthal

The Music Academy of the West kicked off its season with a gala honoring longtime faculty member Jerome Lowenthal. Lowenthal, who has clocked an amazing 50 years at the academy, is one of the world’s foremost pianists and teachers of the instrument. In tribute to the master, four of his former students — Orion Weiss, Elizabeth Joy Roe, Micah McLaurin, and Evan Shinners — along with his partner and fellow piano legend, Ursula Oppens, joined him onstage for a dazzling program of approximately an hour. This was followed by an al fresco dinner and the dedication of a piano studio to Lowenthal, who in addition to his extraordinary musicianship also happens to be a very funny storyteller…
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Gestische Musik von Michael Hersch

New Focus Recordings veröffentlicht eine CD mit drei Duos des amerikanischen Komponisten Michael Hersch (*1971). Es sind Werke, deren Intensität und expressive Kontraste den Hörer unweigerlich packen.
‘….das Rückgrat berstend’ ist ein Werk, das Gesang und Instrumentalmusik vereint. Der Text stammt von Christopher Middleton und wurde auf Wunsch von Patricia Kopatchinskaja ins Deutsche übersetzt. Die Geigerin spricht den Text selber, mit starker Deklamation, die sich von den kommentierenden Streichern – Violine und Cello eindringlich abhebt.
Mit Hersch am Klavier und Miranda Cuckson an der Geige erklingt Music for Violin and Piano, ein Konglomerat aus fünf Werken von Hersch mit ausdrucksstarken und technisch höchst anfordernden Passagen. Auch hier ist es die schiere Intensität, die den Zuhörer fesselt.
Carrion-Miles to Purgatory hat seinen Namen aus dem Zyklus Lord Weary’s Castle des amerikanischen Dichters Robert Lowell, seinem zweiten Gedichtband, der 1947 veröffentlicht wurde. Herschs Werk für Violine und Cello hat dreizehn kurze Sätze und erzählt von Verlust, Tod und Tragödie. Die Geigerin Miranda Cuckson und der Cellist Jay Campbell spielen das gestische und rhythmisch komplexe Werk sehr inspiriert und geizen nicht mit emotionalem Spiel.
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Guitarist Denoth beguiles with color and nuance in South American program

There was no tangoing in the aisles at Christoph Denoth’s guitar recital at Subculture Monday night. But there was a lot of leaning forward in seats.
Even though tangos by Astor Piazzolla featured prominently on the program, the evening was memorable not for whiplash-inducing pyrotechnics but for the unparalleled intimacy of string tone produced not with felt hammers or with stretched horsehair but with the player’s own fingertips…
The expression “hands-on experience” acquired new meaning as the Swiss-born guitarist rolled a left-hand finger over to soften the tone or rounded off a phrase by moving his right hand from near the bridge to mid-string as he played. Melodies floated free of layers of figuration, as if two or three instruments were playing instead of one…
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Amore Opera Presents A Thrilling Un Ballo in Maschera

On the evening of Saturday, June 1st, the Amore Opera presented a thrilling Un Ballo in Maschera at the famed Riverside Church in New York City…
The Riverside theater is intimate and everything is up close and comfortable and the spirit of Anthony and Sally Amato is ever present. Anthony contributed costumes and sets from their home at the Amato Opera in the Bowery many years ago.
The lights dimmed and conductor Douglas Martin lifted his baton. The overture was beautifully played and the peak moments were thrilling. Musically, the overture ended and the action begins at the King’s Palace in Stockholm, Sweden in 1792. The assassination was historic  and the masked ball where it took place made for great theatre!
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Bach to Summer

For classical music lovers, summer in Eugene means Bach.
The two-week Oregon Bach Festival, a fixture here for more than four decades, opens June 28 with renowned British musician Jane Glover conducting the Mozart Requiem and wraps up July 13 with Hector Berlioz’ symphonic poem Romeo and Juliet…
A couple celebrity performances that shouldn’t be missed: German recorder virtuoso (who knew there was such a thing?) Matthias Maute will rock Vivaldi’s Recorder Concerto in G Major in a performance with the OBF Berwick Academy at Beall Hall on July 1. A bit more mainstream, Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs returns to OBF with a program featuring Vierne’s Organ Symphony No. 6 on July 8 at First United Methodist Church…
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Paul Jacobs to Undertake Recital Series of French Organ Music at Three Important NYC Venues

Grammy Award-winning American organist Paul Jacobs-deemed "a grand New York institution" by James R. Oestreich of The New York Times (February 18, 2018)- will launch the fall season by highlighting the organ on the New York concert scene, performing in a three-recital series for solo organ in September 2019. Although months in the planning, these French programs assumed new meaning the night of April 15 to 16, 2019, when the Grand Organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral survived the devastating inferno in Paris.
The series will give New Yorkers the rare opportunity to hear this master organist on three important New York instruments: on the Holtkamp organ in the Juilliard School's Paul Recital Hall, September 10; the 1933 Aeolian-Skinner "Opus 891" at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin September 17; and St. Ignatius Loyola's 1993 Mander Organ, September 24. All three concerts take place Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. For the complete program, please see pg. 2…
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The Great French Organ Tradition with Paul Jacobs

Grammy Award-winning American organist Paul Jacobs-deemed "a grand New York institution" by James R. Oestreich of The New York Times (February 18, 2018)- will launch the fall season by highlighting the organ on the New York concert scene, performing in a three-recital series for solo organ in September 2019. Although months in the planning, these French programs assumed new meaning the night of April 15 to 16, 2019, when the Grand Organ of Notre-Dame Cathedral survived the devastating inferno in Paris.
The series will give New Yorkers the rare opportunity to hear this master organist on three important New York instruments: on the Holtkamp organ in the Juilliard School's Paul Recital Hall, September 10; the 1933 Aeolian-Skinner "Opus 891" at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin September 17; and St. Ignatius Loyola's 1993 Mander Organ, September 24. All three concerts take place Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. For the complete program, please see pg. 2…
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Bargemusic This Weekend

…On Saturday evening, June 8 at 6:00 Violinist Mark Peskanov and pianist Ursula Oppens will play Beethoven’s Piano and Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, op. 24, and his Piano and Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2. That same evening at 8:00, they will play Beethoven’s Piano and Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, op. 12, and his Piano and Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47. These are separate concerts and require separate admission…
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The Great French Organ Tradition with Paul Jacobs, Pt.1

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The Great French Organ Tradition with Paul Jacobs, Pt. 2

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The Great French Organ Tradition with Paul Jacobs, Pt. 3

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Respighi’s Pines of Rome

Two journeys to Italy bookend this program. Respighi's Pines of Romeis a sweeping pictorial of the Italian landscape. Edward Elgar's scintillating tone poem In the South commemorates a family holiday; the richly textured music conveys the Italian Riviera in all its warmth. Elgar's Introduction and Allegro is a showcase for strings. Inspired by the theater organ in William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon (fictionalized as Xanadu in Citizen Kane), Michael Daugherty's lush Once Upon a Castlebrings out what the composer calls the “Technicolor” nature of the instrument. The esteemed Scottish maestro Donald Runnicles conducts; keyboard virtuoso Paul Jacobs returns to the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ.
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Opera Review: They Could Be Royals

The Amore Opera ended its tenth season on Sunday afternoon with a performance of Un Ballo in Maschera. Of Verdi's mature operas, Ballo is unique. It is closer to French comic opera in style than anything else the composer wrote, even if it follows the musical conventions of Italian opera with only a sprinkling of French flavor in its score. The text is in Italian, and the musical style is late Verdi, with an almost-Wagnerian use of repeated themes attached to its characters. Although it has a tragic ending, there is an airy lightness to the music and the stage action, which frames a simple love triangle against a wrenching political assassination…
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HAVING A BALL

…In last night's gripping performance by Amore Opera, [Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera] took place in Sweden with the names of the characters retained from the "Boston" version. The performance was completely satisfying for a devotée such ourself, and also compelling for the "noobie" we brought with us. Anytime we win a convert to opera we feel like celebrating. Several rows of the jam packed Riverside Theater were occupied by high school students who seemed similarly captivated…
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The June 2019 Classical Music Concerts to Attend in NYC

BEETHOVEN PIANO & VIOLIN SONATAS: Ursula Oppens
Bargemusic (June 8)
The city’s finest floating concert hall, a retrofitted former-New York harbor barge berthed in the East River at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, hosts pianist Ursula Oppens performing Beethoven Sonatas No. 5 in F Major and No. 7 in C minor, with Bargemusic’s Artistic Director, violinist Mark Peskanov.
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9 Things to Do With Your Kids in N.Y.C. This Weekend

… ‘IOLANTHE’ at the Riverside Theater (May 30, 7 p.m.; June 1, 11 a.m.). It’s not easy to find opera productions whose casts are made up entirely of children, but Amore Opera takes this bold step every year, often adjusting keys and harmonies for young voices. Now this small company is closing the season with a 90-minute version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe,” performed by and for kids. A work in which the worlds of fairies and politicians meet — and, not surprisingly, collide — this comic love story is also a cautionary tale about not jumping to conclusions…
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Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition Winners’ Recital in Review

Two large Weill Hall recitals were presented this Sunday to feature winners of the 2019 Alexander and Buono Competitions (alexanderbuono.com), the first featuring winners of the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition (covered in a separate review) and the second, covered here, featuring the winners of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition (named for the two-piano team of Cosmo Buono and the late David Bradshaw). Messrs. Buono and Alexander were present to get the evening started with a few words, after which five excellent prizewinners took turns onstage, three before intermission and two after. Their prize categories were Elementary School (ages 4-11), Middle School (12-14), High School (15-18), Amateur Adults, and College/Adults…
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6 Classical Music Concerts to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend

‘UN BALLO IN MASCHERA’ at the Riverside Theater (May 24, 7:30 p.m.; May 25, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; May 26, 2:30 p.m.; through June 2). The plucky Amore Opera mounts Verdi’s opera in a production directed by Nathan Hull and conducted by Douglas Martin. The cast rotates in the lead roles of Riccardo and Amelia, but the singing will be lively either way. 
amoreopera.org
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The Bach Choir Of Bethlehem Announces Retirement Of Both Artistic Director/Conductor Greg Funfgeld And Executive Director Bridget George

Board President Harold Black of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem announced the planned retirement of both Artistic Director and Conductor Greg Funfgeld and Executive Director Bridget George, taking place over the next two years. Mr. Funfgeld will conduct his final performances with The Choir during the May 2021 Bethlehem Bach Festival and officially retire in June 2021, celebrating 38 seasons as artistic head of the organization. Ms. George will retire in December 2020, after 24 years with The Choir.
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The Bach Choir Of Bethlehem Announces Retirement Of Both Artistic Director/Conductor Greg Funfgeld And Executive Director Bridget George

Board President Harold Black of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem announced the planned retirement of both Artistic Director and Conductor Greg Funfgeld and Executive Director Bridget George, taking place over the next two years. Mr. Funfgeld will conduct his final performances with The Choir during the May 2021 Bethlehem Bach Festival and officially retire in June 2021, celebrating 38 seasons as artistic head of the organization. Ms. George will retire in December 2020, after 24 years with The Choir.
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Swiss Guitarist Christoph Denoth To Appear In Solo Recital At SubCulture

The distinguished Swiss classical guitar virtuoso Christoph Denoth will appear in solo recital, Monday evening, June 10, 2019, 7:30 pm at New York's SubCulture (45 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012). This performance will celebrate his latest recording, Tanguero: Music From South America on Signum Records, dubbed "an absolutely first-class issue" by Daniel Ross at Classic FM and "a must-have [for its] musical sensitivity exemplified as much by his curation as by his playing" by Gramophone Magazine's William Yeoman. Mr. Denoth will play selections from Tanguero, including works by Piazzolla, and Rodriguez as well as pieces by Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer.
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Swiss Guitarist Christoph Denoth To Appear In Solo Recital At SubCulture

The distinguished Swiss classical guitar virtuoso Christoph Denoth will appear in solo recital, Monday evening, June 10, 2019, 7:30 pm at New York's SubCulture (45 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012). This performance will celebrate his latest recording, Tanguero: Music From South America on Signum Records, dubbed "an absolutely first-class issue" by Daniel Ross at Classic FM and "a must-have [for its] musical sensitivity exemplified as much by his curation as by his playing" by Gramophone Magazine's William Yeoman. Mr. Denoth will play selections from Tanguero, including works by Piazzolla, and Rodriguez as well as pieces by Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer.
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Tanguero: Music from South America with Guitarist Christoph Denoth

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Alexander & Buono International presents Winners of the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in Review

On May 19, 2019, the Alexander & Buono International organization presented two concerts for the winners of two different competitions (one for voice and the second for piano) at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. The first was the Barry Alexander Vocal Competition Winners Concert, featuring the first-prize winners, sopranos Oksana Lepska, Kara Mulder, and Yunji Shim, and will be the focus of this review (with the piano winners concert to be covered separately). Chairmen Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono started the afternoon by greeting the audience, thanking them for attending, and speaking briefly about today’s performance and upcoming concerts.
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Review: One Afternoon, Two Spectacular Orchestras

Neither of the works Mr. Honeck played with his Pittsburgh ensemble at Geffen Hall was similarly rare. As my colleague David Allen wrote in a recent essay, this conductor and orchestra have made their impact, both on record and in performance, largely in the standards.
But what an impact.
From the glittering burst of strings at the start of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto to the sleek heat of the finale of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, this was immaculate yet impassioned playing — with a certain patrician, distinguished quality that never fell into stuffiness or rigidity. The performance was aristocratic, in the best sense.
Till Fellner was a perfectly suited partner for this group in the Beethoven: courtly and elegant, with a bit of reserve but also welcome flexibility. Orchestra and soloist responded as one to Mr. Honeck’s generous malleability of pulse. The second movement started more swiftly than the usual, giving Mr. Fellner’s entrance at a slightly slower tempo a subtle charge of drama.
That slow movement was an eloquent pastoral, not casual but relaxed and sunny, breaking into a grand, dancey Rondo finale that, as it progressed, seemed more and more fascinating — its variations forming and dissolving in a mood of confident experimentation.
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Honeck, Pittsburgh Symphony offer mixed Mahler in an episodic Fifth

The concert, presented in David Geffen Hall and the last of the season in Lincoln Center’s Great Performers, series, opened with Till Fellner joining the orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, the noble “Emperor”…
The opening chord from the orchestra was as bright and lively as can be, and in the concerto the orchestra played with a glowing warmth and vital spirit, a real pleasure to hear. Fellner matched this quality with his own touch, energetic and precise, light but not lightweight. He used judicious rubato, letting Beethoven’s plan of tension and release speak for itself…
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Louisville shows this week: PJ Masks Live, Pentatonix & more

…TUESDAY, May 21…
Paul Jacobs, organ. Part of the Second Presbyterian Church Concert Series. 7 p.m., 3701 Old Brownsboro Road. Free, an offering will be collected.eck is on the podium.
212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org  
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6 Classical Music Concerts to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at David Geffen Hall (May 19, 3 p.m.). The orchestra that is redefining excellence in the core repertoire arrives in New York for the first time in five years, with music that is their specialty. Till Fellner is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, which precedes a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Manfred Honeck is on the podium.
212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org  
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Music Academy of the West Gala Salutes Jerome Lowenthal

The Music Academy of the West will host its Opening Night Gala — Honoring a Legend — Friday, June 14, celebrating Jerome Lowenthal’s 50th anniversary as an acclaimed faculty artist at the Music Academy.
The event also will mark the 72nd anniversary of the Summer School and Festival.
All proceeds will benefit the Academy’s full-scholarship program that brings 140 fellows from across the U.S. and worldwide to study and perform with world-class faculty and guest artists in Santa Barbara during the eight weeks.
Patrons will enjoy a 5 p.m. cocktail reception, 6 p.m. performance at Hahn Hall, and an al fresco dinner in the Miraflores courtyard that includes an encore performance.
The concert program, curated by the honoree, will feature Music Academy alumni pianists Micah McLaurin, Elizabeth Roe, Evan Shinners and Orion Weiss, guest artist pianist Ursula Oppens, and Lowenthal himself.
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Organist Paul Jacobs Raises The Bar

Despite growing up in a non-musical family in a small town in southwestern Pennsylvania, organist Paul Jacobs became a prodigy, and at 15 years old was appointed head organist of a parish of 3,500 in his hometown.
“I was fortunate to have excellent musical training and mentors during those formative years. I remain indebted to my first piano and organ teachers, who remain dear friends,” Paul says…
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East meets West

Have you ever spent a night celebrating the dual cultures of Norway and Azerbaijan? This marvelous combination occurred on April 24 in Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium; where a concert was held featuring Azerbaijani-born, New York-based pianist Nargiz Aliyarova and Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing.
Aliyarova introduced the evening by stating that the connections between Azerbaijan and Norway are not just musical, but also geographical. She spoke of Thor Heyerdahl’s research in the Caucasus region, where he recognized petroglyphs similar to those of the Vikings. He was convinced that Scandinavians originated from this Eastern region and felt Norse mythology also substantiated his claim. She quoted Heyerdahl: “Borders? I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.” Aliyarova added, “There are no borders in music.”
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Opera and Classical Music in New York City This Weekend - May 17-May 19

Masterworks Series: Brahms and Dvorak - Bargemusic
May 19, 2019 - Brooklyn
Brahms Five Hungarian Dances Dvorak Complete Slavonic Dances Misha Dichter, Cipa Dichter, piano
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BITS & BAILEY: The Who, What & Wow Of The Jet-Set Scene

Cheers, dears. Summer is on its way, however slowly it crawls to us. April may have been the cruelest month (weather wise) but, truth be told, Bailey is thrilled whenever he can wear his Tom Ford navy cashmere pea coat. The man is a mad genius (exhibit A: My Amex statement!). So, as I’m rooting through the closet for happier haberdashery this coming season (Villebrequin in da house!), I’ll multi-task and brief you on recent and upcoming happenings…
MUSIC TO MY EARS
One of Bailey’s least-guilty pleasures (a lonely list, admittedly) is classical music, and my obsession of late is The WA Concert Series, led by world-renowned clarinetist Charles Neidich. The series was founded three years ago by Neidich and fellow clarinetist, chef and spouse Ayako Oshima to bring together the most talented chamber musicians in New York and from abroad. And talented they are! Last month, I was charmed by the “Wind Power” concert by the New York Woodwind Quintet, whose members include flutist Carol Wincenc, oboist Stephen Taylor, hornist William Purvis, bassoonist Marc Goldberg and the aforementioned Neidich. The concerts take place at the Tenri Cultural Center in Chelsea and attract a diverse crowd from intellectuals to young, foreign music students. The final concert of the season on May 10th will feature the Danish Midtvest Ensemble, whose program, “Nordic Voice,” will include seldom-heard works by Per Nørgaard, Jean Sibelius, Vagn Holmboe, Carl Nielsen, and Niels W. Gade. Info: waconcertseries.com.
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Thomas Nickell To Appear As Soloist With Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra Of Chicago

American pianist/composer Thomas Nickell, an artist with "an ever increasing reputation as a player's player and composer" (Litchfield Live, July 23, 2017) will appear as soloist with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra of Chicago under the baton of Mina Zikri at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, June 2, 2019, 3 p.m., presented by the Alexander & Buono Foundation…
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Thomas Nickell To Appear As Soloist With Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra Of Chicago

American pianist/composer Thomas Nickell, an artist with "an ever increasing reputation as a player's player and composer" (Litchfield Live, July 23, 2017) will appear as soloist with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra of Chicago under the baton of Mina Zikri at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, June 2, 2019, 3 p.m., presented by the Alexander & Buono Foundation…
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Amore Opera Presents All-Children's Production of Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Iolanthe'

Two performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "Iolanthe" will open on Thursday evening, May 30, 2019. Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas are long-time favorites of Amore's audiences; in the past recent years, Amore Opera has presented children's productions of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" both in 2013 and 2018, as well as Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" in 2015. The production of "Iolanthe" will be directed by Nathan Hull and conducted by Iris Karlin. The rotating cast includes, in the role of Phillis: Nicolette Bett; in the role of Iolanthe: Julia Mechner, and Gia Cellucci; in the role of The Fairy Queen: Liora Shuf; in the role of Strephon: Michael Coppola; in the role of Lord Chancellor: Robert Dakwar, and Andrew Thibeault; in the role of Lord Tolloller: Aaron Adlam Ferguson, and Tamrat Gavenas; in the role of Lord MountArarat : Nathaniel (Nate) White; and in the role of Private Willis: Andrew Thibeault, and Bruno Amaro. The schedule of performances for "Iolanthe" is as follows: Thursday evening, May 30, 2019, 7:00 pm; and Saturday morning, June 1, 11:00 am. For tickets at $45 adults; $35 seniors/students/children under 12; $35 - $25 partial view; please visit www.amoreopera.org or call 1 866-811-4111.
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Amore Opera Presents Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera”

Opening on Friday evening, May 24, 2019, Amore Opera will present Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” (May 25-June 2, 2019) in eight performances. On Saturday evening, June 1st, the performance of “Un Ballo” will be followed by a Masquerade Party to celebrate the finale of Amore Opera’s tenth season, featuring champagne, hors d’oeuvres, disguises & prizes for every participant.
The production will be directed by Nathan Hull, conducted by Douglas Martin, with sets by Richard Cerullo, costumes by Lydia Gladstone, and lighting design by Duane Pagano. The rotating cast includes, in the role of Riccardo: tenors Jose Heredia, Todd Wilander, and Fabrizio Doria; in the role of Amelia: sopranos Elizabeth Perryman, Ashley Becker, and Aida Carducci; in the role of Renato: baritones Robert Garner, Jonathan Green, and Jay Stephenson; in the role of Ulrica: mezzo-sopranos Debra Patchel, Sarah Knott, and Galina Atkonis; and in the role of Oscar: sopranos Christa Dalmazio, Merrin Lazyan, Allegra Durante, and Jessie Goebel.
The schedule of performances for Un Ballo in Maschera is as follows: Friday evening, May 24, 2019, 7:30 pm; Saturday afternoon, May 25, 2019, 2:30 pm; Saturday evening, May 25, 2019, 7:30 pm; Sunday afternoon, May 26, 2019, 2:30 pm; Friday evening, May 31, 2019, 7:30 pm; Saturday afternoon, June 1, 2019, 2:30 pm; Saturday evening, June 1, 2019, 7:00 pm (following by a Masquerade Party); and Sunday afternoon, June 2, 2019, 2:30 pm.
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Bargemusic Masterworks: Brahms & Dvorak Duo Piano Recital

Distinguished pianist Misha Dichter will appear in recital alongside pianist Cipa Dichter, as part of Bargemusic’s Masterworks Series, Sunday afternoon, May 19, 2019, at 4 pm. The pair will perform Brahms’ Five Hungarian Dances and Dvořák’s Complete Slavonic Dances.
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New Releases: Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 – Utah Symphony & Thierry Fischer; Folk Tales – Gerald Peregrine & Antony Ingham

Throughout the week Classic FM’s presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases.
John Suchet plays a track from his featured Album of the Week at 10.15am every weekday.
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 & Other Works – Utah Symphony & Thierry Fischer
Hyperion
Camille Saint-Saëns' well-known ‘Organ’ Symphony has a fresh and dramatic makeover in this new recording by conductor Thierry Fischer, the Utah Symphony and organ soloist Paul Jacobs. It's joined by a little-known Saint-Saëns orchestral work, ‘Trois tableaux symphoniques d'apres La Foi’. The album also features an orchestral ‘Bacchanale’ from Saint-Saëns' most famous opera, Samson et Delilah.
For a selection of new Saint-Saëns discoveries and well-loved classics, look no further than this album.
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Leading Members of the Metropolitan Opera and the Calidore String Quartet To Explore Mozart's Last Year On May 19

he final performance of Parlance Chamber Concerts' 12th season will conclude in Ridgewood on Sunday, May 19th at 3:00pm with Leading Members of the Metropolitan Opera and the Calidore String Quartet exploring the profoundly mysterious world of Mozart’s Last Year.
The program will showcase Mozart’s works from 1791, including songs, arias, organ music, his last string quintet, and two mesmerizing works featuring glass harmonica…
The afternoon features the work of Wendy Bryn Harmer, Met Opera soprano; Ken Noda, piano; Paul Jacobs, organ; Calidore String Quartet; Matthew Lipman, viola; Friedrich Heinrich Kern, glass harmonica; Chelsea Knox, flute; Elaine Douvas, oboe; and Inn-Hyuck Cho, basset horn. 
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Symphony Silicon Valley Excels in Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky

…After all this, what was the concert doing with soloist Jon Nakamatsu and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2? Rachmaninoff is almost the anti-Stravinsky, though the two composers became friendly neighbors in Los Angeles in the 1940s and Rachmaninoff gave Stravinsky a jar of honey as a gift. As with Petrushka for Stravinsky, this concerto is something of a foundation stone for Rachmaninoff, the work in which he fully achieved the lush romanticism he’s known for. Nakamatsu had never played this concerto locally, so this was his chance.
The answer to the question is that Shimono and Nakamatsu refused to let this music turn lush. They produced a thrilling drama that remained taut and urgent throughout the outer movements and was contemplative but not relaxed in the central Adagio. It became as close to Stravinsky’s universe as Rachmaninoff could get.
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Symphony Silicon Valley Excels in Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky

…After all this, what was the concert doing with soloist Jon Nakamatsu and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2? Rachmaninoff is almost the anti-Stravinsky, though the two composers became friendly neighbors in Los Angeles in the 1940s and Rachmaninoff gave Stravinsky a jar of honey as a gift. As with Petrushka for Stravinsky, this concerto is something of a foundation stone for Rachmaninoff, the work in which he fully achieved the lush romanticism he’s known for. Nakamatsu had never played this concerto locally, so this was his chance.
The answer to the question is that Shimono and Nakamatsu refused to let this music turn lush. They produced a thrilling drama that remained taut and urgent throughout the outer movements and was contemplative but not relaxed in the central Adagio. It became as close to Stravinsky’s universe as Rachmaninoff could get.
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San Jose calendar of events for the week of May 3

Symphony Silicon Valley: Pianist Jon Nakamatsu performs Rachmaninoff’s second concerto. The program also features Stravinsky’s “Petrushka,” which he wrote for Ringling Brothers. May 4-5. California Theatre, 345 S. First St. $50-$94. 408-286-2600, www.symphonysiliconvalley.org
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River Oaks Chamber Orchestra celebrates Turkish wrestling in Saturday’s program

From chess and solitaire to miniature trains and musical chairs, Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra has brought competition to life in its 14th season, “Games People Play.”
Now making its way to the ring: wrestling.
On Saturday, the full chamber orchestra, led by guest conductor David Danzmayr, will present “The Wrestler” at the Church of St. John the Divine. The program, which wraps up the ensemble’s “In Concert” series, will also include Jocelyn Morlock’s “Solace,” Samuel Barber’s “Toccata Festiva,” which showcases organ soloist Paul Jacobs, a version of Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 10” arranged by Brian Newbould, and the world premiere of composer Erberk Eryılmaz’s “Wrestling Airs for Two Davuls and Chamber Orchestra.”
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Glorious symphonic sound swells around the Bay this weekend

From chess and solitaire to miniature trains and musical chairs, Houston’s River Oaks Chamber Orchestra has brought competition to life in its 14th season, “Games People Play.”
Now making its way to the ring: wrestling.
On Saturday, the full chamber orchestra, led by guest conductor David Danzmayr, will present “The Wrestler” at the Church of St. John the Divine. The program, which wraps up the ensemble’s “In Concert” series, will also include Jocelyn Morlock’s “Solace,” Samuel Barber’s “Toccata Festiva,” which showcases organ soloist Paul Jacobs, a version of Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No. 10” arranged by Brian Newbould, and the world premiere of composer Erberk Eryılmaz’s “Wrestling Airs for Two Davuls and Chamber Orchestra.”
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River Oaks Chamber Orchetra presents The Wrestler

Organist Paul Jacobs will join the River Oaks Chamber Orchstra in the final concert of the In Concert Series - The Wrestler -  performing Barber’s Toccata Festiva under conductor David Danzmayr. The program will include the world premiere of Erberk Eryilmaz’s Wrestling Airs for Two Davuls and Chamber Orchestra (in memory of Koca Yusuf), as well as works by Jocelyn Morlock and Franz Schubert.
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Grammy-winning organist to perform in Grass Valley

Mozart considered the organ the “king of instruments.” At the hands of Grammy award winning artist Paul Jacobs, the organ will truly become a regal experience. Jacobs will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday in Grass Valley as part of InConcert Sierra’s 2018-19 season.
Jacobs is the only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award. With his imaginative interpretations and charismatic stage presence, Jacobs is an important influence in the revival of symphonic works featuring the organ, and is a true innovator in the advocacy of organ repertoire.
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Violinist Hemsing makes an impression in duo recital

Though not completely unknown—she has several albums and collaborations with artists like Tan Dun on her CV—Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing is a new face on the New York scene. Her recital Wednesday night in the Bruno Walter Auditorium had the satisfaction of hearing a fine, new artistic voice in full maturity.
The concert was presented by the National Music and Global Culture Society, an organization that brings together music from differing backgrounds around the world. Hemsing played with Azerbaijani pianist Nargiz Aliyarova, the organization’s founder and president, performed two standard violin sonatas from and, befitting the NMGCS mission, nationalist music from their respective countries of origin…
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May 7

May 19…
Misha Dichter, pianist
Cipa Dichter, pianist
Brahms: Five Hungarian Dances
Dvořák: Slavonic Dances
4 p.m. Bargemusic
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Amore Opera Presents Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera," May 24-June 2

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Amore Opera Presents All-Children's Production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Iolanthe," May 30 & June 1

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Amore Opera To Close Out Tenth Anniversary Season With Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera and All-Children’s Production of Gilbert & Sullivan

Amore Opera concludes its 2018-19 season at the Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church (91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027) with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, sung in its original Italian; and with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, performed entirely by children…
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Amore Opera To Close Out Tenth Anniversary Season With Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

Amore Opera concludes its 2018-19 season at the Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church (91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027) with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, sung in its original Italian; and with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, performed entirely by children…
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Classical Music in New York City This Week - April 21-April 28

Masterworks Series: Handel-Halvorsen and Brahms - Bargemusic
April 21, 2019 - Brooklyn
Mark Peskanov, violin; Julian Schwarz, cello, Misha Dichter, piano
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Bargemusic This Weekend

On Friday evening, April 19 at 7:00, pianist Gleb Ivanov will play the second in his series of concerts presenting the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev. On Saturday evening, April 20 at 6:00, and again on Sunday afternoon, April 21 at 4:00, a trio consisting of violinist Mark Peskanov, cellist Julian Schwarz, and pianist Misha Dichter (photo, by Stefan Cohen) will perform works by Handel/Halvorsen and Brahms.
On Saturday afternoon at 4:00 there will be a free, family oriented “Music in Motion” concert, details here. Doors open at 3:45; first come, first seated.
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Opera and Classical Music in New York City This Weekend - April 19-April 21

Masterworks Series: Handel-Halvorsen and Brahms - Bargemusic
April 20, 2019 - Brooklyn
Mark Peskanov, violin; Julian Schwarz, cello, Misha Dichter, piano
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Wa Concert Series presents Wind Power in Review

The beneficent ghost of Samuel Baron (1925–1997) was undoubtedly smiling in attendance at the New York Woodwind Quintet’s April 12th concert at the Tenri Cultural Institute. Mr. Baron, founder of the Quintet in 1949 and, for a half-century, a beloved conservatory mentor to flutists (and their collaborative pianists), was also a conductor, a champion of new composers, a musical entrepreneur, an arranger, a member of the Bach Aria Group, New York City Symphony and City Opera, and a captivating lecturer on subjects psychological and practical. In this April installment of the Wa Concert Series, titled “Wind Power,” quintets by John Harbison and György Kurtág preceded a rendition of Mr. Baron’s sextet transcription of the Brahms G minor Piano Quartet, Op. 25, comprising throughout a glorious tribute both to Baron’s own legacy and to the Quintet’s seventieth anniversary.
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Leaping Hearts

Fort Worth — The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth appears to have serendipitously created a new chamber music performing group.  This happened because Music Director Gary Levinson invites a group of exceptional players to join him playing works that are infrequently performed. As a result, there are enough familiar names on his ad hoc ensemble list that they play with the precision of an ensemble that plays together all the time. In a way, it is like a group of friends who get together in a living room to “jam” after dinner. This adds some exceptional spirit with a touch of familiarity that many similar touring groups lack without sacrificing any of the ensemble and interruptive coordination that is critical to fine performance of chamber music.
Such was the case on the afternoon of April 6, 2019.
The two works by Richard Strauss, his Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18, and his Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 13, made up the bulk of the program. Collaborative pianist Jon Nakamatsu did a star turn, as both have demanding piano parts. He caught a break with the other work on the program, Beethoven’s String Trio, Op. 9, No. 2, in that it was for violin, viola and cello—without the piano.
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Key Pianists presents Terry Eder in Review

Key Pianists, a valuable New York series that features under-recognized pianists in repertoire they are passionate about, presented its founder and patron, Terry Eder on April 8th at Weill Recital Hall. Ms. Eder modestly programs herself only once every couple of years or so, leaving the roster open to other deserving players. I reviewed her last performance in 2017 (Terry Eder in Review 2017), and wrote a profile about her in these pages as well (A conversation with Terry Eder).
On this occasion, she brought most of her vivid strengths, and though I take issue with some of the interpretive choices she made, the evening was a resounding success. Ms. Eder exemplifies the golden-age pianism of the so-called “Leschetizky method”: deep, relaxed, unforced piano sound at all dynamic levels. It is rare in our age to hear music-making of such purity and honesty, without artifice.
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Pianist Misha Dichter to Appear in Concert With pianist Cipa Dichter

Distinguished pianist Misha Dichter will appear in recital alongside pianist Cipa Dichter, as part of Bargemusic's Masterworks Series, Sunday afternoon, May 19, 2019, at 4 pm. The pair will perform Brahms' Five Hungarian Dances and Dvorák's Complete Slavonic Dances…
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Chasing a Golden Dream

Amore Opera brings back Meyerbeer’s “Dinorah”…
The intrepid Amore Opera Company, in March, provided the first chance in nearly a century to see this once-famous and beloved opera staged and performed live. It was also the local premiere of the original French-language opéra-comique version (Galli-Curci and Luisa Tetrazzini performed the opera in Italian with recitatives). Amore Opera is the successor to the scrappy but endearing Amato Opera. The singers are local, the orchestra (Amato used two pianos) is a bunch of volunteer amateurs, the costumes are recycled, and the sets are modest painted flats. Everything, including the intermission treats, is homemade and prepared with love. According to Nathan Hull, the company director, this is the opening salvo in a Meyerbeer cycle performed on the tiny stage of the Riverside Theatre near Columbia University uptown. “L’Étoile du Nord” is on the docket for next season. Whatever the limitations of Amore Opera’s resources, the small company made a strong case that “Dinorah, où Le Pardon de Ploërmel” as a viable, imaginatively orchestrated, and melodically rich work burdened by an implausible libretto in the hopelessly outmoded pastoral sentimental drama genre…
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Pianist Jon Nakamatsu To Perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 With Symphony Silicon Valley

Distinguished pianist Jon Nakamatsu will appear as soloist with Symphony Silicon Valley in its program, "Petrushka & Rach 2," Saturday evening, May 4, 2019, 8:00 pm and Sunday afternoon, May 5, 2019, 2:30 pm at the California Theatre (325 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113). Mr. Nakamatsu will perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2; the program will also include works by Igor Stravinsky…
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Petrushka & rach 2

Ringling Bros. wanted something for 50 elephants and 50 ballerinas -- Stravinsky obliged. A much earlier commission resulted in a piece about a puppet's love and heartbreak. Petrushka is one of Stravinsky's most popular works filled with Russian folk tunes and brilliant orchestrations. Astonishingly, pianist Jon Nakamatsu, famed for his Rachmaninoff performances, has never before played the Second Concerto for South Bay audiences. From its first chords, the concerto casts its spell. The composer believed that music's mission is to express emotion, and this vibrant concerto succeeds so well that its themes have been adopted for innumerable popular songs.
Conductor: Tatsuya Shimono
Soloist: Jon Nakamatsu, Piano
The California Theatre, 345 South First Street in downtown San Jose, 95113.
Easy, inexpensive parking is just one block away at San Jose City Garage on San Carlos Street with entrances on 2nd and 3rd Streets.
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Pianist Misha Dichter to Appear in Concert With Violinist Mark Peskanov And Cellist Julian Schwarz

Pianist Misha Dichter will appear in chamber music program with violinist Mark Peskanov and cellist Julian Schwarz as part of the Bargemusic Masterworks Series, Saturday evening, April 20, 2019, at 6 pm and Sunday afternoon, April 21, 2019, at 4 pm. The program will include Brahms' Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 18 No. 1 and Handel-Halvorsen's Passacaglia for Violin and Cello…
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‘SNL’ star coming to Cape Playhouse

…Chamber-music festival marks 40 years
The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary this summer with 12 concerts scheduled Aug. 1-23 at locations in Wellfleet, Orleans, Chatham, Dennis, Cotuit and Falmouth. The 2019 highlights will include a program celebrating composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, with a guest appearance by his daughter, Jamie.
That Aug. 16 concert will feature musical works by Bernstein and Aaron Copland, including “Appalachian Spring” in its original scoring for 13 instruments.
The season is programmed under the leadership of artistic directors Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse, and executive director Elaine Lipton. Returning will be Borromeo String Quartet, performing the North American premiere of “Icarus” for string quartet and clarinet by composer Elena Ruehr, and Emerson String Quartet, performing Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”…
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A Composer’s Final Work Contains ‘Visions’ of an American Master

During the past two decades, Mr. Kermani has released a multivolume series of Dr. Walker’s orchestral works on the Albany label, along with albums documenting the composer’s earlier career as a concert pianist. He introduced Dr. Walker to the English-born conductor and pianist Ian Hobson, a specialist in mid-20th-century American orchestral music who had made numerous recordings with the Sinfonia Varsovia of Poland.
Mr. Hobson described Dr. Walker as “a composer of great integrity: uncompromising in the best sense of the word, who doesn’t pander to anything.”
While still trying to place “Visions” with an orchestra, Dr. Walker arranged to have it recorded by Mr. Hobson and the Varsovia Symphony — the final installment of Mr. Hobson’s cycle of his Sinfonias, each of which is a compact, single-movement composition. (“Visions,” with a duration of about 18 minutes, is the longest of them.)
“Visions” Mr. Hobson said, is “complex and built of small cells of harmonic patterns and melodic groupings,” adding that “sometimes the detail is knotty and gnarly — and deliberately so — and sometimes unexpected beauties emerge from his extremely sensitive ear for color.”
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Wa Concert Series presents The Golden Triangle: Prague, Budapest and Vienna in Review

The beginning of the baseball season seems an apt time for this metaphor: The Wa Concert Series hit another home run in its already estimable string of them last night. The Parker Quartet (Daniel Chong, Ken Hamao, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola; Kee-Hyun Kim, cello ) joined clarinetists Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima in concert. The general theme of Central Europe was the pretext for a wide variety of expression through music.
The curtain-raiser, so to speak (Tenri does not have a curtain), was Bohuslav Martinů’s Serenade for two clarinets and string trio, a 1951 work from his American period that Mr. Neidich stated was also influenced by sojourns in Paris and New York. This was not always apparent. One thing that is always reliable is the high level of craftsmanship of Martinů’s work. For me, his expressivity lies in his slow movements, while the quicker ones can sometimes feel a bit like they are on autopilot, despite the interesting rhythmic difficulties. The piece was played masterfully by Mr. Neidich, Ms. Oshima, and three members of the Parker Quartet.
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Thomas Nickell In Concert with Maestro Mina Zikri and the Oistrakh Symphony Collaboration Highlights Musical Mentorship

WHAT: Rising 20-year-old piano soloist and composer Thomas Nickell is accompanied by the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago (OSC) under Maestro Mina Zikri Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (915 E. 60th Street). Tickets for the performance ($20-40), which includes works by Bach, Schnittke and Nickell, are on sale at ThomasNickell.com.
Nickell has given public performances at Carnegie Hall's Zankell Hall, toured the concert venues of Europe and Japan, and at 15 became one of only 80 pianists from around the world to be named a Young Steinway Artist. This gifted and highly creative young pianist and composer has rapidly built his reputation as a classical music talent to watch.
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Thomas Nickell In Concert with Maestro Mina Zikri and the Oistrakh Symphony

WHAT: Rising 20-year-old piano soloist and composer Thomas Nickell is accompanied by the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago (OSC) under Maestro Mina Zikri Sunday, April 14 at 3 p.m. at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (915 E. 60th Street). Tickets for the performance ($20-40), which includes works by Bach, Schnittke and Nickell, are on sale at ThomasNickell.com…
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Norwegian & Azerbaijani Music at Bruno Walter Auditorium, 4/24/2019

Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing and Pianist Nargiz Aliyarova playing Norwegian & Azerbaijani Chamber Music, at Bruno Walter Auditorium, 4/24/2019 Presented By The National Music & Global Culture Society…
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Norwegian & Azerbaijani Chamber Music

Violinist Eldbørg Hemsing and Pianist Nargiz Aliyarova In Program Of Norwegian & Azerbaijani Chamber Music, At Bruno Walter Auditorium, April 24, 2019
Presented By The National Music & Global Culture Society…
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NORWEGIAN & AZERBAIJANI MUSIC IN NEW YORK CITY

The National Music & Global Culture Society will present the rising Norwegian star, violinist Eldbørg Hemsing and internationally noted Azerbaijani pianist Nargiz Aliyarova in recital at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
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Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing and Pianist Nargiz Aliyarova in Program of Norwegian & Azerbaijani Chamber Music, at Bruno Walter Auditorium, April 24, 2019

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Pianist Terry Eder To Appear In Recital At Weill Recital Hall

The Key Pianists Series, founded in 2015, will present noted American pianist Terry Eder in recital, Monday evening, April 8, 2019, 8 pm at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (154 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019)…
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Cleveland Orchestra with organist Paul Jacobs (Mar. 17)

Haydn and Tchaikovsky symphonies bracketed an important new organ concerto at Severance Hall from March 14-17, creating a hodgepodge of a program, but demonstrating the stylistic flexibility of Franz Welser-Most and The Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the breathtaking technique and musicality of organist Paul Jacobs.
Viennese composer Bernd Richard Deutsch was on hand for the U.S. premieres of his Okeanos for organ and orchestra, the centerpiece of this series of concerts. I heard the performance on Sunday, March 17, when the piece had already enjoyed three previous hearings and sounded confident and settled…
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Opera Review: One Little Goat

Amore Opera celebrates a decade with Meyerbeer's Dinorah.
Mention composer Giacomo Meyerbeer to an opera lover and they will think of enormous five-movement works with extravagant staging requirements, lengthy ballets and tremendous orchestral and choral requirements. And yet, there was another less elaborate side to the Meyerbeer. This month, the small Amore Opera company, which is celebrating a decade of bringing intimate opera to the ears of New Yorkers, brought back Dinorah. This is an all but forgotten pastoral fairy tale, in the genre of  opera-comique that had not been staged in New York in 100 years. Sung in French and linked with spoken dialogue passages delivered in English, this proved to be a fun Saturday afternoon at the theater at Riverside Church.
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MUSIC 10 STORY 2

Amore Opera's tenth anniversary season has been a raging success with a super delightful Così fan tutte-- and now the sold out production of Meyerbeer's pastoral opéra comique--Dinorah.Artistic and Stage Director Nathan Hull has fleshed out this silly story with talent so outstanding that we readily forgot the trivial story. Happily, it was treated respectfully, as it deserves. No irony here!
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Today's Family & Kids Activities in Manhattan-Mar 24

The options for finding fun family activities in New York City are limitless. Below we've compiled the best of today's events. Whether your family prefers music and museums or theater and libraries, check out today's family activities in Manhattan. Making plans for next weekend? Take a glance at the NY Metro Parents' calendar…
Amore Opera Will Present English Version of Mozart’s Classic: 'Così Fan Tutte' - Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church
Through March 24, 2019 - Morningside Heights
Continuing their 2018-19 season in spring, Amore Opera will stage a new two-hour-long, English version of Mozart's classic: Cosí fan tutte. Adapted into English and condensed, The Amore Opera Cosí fan tutte, an English version of one of Mozart's most well-known works, will be a perfect introduction to the fun and beauty of opera. Kids of all ages are welcome to the show, and this intimate production will run at Harlem's Riverside Theatre.
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still crazy after all these years

A return to Amore Opera’s production of Meyerbeer’s Dinorah to hear the second cast underlined two conclusions: first, that the woods of Brittany are absolutely full of top-notch coloratura sopranos running mad after pet goats, and second, less astonishingly, that Meyerbeer was a first-rate, elegant composer of opera, light as well as grand…
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April 7

…April 24…
Eldbjørg Hemsing, violinist
Nargiz Aliyarova, pianist
Prokofiev, Bjarne Brustad, Franghiz Alizadeh, Gara Garayev, Arif Melikov, Grieg
7 p.m. Bruno Walter Auditorium/NY Public Library for the Performing Arts…
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Juilliard School Daniel Seidenberg Faculty Recital Series presents Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo in Review

The Juilliard School’s faculty recital series presented the “two Jons” on Monday night in Paul Hall at the school: world-renowned clarinetist Jon Manasse, and equally celebrated pianist Jon Nakamatsu, who, as Mr. Manasse drolly put it in his affable and humorous verbal program notes, “merely” won the gold medal at the 10th Van Cliburn piano competition in 1997. In fact, Mr. Manasse was the only Juilliard faculty member in this recital (he also did all his music study there)—Mr. Nakamatsu majored in German at Stanford prior to winning the Cliburn (!). The duo is in its fifteenth year, and the two are co-artistic directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.
Well, let me not further bury the lead: This was the finest chamber music collaboration I have heard in many years. Saying that these two are at the peak of their profession would be demeaning—they hover somewhere in the stratosphere, and the little peaks are far below. They created a true sense of chamber intimacy, used understatement effectively, had supernatural ensemble unity and great elasticity when called for, and were very natural and spontaneous. (And we all know how much hard work goes into sounding effortless!)…
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Was Meyerbeer Forgotten Because He Was Jewish — Or Because Of A Goat?

The composer Giacomo Meyerbeer got pushed out of the operatic canon because of anti-Semitism. That much is fact.
But if you’re looking for a reason that Meyerbeer’s 1859 opera “Dinorah” hasn’t been performed in the United States since 1925 — that is, until now — the first thing you really have to reckon with is the goat.
Yes: The goat.
Opera is a genre notorious for its attachment to plots that can, at best, be described as unintelligible. Lost children and siblings are found with alarming frequency; people are poisoned in extraordinarily unscientific ways; Don Giovanni is bodily dragged directly into hell. Yet “Dinorah,” which New York City’s Amore Opera has revived in a brief production that closes this Saturday, is perhaps unique in its reliance on a barnyard animal not only as a plot device, but a genuine, and frequent, onstage presence…
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Today's Family & Kids Activities in Manhattan-Mar 22

The options for finding fun family activities in New York City are limitless. Below we've compiled the best of today's events. Whether your family prefers music and museums or theater and libraries, check out today's family activities in Manhattan. Making plans for next weekend? Take a glance at the NY Metro Parents' calendar…
Amore Opera Will Present English Version of Mozart’s Classic: 'Così Fan Tutte' - Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church
Through March 24, 2019 - Morningside Heights
Continuing their 2018-19 season in spring, Amore Opera will stage a new two-hour-long, English version of Mozart's classic: Cosí fan tutte. Adapted into English and condensed, The Amore Opera Cosí fan tutte, an English version of one of Mozart's most well-known works, will be a perfect introduction to the fun and beauty of opera. Kids of all ages are welcome to the show, and this intimate production will run at Harlem's Riverside Theatre.
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Spivey Hall Announces 29th Season

Distinguished audience favorites Takᾴcs Quartet, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, pianist Angela Hewitt, organist Paul Jacobs, jazz pianist Kenny Barron and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton to take stage in Spivey Hall's 2019-2020 season.
Clayton State University's Spivey Hall announced the details of its 29th Season of Spivey Series concerts at its annual Season Announcement Celebration, held on March 9, 2019. The event featured words from Richard  F. Tigner, Spivey Hall Friends Council Chairman, a detailed synopsis of the season performances from Samuel C. Dixon, Spivey Hall's Executive & Artistic Director, and an energizing performance by the Horszowski Trio.
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Today's Family & Kids Activities in Manhattan-Mar 21

The options for finding fun family activities in New York City are limitless. Below we've compiled the best of today's events. Whether your family prefers music and museums or theater and libraries, check out today's family activities in Manhattan. Making plans for next weekend? Take a glance at the NY Metro Parents' calendar…
Amore Opera Will Present English Version of Mozart’s Classic: 'Così Fan Tutte' - Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church
Through March 24, 2019 - Morningside Heights
Continuing their 2018-19 season in spring, Amore Opera will stage a new two-hour-long, English version of Mozart's classic: Cosí fan tutte. Adapted into English and condensed, The Amore Opera Cosí fan tutte, an English version of one of Mozart's most well-known works, will be a perfect introduction to the fun and beauty of opera. Kids of all ages are welcome to the show, and this intimate production will run at Harlem's Riverside Theatre.
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lite meyerbeer

Meyerbeer’s name, when remembered at all, is synonymous with folies de grandeur, a veritable Mercedes Benz (or, more likely, Hispano-Suiza) of old-fashioned operatic vehicle.
His very grand epic operas held the stage for nearly a hundred years around the world before lack of novelty and sheer expense expelled them. That grandeur also kept them obscure: who can afford to produce a very chancy “night of seven stars”? And who can afford the tickets if it’s produced?
But Meyerbeer didn’t only write in limousine touring-car mode. There are lighter works in his oeuvre. Amore Opera, one of New York’s smaller opera companies, which would be very unwise to attempt one of the big bad epics, has not done so, but is presenting the first local run of Dinorah, ou le Pardon de Ploërmel since before the war. The Spanish-American War, possibly…
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Worthy singing from young cast in Amore Opera’s rough and unready “Dinorah”

“The-Little-Opera-Company-That-Could” can be a compelling aesthetic. Scrappy productions of unusual rep often prove rewarding, offering a chance to hear new singers in innovative settings, without the trappings of high-budget productions…
Amore Opera’s presentation on Tuesday was of Meyerbeer’s 1859 opéra-comique Dinorah—according to the company, the first staging of the work in the United States in nearly a century. The opera features some ingenious musical interplay in its group numbers, and gentle lyricism in its arias, but all of it is strapped to an insipid scenario: a pastoral buddy comedy that tracks a mad peasant girl, a duplicitous goatherd, and a bagpiper as they follow a magic goat through the forest to find a haunted treasure. Naturally, it all ends in a wedding.
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Key Pianists Presents Artistic Director and Series Founder, Pianist Terry Eder

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Violinist Eldbjorg Hemsing and Pianist Nargiz Aliyarova Come to Bruno Walter Auditorium

The National Music & Global Culture Society will present the rising Norwegian star, violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing and internationally noted Azerbaijani pianist Nargiz Aliyarova in recital at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023) on Wednesday evening, April 24, 2019 at 7 pm. The program-entitled "From East to West"-will focus on solo and chamber works from both Norway and Azerbaijan…
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Violinist Eldbjorg Hemsing and Pianist Nargiz Aliyarova Come to Bruno Walter Auditorium

The National Music & Global Culture Society will present the rising Norwegian star, violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing and internationally noted Azerbaijani pianist Nargiz Aliyarova in recital at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center (111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023) on Wednesday evening, April 24, 2019 at 7 pm. The program-entitled "From East to West"-will focus on solo and chamber works from both Norway and Azerbaijan…
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Jon Manasse, Clarinet, and Jon Nakamatsu, Piano, at Juilliard's Paul Recital Hall

Paul Hall at Juilliard is a wonderful venue for experiencing solo and chamber music. The ambiance is quiet and reverent, seating is raised with full view of, yet intimacy with, musicians, and you can hear the artists’ comments to the audience. Jon Manasse, a master clarinetist, has received rave reviews on these pages for a chamber concert in a church and orchestral solos with American Ballet Theatre Orchestra. He performs internationally in solo and duo (with Jon Nakamatsu) concerts, and he also joins acclaimed orchestras around the globe and in local and regional events. Mr. Manasse is a Juilliard alumnus and member of the faculty. Mr. Nakamatsu, a stunning pianist, makes a fine stage partner for Mr. Manasse, who likes to greet the audience and introduce the program throughout the evening. The stage chemistry is entertaining, and Mr. Nakamatsu, a 1997 Van Cliburn Piano Competition Gold Medalist, also tours internationally for recitals, chamber ensembles, and orchestral guest solos. The Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo also serves as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. 
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Ian Hobson – multi-tasking between academia and artistry

Upon first sight, Ian Hobson’s tall, commanding stature recalls that of Van Cliburn, the celebrated American pianist of the World War II generation. Fun fact: 28 years Van Cliburn’s junior, Hobson, who only made it into the first round of the Van Cliburn during one of his initial competition trials, was invited back as juror – by personal request of Van Cliburn himself – later in his career. (Photo by Hyeyeon Jung)
Hobson grew up in the small town of Wolverhampton, England during the post-war era. Of his family, only his grandparents owned a TV, and at home, Hobson kept busy reproducing tunes he picked up by ear from the radio on his toy piano. “I was always grateful I learned music by ear first,” he explains. “When I teach memorization, I always emphasize the importance of knowing what the music sounds like; when the notes mean something to you, then you are not surprised by what is coming,” he says…
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Spectrum Presents Soprano Ah Young Hong, April 7

The soprano Ah Young Hong, praised for her "fearlessness and consummate artistry" by Opera News and called "the opera's blazing lone star" by The New York Times, will appear in recital with pianist Jacob Rhodebeck Sunday, April 7, 2019, 7:30 pm, presented by Spectrum, Brooklyn's concert venue for new music, located at 70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, (entrance between Cumberland and Carlton,) Brooklyn, NY 11205. Composers Michael Hersch and Georg Friedrich Haas will be in attendance…
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Spectrum Presents Soprano Ah Young Hong, April 7

The soprano Ah Young Hong, praised for her "fearlessness and consummate artistry" by Opera News and called "the opera's blazing lone star" by The New York Times, will appear in recital with pianist Jacob Rhodebeck Sunday, April 7, 2019, 7:30 pm, presented by Spectrum, Brooklyn's concert venue for new music, located at 70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A, (entrance between Cumberland and Carlton,) Brooklyn, NY 11205. Composers Michael Hersch and Georg Friedrich Haas will be in attendance…
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COSÌ COSÌ

We have long asserted that singers make good directors; we have always admired Nathan Hull's direction at Amore Opera but we have yearned to hear his resonant baritone and last night we did--in the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte. His performance as the cynical and experienced older friend of Fernando and Guglielmo was spot on--effective without overplaying or grandstanding. He knows how to create a believable character and his diction was crisp. Every word was clear.
Another notable feature of this performance was the vastly improved performance of the orchestra under the baton of Maestro José Alejandro Guzmán. We have grumbled in the past about out-of-tune strings but last night the orchestra was in tune and together. The overture fairly sparkled!
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John Frayne | Sinfonia da Camera's classics were a fine bouquet, indeed

The Sinfonia da Camera concert on March 2 in Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts was entitled "A Bouquet of Classics" and a concert that featured two of the greatest symphonies of the Classical Period, Wolfgang Mozart's Symphony No. 39 and Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 104 ("London"). They certainly deserved the term "classics" in both its meanings…
The 39th of Mozart has always been my favorite since I was introduced to the work through a recording conducted by that great Mozartean, Sir Thomas Beecham. I still find the rising theme of the first movement so beautiful, and the clarinets, J. David Harris and Solomon Baer, in the minuetto movement and finale were first rate in this insightful performance by the Sinfonia. Conductor Ian Hobson achieved in the finale an admirable balance of strings, woodwinds and brass.
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Cleveland Orchestra makes several bold moves on eclectic program with Welser-Möst

…Consider [the American premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s Okeanos] a success. In collaboration with the orchestra, organist Paul Jacobs gave a colorful, bewitching performance that surely did justice to the score and exemplified each of the Classical Elements Deutsch sought to depict.
The variety in “Okeanos” (the Greek mythological figure representing oceans) was stunning. From subdued and mysterious, a la Messiaen, Jacobs and the orchestra were as likely Thursday to turn bubbly, playful, or even crazed as they were to let out a thunderous, screaming yawp. Through it all, the music managed to emulate water, air, earth, and fire, always without recourse to overtly literal means.
Still, if “Okeanos” had one key virtue, it was orchestration. Time and again, Deutsch found spine-tingling parallels between the organ and a raft of percussion instruments, uniting front and rear stage in ways that can only be described as magical. Out of four basic elements, Jacobs, Welser-Most, and the orchestra forged musical gold.
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A Young Austrian Makes an Impact in Cleveland

To welcome Deutsch to Cleveland, Welser-Möst chose to give the United states premiere of Okeanos, his recent organ concerto. (Deutsch is writing a new work for the orchestra next season, which I am now eagerly awaiting.) In Okeanos, not surprisingly, Deutsch uses a full battery of percussion instruments and invents new textures—typically the first handful from a modern composer’s bag of tricks. But this concerto, while full of dense textures and strange colors, strides across the mindscape with one foot in the avant-garde and the other in the world of popular orchestral music. Imagine a John Williams film score (on acid), and a thicket of notes, bursting out in a way that would make Schoenberg smile. Deutsch knows his history, and is also comfortable with contemporary styles, including minimalism and neo-romanticism, but he avoids cheap pastiche.
Even the Gothic potential of the organ (shades of Phantom of the Opera and silent movie scores) is sent up by Deutsch’s explosive creativity. New sounds abound, and beguile the ear. Every time clangor sets in and seems about to turn into one of those modern works (the grim, glowering sort) a sudden change of direction delights the listener. I mean that literally, since audience giggles were heard more than once. One of those came in the first movement, ‘Water’, which built up to a roaring climax, before most of the orchestra abruptly ceased — while the chorus of chimes and bells continued in a jaw-dropping halo. ‘Air’ was a dizzying scherzo, the slow ‘Earth’ had slithering string textures, and ‘Fire’ was a fast finale with equal parts wit and grit. Through it all, organist Paul Jacobs was a dynamo, giving this staggeringly difficult score an authority matched by Welser-Möst and the orchestra.
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LEGENDARY PIANIST ALFRED BRENDEL TO VISIT PRAGUE

The legendary pianist Alfred Brendel will come to Prague this weekend to take part in a three-day festival organised in his honour. The Czech-born musician, considered to be one of the world’s greatest living pianists, will present his books, give a master class and lecture on the art of playing Mozart. The event gets underway at Prague’s Rudolfinum concert hall on Sunday.
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Review: Tafelmusik's Tales of Two Cities at Disney Hall

I was a little worried when I saw the extensive program notes for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra's concert Sunday night at Disney Hall, called "Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House”…
Then the lights dimmed and I realized that I didn't need to worry -- just listen, watch and enjoy. They were going to invite me into "the coffeehouse" and bring me along for the ride. And what a unique and enjoyable one!
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Florida State University presents Ian Hobson in Review

Pianist Ian Hobson played a wide-ranging, difficult recital at Zankel Hall on March 11th, which made me answer the following questions in the affirmative: Can a pianist with immense bravura technique also, 1) be intellectually probing, 2) be poetically sensitive, and 3) create imaginative, thoughtful programs? It was in those areas where Mr. Hobson truly surrendered to his pensive, lyrical impulses that he created true magic, though I realize, even as I write those words, that such areas were set-off even more by what was around them. I reviewed Mr. Hobson’s heroic survey of the complete piano music of Debussy and Ravel elsewhere in these pages…
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Organist Paul Jacobs To Give American Premiere Of Deutsch's OKEANOS With Cleveland Orchestra

Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs has been invited to appear as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, to give the highly anticipated American premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's Okeanos, Concerto for organ and orchestra. Performances are slated for Thursday evening, March 14, 2019 at 7:30 pm; Friday evening, March 15, 2019 at 8 pm; Saturday evening, March 16, 2019 at 8 pm; and Sunday afternoon, March 17, 2019 at 3 pm at Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106. 
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Paul Jacobs to play U.S. premiere of Deutsch organ concerto at Severance Hall

Organist Paul Jacobs will return to Severance Hall this week to play four performances of Viennese composer Bernd Richard Deutsch’s Okeanos with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra.
The concerts, which begin on Thursday evening, March 14 and run through Sunday afternoon, March 17, include Haydn’s Symphony No. 34 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. This week’s programs mark the first United States performances of Deutsch’s organ concerto, which received its debut in November of 2015 by Wolfgang Kogert and Radio-Symphonie-orchester Wien in the Großer Saal of Vienna’s Musikverein.
I caught up with Jacobs on his mobile phone during a break between auditions at the Juilliard School in New York to ask him for some of his impressions of Deutsch and Okeanos.
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REVIEW: Ian Hobson Breezes Through a Heavy Program

Ian Hobson, a concert pianist of admirable technique and unimpeachable taste, commanded the stage of Zankel Hall on Monday night with a mammoth sized program of romantic repertoire.
Opening the evening with Beethoven’s two-movement Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90, Mr. Hobson embodied the qualities that characterize the great composer’s output of this period anticipating his “late” works: a restlessness, a sense of urgent self-reflection, and in the second movement, a Schubertian lyrical abandon.
Felix Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses, Op. 54, was composed in 1841 to raise money for the construction of a statue of Beethoven, and also serves as musical tribute to him, in its very Beethovenesque treatment of the theme. Mr. Hobson brought great drive to the machinations Mendelssohn puts the theme through. The contemplative fourteenth variation, a restrained adagio, was deeply felt. The fire and fury that builds to the end burned brightly, as Mr. Hobson seemed to enjoy Mendelssohn’s well-crafted, idiomatic writing for the instrument…
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Meyerbeer Opera Is ‘Long-Overdue Rediscovery’

Time was, Giacomo Meyerbeer, born Jacob Liebmann Beer in 1791, was the most acclaimed opera composer in Europe. And as a prominent Jew, he became a target for the vitriol of Richard Wagner and was chief among Wagner’s targets. He turned out big theatrical extravaganzas that were the talk of the great European capitals, with famous arias that were sung, strummed and hummed by a huge swath of the music-loving populations of Italy, Germany and France.
Today, not so much. Fashions and tastes change and the kind of massive grand operas for which Meyerbeer was renowned are seldom performed today. Meyerbeer’s biggest successes are still performed, particularly “Les Huguenots,” but the handful of smaller-scale pieces he authored are all but forgotten.
Which is why the news that his genial opéra comique “Dinorah” will be staged by the Amore Opera March 19-23 is so welcome.
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Classical: Kent State Opera presents ‘The Tender Land’

CLASSICAL
Cleveland Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky’s Fifth: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m Sunday, Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Featuring: Franz Welser-Moest, conductor, Paul Jacobs, organ. Program: Haydn, Symphony No. 34; Bernd Richard Deutsch, Okeanos; and Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5. 216-231-1111, 800-686-1141 or www.clevelandorchestra.com.
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Hobson’s mixed recital finds some belated fire at Zankel Hall

….Something like this happened Monday night with pianist Ian Hobson’s recital in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Except Hobson didn’t light up [just] with the encores—he did so with the piece right before the encores: the notoriously finger-twisting, stamina-testing, all-but-unplayable Presto non tanto finale of Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58.
The pianist…plunged into Chopin’s formidable score and turned it into an edge-of-the-seat conflagration of galloping rhythms, fiery scales, and explosive chords.
Afterward, he returned to the stage and played a settle-down encore, Rachmaninoff’s gentle arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Lullaby, Op. 16, No. 1, bringing out the interwoven countermelodies with his best voice-leading of the night.
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Random Happenings in New York City This Week - March 10-March 17

If you're looking for the best of miscellaneous things to do in NYC, check out City Guide's 'Potpourri' category, which has dining specials, pop ups, shopping, charity events, literary events, lectures, readings, awards shows, galas, and even more…
Ian Hobson, Piano - Carnegie Hall
March 11, 2019 - New York
Presented by Florida State University, pianist and conductor Ian Hobson performs Beethoven's Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90, Schumann's Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22, Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, and Mendelssohn's Variations Sérieuses. Mr. Hobson will also give the world premiere of Robert Chumbley's Brahmsiana, and in honor of Ernst von Dohnányi's long affiliation with Florida State University, he will perform the composer's Rhapsody in C Major.
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SoCal classical music listings, March 10-17: Tafelmusik, Salastina Music Society and more

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra The Canadian period-instrument ensemble is joined by guest artists for the video-enhanced program “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House,” featuring works by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Monteverdi, Omar Al Batsh, Sheik Abul Ela Mohamed and others. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. Sun., 7:30 p.m. $20-$109. (323) 850-2000.
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Amore Opera Presents New English Production of Mozart's "Così fan tutte"

Amore Opera will stage a new English version of Mozart’s classic: Così fan tutte, directed by Nathan Hull and conducted by José Alejandro Guzmán, with sets designed by Richard Cerullo. The rotating cast includes, in the role of Despina: sopranos Deborah Surdi, Jessi Goebel, and Megan Marod; in the role of Fiordiligi: sopranos Iris Karlin, Rachel Hippert, and Elizabeth Treat; in the role of Dorabella: sopranos Melissa Serluco, Perri Sussman, and Victoria Tomasch; in the role of Ferrando: tenors Colm Fitzmaurice, Drew Watson, and Riad Ymeri; in the role of Guglielmo: baritones Robert Garner, Conrad Schmechel, and Jonathan Green; and in the role of Don Alfonso: baritones Nathan Hull, David Tillistrand, and Jay Stephenson.
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Things to do in the San Fernando Valley, LA area, March 8-15

There’s always something fascinating to do in the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles area. Here is a sampling of entertainments this week and also save-the-date events to put on your calendar…
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica: The musicians perform “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee Houses,” 7:30 p.m. March 10. Tickets $20 and up. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. 323-850-2000. www.laphil.com
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March 7-9: NightLife & Death, Leading Ladies, Kalpana Mohan, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Justin Vivian Bond, She Persisted, the Musical, D.I.R.T. Festival, SF Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty, Mark Synnott, Shrek the Musical

FRIDAY, MARCH 8
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra: In “Tales of Two Cities: Leipzig and Damascus,” the group plays a cross-cultural program of works by Bach, Telemann and Handel as well as classical Arabic music. [7:30 p.m., Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford University]
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March Events Calendar

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with Trio Arabica – 8 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre – Incredible originality and conception of their insightful musical stage creations that combine live music, text and stunning projections transporting the audience back in time and place. For more info and tickets log onto www.lobero.org. 
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The best music events in Denver this week

If you love live music, there's no time like the present when it comes to getting out and about in Denver. From a Baroque orchestra performance to a late night soirée to Paul Colette's "Moonlight Journey," here are the local shows worth checking out this week.
The Newman Center for the Performing Arts is hosting Baroque orchestra Tafelmusik this Wednesday. The wistful performance pays ode to 18th-century Syrian coffee shops where great musicians would play throughout history.
The evening's lineup includes works by Handel and Telemann, alongside traditional Arabic songs. 
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Free for All: The Five Best Free Events This Week

Friends of Chamber Music: Trio Arabica and Tafelmusik
Tuesday, March 5, 6:30 p.m.
South High School
Take an elegant sip of a refined Baroque tradition at the Friends of Chamber Music's Coffeehouse Evening concert, a throwback to an era when customers enjoyed world-class performances along with their caffeine fix. Drawing inspiration from the java-slinging concert halls haunted by eighteenth-century artsy types in places like Leipzig and Damascus, Trio Arabica and members of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra perform the sounds of centuries past on period-appropriate Arabic and European instruments, accompanied by storytelling interludes from narrator Alon Nashman. The concert also includes a spotlight recital from the South High School Orchestra and, of course, plenty of coffee. Admission is free; find more information on the Friends of Chamber Music events calendar.
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SoCal classical music listings, March 3-10: Pianist Yuja Wang with the L.A. Phil and more

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra The Canadian period-instrument ensemble is joined by guest artists for the video-enhanced program “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House,” featuring works by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Monteverdi, Omar Al Batsh, Sheik Abul Ela Mohamed and others. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. Next Sun., 7:30 p.m. $20-$109. (323) 850-2000.
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TAFELMUSIK WILL TURN MACKY AUDITORIUM INTO A MUSICAL COFFEE HOUSE

It takes a person with a very creative imagination to turn the history of coffee into a concert combining Baroque and middle-eastern music.
The Toronto-based Baroque orchestra Tafelmusik has such a person in bass player Alison Mackay, and the multi-media, cross-cultural program she created, “Tales of Two Cities: the Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House,” comes to Boulder Monday (7:30 p.m. March 4 in Macky Auditorium). The program includes music by Bach and Telemann, both of whom led coffee-house ensembles in Leipzig, as well as Handel, Torelli and a few other composers of the Baroque era; and performances by Trio Arabica, performing music from Syria.
The concert is performed inside a set inspired by a room from 18th-century Damascus. The performance also features projections of images, maps and film, and a narrator who will present Mackay’s script. To facilitate the movement of the players onstage, the entire program is performed from memory.
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Tafelmusik turning CU's Macky Auditorium into 18th century Baroque coffee house

In the 18th century, coffee houses were places where stories were told and deals made, as rising steam from caffeinated cups and the pleasing sounds of harps and lutes filled the room.
Slightly different from the Starbucks of today, these dens of engagement brought together community members for tales, tunes and time well spent. Alison Mackay, double bassist for Toronto-based orchestra Tafelmusik, has recreated the atmosphere of these cherished and lively establishments with her production of "Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House." The two-year-in-the-making project will arrive at Macky Auditorium Monday.
"It's my hope that people will experience the hospitality and most unusual atmosphere present in Bach's hometown," said Mackay.
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Twelfth Annual ABC Gala To Be Held At Weill Hall At Carnegie Hall April 1

The Alexander & Buono Foundation is presenting the Twelfth Annual ABC Gala Monday evening, April 1, 2019, at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (154 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019). The Gala cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by the concert at 7 p.m. and the dinner at 9 p.m.
The fundraiser, produced in association with the Miyagi Gakuin Women's University in Sendai, Japan, will benefit winners of The Alexander & Buono Competitions for Piano, Voice, Strings, and Flute. A highlight of the evening's festivities will include the world premiere of a new work by 20-year old composer/pianist Thomas Nickell, slated to be performed by soprano Denise Young with Mr. Nickell at the piano. The gala will also feature laureates of previous ABC competitions, including pianists Karen Beluso, Ririko Kanno, Mimi Shoji, Clara Belle Wrolstad, and the Shelest Piano Duo…
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Twelfth Annual ABC Gala To Be Held At Weill Hall At Carnegie Hall April 1

The Alexander & Buono Foundation is presenting the Twelfth Annual ABC Gala Monday evening, April 1, 2019, at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall (154 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019). The Gala cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by the concert at 7 p.m. and the dinner at 9 p.m.
The fundraiser, produced in association with the Miyagi Gakuin Women's University in Sendai, Japan, will benefit winners of The Alexander & Buono Competitions for Piano, Voice, Strings, and Flute. A highlight of the evening's festivities will include the world premiere of a new work by 20-year old composer/pianist Thomas Nickell, slated to be performed by soprano Denise Young with Mr. Nickell at the piano. The gala will also feature laureates of previous ABC competitions, including pianists Karen Beluso, Ririko Kanno, Mimi Shoji, Clara Belle Wrolstad, and the Shelest Piano Duo…
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Key Pianists presents Jason Hardink in Review

Jason Hardink demonstrated why he deserves to be known as a “key” pianist on Tuesday evening to a nearly-full house at Weill Recital Hall. He made the strongest impression in the thorny 20th century works that he has made his calling card: Eckardt, Xenakis, Messiaen. His strengths are: a prodigious memory and uncanny independence of hands and fingers that allows him to create extremes of contrasting sonority, both soft and loud, often simultaneously; he is very musical, and I believed every note he played. I did take issue with a few interpretive choices, which I shall try to elucidate below. By the way, he did create some of the best program notes I have read in many a season—regular readers of New York Concert Review know how passionate I am about program notes…
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5 Questions to Kate Sheeran (Executive Director, Kaufman Music Center)

It’s 1740, and coffee houses are the places to hear music, whether in the trading center of Leipzig or in Damascus, “Only at Merkin with Terrance McKnight” is a new series that just started on February 2. It was planned just before I got here by Terrance McKnight and Merkin Hall’s director, Amy Roberts Frawley. What I love about it is that Terrance brings his unique perspective as he interviews those on stage interspersed with the performances, and we get to see a different side of the artists. What a thrill it was to hear from Ursula Oppens as she celebrated her 75th birthday, and really investigate her relationship with the composers who were there–John Corigliano, Tobias Picker and Laura Kaminsky. So often we celebrate the result but not the process of making art and being a performer, and Merkin Hall is especially well-suited to having these interesting conversations alongside great performances.
This whole concept of exploring different facets of artists will be something that will be increasingly apparent at Kaufman Music Center. Next year, we’ll have artists-in-residence who are not only performing at Merkin Hall, but who are deeply embedded in our education programs. There will be public presentations of both their own work and their work with students. What I’m most excited about is people really getting an insider’s look at the facets of working in music that I love so much, which is, in addition to the music itself, the human connections that fuel it all.
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

It’s 1740, and coffee houses are the places to hear music, whether in the trading center of Leipzig or in Damascus, one of the world’s oldest cities. Experience the visual splendor, music, and contemporary tales of these two historic locales, as presented by Canada’s leading period-instrument ensemble [Tafelmusik] and guest artists.
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

DETAILS Time: 7:30 p.m. March 10
LOCATION INFO: Walt Disney Concert Hall 
111 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA  90012
323-850-2000
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TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA WITH TRIO ARABICA

Denver South High School
1700 East Louisiana Avenue, Denver, CO 80210
Price: Free
From: 06:30 PM to 08:30 PM
Free Events, Music
Kyle_Dobbins@dpsk12.org
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Tafelmusik and Trio Arabica

Through a grant with Denver Friends of Chamber Music, South High School will be hosting two world-renowned string chamber groups, Tafelmusik and Trio Arabica, as part of their "A Tale of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House tour. This tour features chamber music from the 18th century coffee house setting, music from composers like Telemann and Handel, as well as traditional Arabic Song, Oud Music, and Klezmer fiddle music. Tickets for this performance run from $38-$129 for their shows in Toronto, this show is free. I would like to invite everyone to come see this amazing performance and to see and hear authentic Middle Eastern Music, Instruments, and performers.
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica

“Toronto audiences have become so accustomed to the spectacular and varied multimedia extravaganzas cooked up by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s resident storyteller, Alison Mackay, that we sometimes forget how unique they are,” writes a critic for The Globe and Mail of Toronto. “Here are members of a great baroque orchestra, playing at the peak of their form for two hours, having memorized the entire concert, prowling around the stage in seemingly carefree abandon, supported by text, images, and a clever storyline. It’s no wonder so many of Mackay’s creations have been performed for audiences around the world—there’s really nothing like them. Mackay’s latest effort … Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House … may be the most profound of them all.”
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March 12

…March 15
Amore Opera
Mozart: Cosí fan tutte
7:30 p.m. Riverside Theater…
March 19…
Amore Opera
Meyerbeer: Dinorah
7:30 p.m. Riverside Theater
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Winter 2019 Arts Preview: Classical

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra: In “Tales of Two Cities: Leipzig and Damascus,” the group plays a cross-cultural program of works by Bach, Telemann and Handel as well as classical Arabic music. 7:30 p.m. March 8. $38-$90. Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford University, https://live.stanford.edu/
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Tales of Two Cities

I’m very excited about Tafelmusik’s Tales of Two Cities program, which will be presented twice in the Denver-Boulder area next week as part of the Canadian Baroque orchestra’s national tour. Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House is a multi-media exploration of the rich musical tradition and innovation of 18th -century coffee houses in Germany and Syria. The program was conceived  by Tafelmusik double bassist Alison Mackay, who also designed previous multimedia presentations for the ensemble. I had the opportunity to ask Alison some questions via email to find out more about this extraordinary program…
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Concert Offers Blend Of Baroque And Arabic Music Thursday At Penn State

Thursday night at Penn State, University Park, the Baroque orchestra, Tafelmusik, teams up with Trio Arabica for a concert called "Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House." WPSU's Kristine Allen reports on the show's blend of European and Arabic music, images, and narration.
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Review: A Carnegie Recital Pushes the Piano to Its Limits

Most pianists begin a recital with a piece that allows them to warm up a little, and gives the audience a chance to settle in.
Not Jason Hardink. He began his concert on Tuesday at Weill Recital Hall [presented by Key Pianists] with Jason Eckardt’s “Echoes’ White Veil,” a dizzying, manic 12-minute work of almost stupefying difficulty… This 1996 piece has become a calling card for Mr. Hardink, who played Mr. Eckardt’s score not just with command, but with abandon and remarkable clarity…
Mr. Hardink’s capacity for tenderness and grace came through in the ruminative, harmonically tart passages of these cosmic pieces. But, no surprise, he was at his best in the vehement dance “Regard de l’Esprit de Joie,” in which he captured spiritual ecstasy as, to quote Messiaen’s description, “a drunkenness, in the most extravagant sense.”
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Sanibel Music Festival concerts begin March 2

On March 2, the Sanibel Music Festival will begin its 33rd consecutive season of bringing artists to the island.
This year’s festival will feature Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse, piano and clarinet; the Horszowski Piano Trio; Wu Han and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston; Opera Theater of Connecticut presenting singing Sondheim on Sanibel and Star-Crossed Lovers in Opera; and the New York Brass Arts Trio.
All concerts will perform 7:30 p.m. throughout the month of March on Tuesdays and Saturdays at Sanibel Congregational U.C.C., 2050 Periwinkle Way.
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Pianist Hardink climbs nearly every mountain in virtuosic program

…Citing “a preoccupation with testing the limits of what is physically possible by any one pianist sitting at the instrument,” Jason Hardink dispatched, from memory, as much of the gnarliest piano music from Liszt to Xenakis as would fit into a two-hour program.
Yes, it sounds like a stunt, but as both the concert (presented by Key Pianists) and the film demonstrated, one man’s stunt is another man’s spiritual quest—or as Hardink put it in his program notes, “a glimpse of the beyond, a spiritual territory brought to light by a deep musical striving for the seemingly impossible.”
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The Limits of Pure Awe

Jason Hardink obviously knew the art of the pregnant pause, from his very first piece last night…From an opening jazz riff that would have made Art Tatum resemble a mitten-wearing walrus, to Liszt etudes that transcended the keys, to three sections from a Messiaen classic that zipped through the whole New Testament, Mr. Hardink played the most consistently fast and furious music I’ve heard in a long time…
Mr. Hardink’s initial Carnegie Hall performance was in the “Key Pianists” series, which offer, says the official note, “to focus on repertoire of “particular significance to the artists.” That was evident. Mr. Hardink was fearless indeed. No Mozart sonatas, no Chopin, not even a Scriabin to break the daredevil atmosphere…
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Wa Concert Series presents Old is New: Historical Instruments with Cynthia Roberts in Review

New York’s intimate and impeccable Wa Concert Series continued its standard of excellence, while opening ears and hearts with a beautiful program of historically informed performances helmed by the veteran violinist Cynthia Roberts. All the musicians speak the grammar of the Classical (or Baroque) period perfectly, yet they never sound like they are giving you a dry lesson on the music. Each piece is lived anew, hence the “new.” Phrasing, articulation, transparency of sonority, sensitivity to harmonic change and chord weight, and flexibility: all were delectable.
The evening opened with the Overture in D Major for two clarinets and French horn, HWV 424, one of the earliest uses of the clarinet, by G.F. Handel, no less. Apparently he knew an itinerant clarinetist in England, one Mr. Charles. This should give lie to those who maintain that Mozart’s re-orchestration of Messiah, with added clarinets, is a blasphemy. In this generally open-spirited Overture (not the prelude to something else, nor the double-dotted grandeur of the French overture), the sequence of movements was pleasant, with beautifully traded-off lines among the three players: Charles Neidich, his talented wife (and every concert’s dinner chef) Ayako Oshima, and natural-horn player William Purvis. The softness of the sonorities made this occasional music convincing, and Mr. Purvis formed every single note with his lips and/or his hand in the bell of the horn, a frightening proposition (just try it). One could imagine open fields and non-threatening military type calls…
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Sanibel Music Festival to offer world-class concerts in March

An opportunity to experience the highest standard of classical music is just around the corner.
The 33rd annual Sanibel Music Festival will kick off on March 2 with the first of seven concerts planned throughout March. Held on Tuesdays and Saturdays, each of the performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. at Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ, at 2050 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel…
Piano-clarinet duo Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse will start off the series, followed by the Horszowski Piano Trio, Wu Han and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston. The Opera Theater of Connecticut's "Singing Sondheim on Sanibel" and "Star-Crossed Lovers in Opera" are next, with the New York Brass Arts Trio wrapping it up…
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Calendar

Ian Hobson, pianist
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 27
Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses
Schumann: Sonata No. 2
Dohnányi: Rhapsody in C Major
Robert Chumbley: Brahmsiana (world premiere)
Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3
7:30 p.m. Zankel Hall/Carnegie Hall
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Calendar

Jason Hardink, pianist [presented by Key Pianists]
Debussy: Images, Book II
Liszt: Études d’exécution transcendante, (selections)
Eckardt: Echoes’ White Veil,
Xenakis: Evryali
Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus (selections)
8 p.m. Weill Recital Hall
carnegiehall.org
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica Wed Music and Cultures in ‘Tales of Two Cities’ at Schwab Auditorium

Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica — in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in Schwab Auditorium — will take listeners back to 1740, when coffee houses were the places to listen to music and share stories in both the famous trading centers of Leipzig and in the ancient city of Damascus…
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2 pianists perform with the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra

When pianist Jon Nakamatsu has performed here in recent years, it's often been in multi-piano ensembles. This weekend, he's getting into another…
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Manfred Honeck Leads Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in THE DAMNATION OF FAUST

Manfred Honeck, Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and one of the foremost conductors of our time, will lead the orchestra in two concert performances of Berlioz's rarely-performed The Damnation of Faust on Friday, March 8 and Sunday, March 10, 2019 at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. The performances will feature an all-star international cast alongside The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the official chorus of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus. On Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 3:00 PM, Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will return to New York to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor" with Till Fellner and Mahler's Symphony No. 5 at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.
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Bernard Haitink conducts Mozart and Bruckner – With Till Fellner

LIVE SOON | Sunday, March 10, 2019 3:00 PM (EDT)
Haitink at 90: Birthday Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra
Celebrate the 90th birthday of conductor Bernard Haitink with the London Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Till Fellner! Together they present a program featuring Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 and Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony.
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The Music List

March 19-23: A rare opportunity for a major rediscovery. “Dinorah,” a comic opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, hasn’t been performed in New York since 1925. Meyerbeer was a particular target of Richard Wagner’s anti-Semitic rants and despite the popularity of his operas during his lifetime, his work has been neglected. Amore Opera Company will be performing “Dinorah” in the original French version. Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Ave., amoreopera.org.
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W&L Concert Guild Presents Imani Winds and Jon Nakamatsu

The Washington and Lee University Concert Guild presents Imani Winds and pianist Jon Nakamatsu in concert on March 9 at 8 p.m. in the Wilson Concert Hall on the W&L campus.
Their public performance is titled “Old Made New,” and ticket prices for the event are as follows: adults, $20; senior citizens, $15; W&L faculty and staff, $10; and students, $5. University Swipe is available.
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Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica

One of the world's top Baroque orchestras, Tafelmusik, will explore the rich musical history of 18th-century Leipzig and Damascus, reimagining the coffee houses where the finest musicians of the time played. Trio Arabica joins Tafelmusik to perform music from Handel and Telemann to traditional Arabic song in a celebration of music, words, and images of 18th century culture in two fascinating cities.
“Tales of Two Cities” is presented as a part of Friends of Chamber Music’s 65th season on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Gates Concert hall at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver.
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An Interview with Tafelmusik’s Alison Mackay on Tales of Two Cities

On March 10 at Walt Disney Concert Hall the renowned Toronto-based historically-informed performance (HIP) orchestra Tafelmusik will present Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House, a multi-media exploration of the rich musical tradition and innovations of eighteenth-century coffee houses in Germany and Syria.
The program, directed in her début by Tafelmusik’s recently-appointed Music Director Elisa Citterio, unites musicians from Western and Arabic traditions performing entirely from memory in a fusion of narration, projected images, and music. Tales of Two Cities will feature works by Bach, Handel, and Telemann alongside traditional Arabic music performed by Trio Arabica on qanun, percussion, and oud…
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Paul Jacobs, organ

[Organist Paul Jacobs, hailed] as “one of the major musicians of our time.” Free concert funded by Rollins College through the Faith Emeny Conger 54 Visiting Organist Concert Series in Honor of John Oliver Rich ’38.
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Paul Jacobs, organ

This performance is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
The only organist ever to have won a GRAMMY Award (for Messiaen's "Livre du Saint-Sacrement"), Paul Jacobs transfixes audiences, colleagues and critics alike with imaginative interpretations and charismatic stage presence. Hailed as "one of the major musicians of our time" by The New Yorker 's Alex Ross, Mr. Jacobs has been an important influence in the revival of symphonic works featuring the organ, drawing from his deep knowledge of western music to enlighten listeners, and is a true innovator in the advocacy of organ repertoire, performing and encouraging the composition of new works that feature the organ. 
Free concert funded by Rollins College through the Faith Emeny Conger ‘54 Visiting Organist Concert Series in Honor of John Oliver Rich ’38.
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Winter Park Bach Festival - Paul Jacobs, Organ

[The Grammy Award-winner organist Paul Jacobs], called “one of the most supremely gifted organists of his generation” by The Chicago Tribune, unites technical skills of the first order with probing emotional artistry.
This is a free event and no ticket is needed. Seating is General Admission, first come first served on the night of the concert.
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Paul Jacobs

When: Fri., Feb. 15, 7:30-9:30 p.m. 2019 
Price: free 
bachfestivalflorida.org
The Grammy-award winning organist [Paul Jacobs] performs a free concert.
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24 free shows happening in Orlando this week

Friday, Feb. 15…
Paul Jacobs 7:30 pm at Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park. 
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Amore Opera Presents Meyerbeer And Mozart In March 2019

Amore Opera continues its 2018-19 season at the Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church (91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027) with a production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's long-forgotten comic opera, Dinorah, sung in the original French. Amore will be using the score and orchestral parts recently restored by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Serving Amore's mission to discover and present hidden gems of the operatic repertoire, this production will be the first time Dinorah has been seen fully staged since its last production at the Metropolitan Opera in 1925, when it was performed in the Italian adaptation. Despite Meyerbeer's popularity during his lifetime and his important role in the evolution of the genre, his works were later criticized and suppressed by anti-Semitic contemporaries and governments throughout the 19th- and early 20th-centuries owing to his Jewish heritage. Interest in Meyerbeer's oeuvre has only recently been reignited in Europe, and Amore Opera is proud to bring the attention of the American audience back to this groundbreaking composer…
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Amore Opera Presents Meyerbeer And Mozart In March 2019

Amore Opera continues its 2018-19 season at the Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church (91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027) with a production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's long-forgotten comic opera, Dinorah, sung in the original French. Amore will be using the score and orchestral parts recently restored by the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Serving Amore's mission to discover and present hidden gems of the operatic repertoire, this production will be the first time Dinorah has been seen fully staged since its last production at the Metropolitan Opera in 1925, when it was performed in the Italian adaptation. Despite Meyerbeer's popularity during his lifetime and his important role in the evolution of the genre, his works were later criticized and suppressed by anti-Semitic contemporaries and governments throughout the 19th- and early 20th-centuries owing to his Jewish heritage. Interest in Meyerbeer's oeuvre has only recently been reignited in Europe, and Amore Opera is proud to bring the attention of the American audience back to this groundbreaking composer…
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Amore Opera's Meyerbeer Renaissance Begins With "Dinorah," March 19-23, 2019

Riverside Theatre
91 Claremont Avenue, New York City, New York, 10027, United States
March 19 19:30, March 20 19:30, March 23 14:30, 19:30
PROGRAMME
Meyerbeer, Giacomo (1791-1864): Dinorah, ou Le Pardon de Ploërmel   
PERFORMERS
Amore Opera                 
Richard Cordova, Conductor      
Nathan Hull, Director    
Richard Cerullo, Set Designer…
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Meyerbeer’s “Dinorah”

Amore Opera continues its 2018-19 season at the Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church with a production of Giacomo Meyerbeer's long forgotten comic opera, "Dinorah," sung in the original French. Opening on Tuesday evening, March 19, 2019, Amore will present Meyerbeers "Dinorah" in four performances, directed by Nathan Hull, conducted by Richard Cordova, and featuring a new set by Richard Cerullo. The rotating cast includes, in the role of Dinorah: sopranos Holly Flack and Jennifer Moore; in the role of Corentin: tenors Juan Gilberto Hernandez and Michael Celentano; and in the role of Hol: baritones Suchan Kim and Nobuki Momma. Bellah, Dinorahs pet goat, will be played by eight-year-old child actress Carina Golden.The schedule of performances for Dinorah is as follows: Tuesday evening, March 19, 2019, 7:30 pm; Wednesday evening, March 20, 7:30 pm; Saturday afternoon, March 23, 2:30 pm; and Saturday evening, March 23, 7:30 pm. For tickets at $45 adults; $35 seniors/students/children under 12; $35 - $25 partial view; $150 adult season pass and $115 senior season pass (includes any four productions) please visit www.amoreopera.org or call 1 866-811-4111.
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Amore Opera Presents Mozart’s “Così fan tutte”

Amore Opera will stage a new English version of Mozarts classic: "Cos fan tutte," directed by Nathan Hull and conducted by Jos Alejandro Guzmn, with sets designed by Richard Cerullo. The rotating cast includes, in the role of Despina: sopranos Deborah Surdi, Jessi Goebel, and Megan Marod; in the role of Fiordiligi: sopranos Iris Karlin, Rachel Hippert, and Elizabeth Treat; in the role of Dorabella: sopranos Melissa Serluco, Perri Sussman, and Victoria Tomasch; in the role of Ferrando: tenors Colm Fitzmaurice, Drew Watson, and Riad Ymeri; in the role of Guglielmo: baritones Robert Garner, Conrad Schmechel, and Jonathan Green; and in the role of Don Alfonso: baritones Nathan Hull, David Tillistrand, and Jay Stephenson.The schedule of "Cos" follows: Friday evening, March 15, 2019, 7:30 pm; Saturday evening, March 16, 7:30 pm; Sunday afternoon, March 17, 2:30 pm; Thursday evening, March 21, 7:30 pm; Friday evening, March 22, 7:30 pm; and Sunday afternoon, March 24, 2:30 pm.For tickets at $45 adults; $35 seniors/students/children under 12; $35 - $25 partial view; $150 adult season pass and $115 senior season pass (includes any four productions) please visit www.amoreopera.org or call 1 866-811-4111.
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WINTER PARK CELEBRATES “THE ARTS” ALL WEEKEND, FEB 15-18

The City of Winter Park will host their second Weekend of the Arts event, from Friday, February 15-18.
The days-long event will feature a majority of Winter Park’s arts and cultural institutions and organizations with live music, exhibitions, theatrical productions, and more, and is presented by the Arts and Culture Alliance of the Public Art Advisory Board.
The programming includes:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Paul Jacobs organ recital. 7:30-9:30 p.m. at Bach Festival Society of Winter Park
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Winter Park to host second annual Weekend of the Arts

Winter Park is considered by most to be an arts mecca — and the city agrees. 
Starting Feb. 15 and concluding Feb. 18, the city of Winter Park once again will display its artistic and culture side with the second annual Weekend of the Arts initiative.
The Winter Park Arts and Culture Alliance, comprising 18 arts and culture organizations and nonprofits throughout the city, has returned this year with a new schedule of cultural events, activities and art showcases to show off what makes Winter Park special…
The Weekend of the Arts also includes a free performance from Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs Feb. 15…
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Your First Look At The 2019-20 Nashville Symphony Classical Series

The upcoming 2019-20 Nashville Symphony Classical Series will highlight the talent of featured soloists…
RACHMANINOFF'S THE BELLS Nov. 21-23, 2019 
Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Paul Jacobs, organ; Nashville Symphony Chorus 

Vaughan Williams — Serenade to Music 

Parker — Organ Concerto in E-flat minor  (Live Recording) 

Rachmaninoff — The Bells 

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Joshua Bell at Centennial Hall, piano concert with Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal, and Sholin guitar competition

…Gala Piano Concert with Ursula Oppens and Jerome Lowenthal — Oracle Center for the Arts, 700 E. Kingston St., Oracle. Pianist. 4-6 p.m. Feb. 16. $35. 1-623-295-9677. oraclepianosociety.org…
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MY NEW YORK STORY: Misha Dichter

Misha Dichter is that rare musician who’d rather play in his head than perform on stage. “It almost feels like an intrusion,” says the celebrated pianist, who has called New York home for over 50 years. “I’m constantly asking questions. ‘Why did the composer do this?’ ‘How do I make his intentions sound clearer?’ ‘How can I make it easier?’ As soon as the concert is over, I have to find a more interesting way of performing.”
That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy it. “I love the idea of letting people hear everything I’ve found to be wonderful pieces,” he says, “but it’s such a pleasure for me to be spending time with these great composers every day.”
It’s certainly paid off. The musician, who made a much-lauded return to the stage at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall last year after recovering from a debilitating disease of the hands, has enjoyed a storied career since he won the Silver Medal at the 1966 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. At the time he was still a student at the Juilliard School. Since then Dichter has performed and recorded with many of the world’s most esteemed conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Kiril Kondrashin, Erich Leinsdorf, Neville Marriner, Riccardo Muti, Eugene Ormandy, Gerard Schwarz, Michael Tilson Thomas, and David Zinman, among many others…
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Utah Symphony reaches out to Latinos, unearths a Utah-inspired masterwork, and celebrates two big birthdays in its 2019-20 season

April 24-25, 2020 • Beethoven 2020: “Pastoral” Symphony (Masterworks Series) • Thierry Fischer, conductor; Paul Jacobs, organ; Jason Hardink, piano (Messiaen) • Handel: Organ Concerto No. 13 “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”; Barber: Toccata Festiva for Organ and Orchestra; Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”; Messiaen: “The Mockingbird” from “Des canyons aux étoiles.”
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Ursula Oppens Tribute Launches Terrance McKnight’s New Series

WQXR host Terrance McKnight [named one of Musical America’s 2019 Top Professionals] launched his “Only at Merkin” series on February 2, with a 75th birthday tribute to pianist and intrepid interpreter Ursula Oppens…Oppens was well feted, gifted onstage at the end of the program with dozens of roses in a beautiful vase and served with an enormous cake at a post-concert reception.
And Oppens, sporting glinting, flashy sandals that accentuated her otherwise black concert attire, worked hard for the accolades. She first gave the premiere of Tobias Picker’s URSULA (2018), a dazzling showcase described by the composer as a “very short piece with very many notes.” It is based on the opening measures of When Soft Voices Die, one of the Picker compositions Oppens premiered at the start of their 40-year association; she has since programmed and recorded his complete piano works…
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Utah Symphony Announces 2019-20 Season

Music Director Thierry Fischer and President & CEO Paul Meecham today announced the Utah Symphony's 2019-20 season…
Guest soloists during the 2019-20 season include…organist Paul Jacobs in Handel's Organ Concerto No. 13 ( The Cuckoo and the Nightingale ) and Barber's Toccata Festiva on April 24 and 25 [conducted by Thierry Fischer]…
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WA Concert Series To Feature Program Of Baroque And Classical Works Played On Historical Instruments

The WA Concert Series, led by world-renowned clarinetist Charles Neidich, will present its fourth program of the 2018-19 season on Saturday evening, February 23, 2019, at 7:30 pm at the Tenri Cultural Institute (43a W 13th Street, New York, NY 10011). Entitled "Old is New," this program is developed in collaboration with the violinist and historical instrument specialist Cynthia Roberts, featuring works by Handel, Mozart, and Bernhard Crusell performed on historical instruments. In addition to Ms. Roberts, Mr. Neidich will be heard partnered with his wife and musical collaborator, clarinetist/bass clarinetist Ayako Oshima; William Purvis, French horn; violinist Chloe Fedor; violist Edson Sheid; and cellist Madeline Bouissou.
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Wa Concert Series: Old is New

Tenri Cultural Institute
On Saturday 23 February 2019 at 19:30
PROGRAMME
Handel, George Frideric (1685-1759): Fitzwilliam Overture in D major, HWV 424       
Crusell, Bernhard Henrik (1775-1838): Clarinet Quartet no. 1 in E flat major, Op.2     
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791): Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581             
PERFORMERS
Charles Neidich Clarinet
Cynthia Roberts Violin
Ayako Oshima   Clarinet
William Purvis   Conductor
Chloe Fedor       Baroque Violin
Edson Scheid     Baroque Violin
Madeleine Bouissou      Baroque Cello
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Trio Arabica Joins Tafelmusik For TALES OF TWO CITIES

Tafelmusik's groundbreaking multimedia fusion of Saxon and Arabic music, Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House, returns to Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre under the direction of Elisa Citterio from February 21 to 24, 2019, before embarking on a six-city tour of the United States.

Inspired by the opulent world of 18th-century Saxon and Syrian coffee houses, Tales of Two Cities is performed entirely from memory by Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra with narration by actor Alon Nashman. In addition to music by European baroque composers such as Telemann, Handel, and Bach, audiences will hear classical Arabic music performed by Trio Arabica-Maryem Tollar, voice and qanun; Demetri Petsalakis, oud; and Naghmeh Farahmand, percussion. Complete program details are available at tafelmusik.org.
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WA Concert Series To Feature Program Of Baroque And Classical Works Played On Historical Instruments

The WA Concert Series, led by world-renowned clarinetist Charles Neidich, will present its fourth program of the 2018-19 season on Saturday evening, February 23, 2019, at 7:30 pm at the Tenri Cultural Institute (43a W 13th Street, New York, NY 10011). Entitled "Old is New," this program is developed in collaboration with the violinist and historical instrument specialist Cynthia Roberts, featuring works by Handel, Mozart, and Bernhard Crusell performed on historical instruments. In addition to Ms. Roberts, Mr. Neidich will be heard partnered with his wife and musical collaborator, clarinetist/bass clarinetist Ayako Oshima; William Purvis, French horn; violinist Chloe Fedor; violist Edson Sheid; and cellist Madeline Bouissou.
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Cheers and premieres to toast Ursula Oppens at 75

If that big box with the hammers and strings inside is a living instrument of today and not a museum piece, Ursula Oppens can claim a sizable share of the credit.
For roughly half a century, this New York-born pianist has been the working composer’s best friend, relentless in her quest for new piano music of quality and brilliant in her advocacy of it, both at the keyboard and on organization boards.
Merkin Concert Hall was packed Saturday night with her friends and admirers for a celebration of the pianist’s 75th birthday on its exact date. But there would be no sitting back and basking in the occasion for the hard-working artist, who played most of the program herself, including two world premieres and two other pieces composed for her…
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SoCal classical listings, Feb. 3-10: The Laguna Beach Music Festival with pianist Joyce Yang and more

Paul Jacobs The Grammy-winning organist plays works by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Ives and John Weaver in recital. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. Sun., 7:30 p.m. $20-$60. (323) 850-2000.
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Key Pianists Series Presents Pianist Jason Hardink In Weill Recital Hall At Carnegie Hall

American Pianist Jason Hardink Performs Works by Jason Eckardt, Debussy, Xenakis, Liszt, and Messiaen.
The Key Pianists Series, founded in 2015 by Terry Eder, will present pianist Jason Hardink in an unusually rich and challenging program of 20th-century works, complemented by selections from Liszt's Études d'exécution transcendante, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday evening, February 26, 2019, at 8 pm. Reviewing Mr. Hardink for ConcertoNet Harry Rolnick wrote: "a pianist of such extraordinary power-and memory-that he is difficult to forget" (December 14, 2015).
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Classical review: RPO with Jon Nakamatsu

The ability to program an interesting concert is one of the less-celebrated weapons in a conductor's arsenal. On Thursday night, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Ward Stare's programming was inspired. The conductor paired Rachmaninoff's "The Isle of the Dead" - Russian late-Romanticism par excellence - with the work that is still the coolest kid in the modernist class, Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring."
These two works indeed have almost nothing in common, but they did bookend an engrossing concert. Add in a favorite soloist, pianist Jon Nakamatsu, in a delightful performance of Beethoven's Second Concerto, and you have quite a satisfying menu…
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Key Pianists Series Presents Pianist Jason Hardink In Weill Recital Hall At Carnegie Hall

American Pianist Jason Hardink Performs Works by Jason Eckardt, Debussy, Xenakis, Liszt, and Messiaen.
The Key Pianists Series, founded in 2015 by Terry Eder, will present pianist Jason Hardink in an unusually rich and challenging program of 20th-century works, complemented by selections from Liszt's Études d'exécution transcendante, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday evening, February 26, 2019, at 8 pm. Reviewing Mr. Hardink for ConcertoNet Harry Rolnick wrote: "a pianist of such extraordinary power-and memory-that he is difficult to forget" (December 14, 2015).
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Tchaikovsky's Fifth

When: Thu., March 14
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is the centerpiece of tonight’s Cleveland Orchestra concert at Severance Hall. But that’s not the only piece you’ll hear at the concert. Organist Paul Jacobs has been invited to appear as a soloist and will give the highly anticipated American premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s Okeanos, Concerto for organ and orchestra. Tonight’s performance begins at 7:30, and concerts are scheduled through Sunday. Check the Cleveland Orchestra website for times and ticket prices. (Niesel)
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Things to do around Rochester from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6

1. The RPO with pianist Jon Nakamatsu
Jon Nakamatsu performs with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Thursday, Jan. 31, and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. (Photo: JEN RYNDA)
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Ward Stare, presents Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. The concerts will begin with Jon Nakamatsu performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19. The program also includes Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead. Tickets are $24 to $106.
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra to return to Penn State on Feb. 28

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Trio Arabica — in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in Schwab Auditorium — will take listeners back to 1740, when coffee houses were the places to listen to music and share stories in both the famous trading centers of Leipzig and in the ancient city of Damascus.
The visual splendor, music and stories of the historic German and Syrian locations come to life in “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House.” Tafelmusik will perform Baroque selections by J. S. Bach, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann, while Trio Arabica — an ensemble featuring vocals, percussion, oud (a lute-like instrument) and qanum (a stringed instrument) — intersperses Middle Eastern music…
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Critic’s Choice

Ursula Oppens has, for decades, been one of the essential pianists in contemporary classical music. More than presenting and interpreting the repertoire, Oppens has been a partner in creating new works with some of the greatest composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Elliott Carter and Fred Rzewski.
Oppens turns 75 on Saturday and her career will be celebrated at Merkin Concert Hall in a concert that puts the pianist and her collaborations front and center. The evening will be hosted by WQXR radio personality Terrance McKnight, and Oppens will be joined by her frequent performing partner, the Cassatt String Quartet. Together they will premiere a piano quintet by Laura Kaminsky (the Cassatt will also play Ravel’s String Quartet).
This is the kind of birthday party where the guests will receive the most substantial gift, the opportunity to hear Oppens play some of the music written for her—not only earlier works from Carter and John Corigliano, but another world premiere, this one composed expressly for her by Tobias Picker.
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Organist Paul Jacobs To Give American Premiere Of Deutsch's OKEANOS With Cleveland Orchestra

Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs has been invited to appear as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, to give the highly anticipated American premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's Okeanos, Concerto for organ and orchestra. Performances are slated for Thursday evening, March 14, 2019 at 7:30 pm; Friday evening, March 15, 2019 at 8 pm; Saturday evening, March 16, 2019 at 8 pm; and Sunday afternoon, March 17, 2019 at 3 pm at Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106…
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CLASSICAL | RPO with Jon Nakamatsu

Music Director Ward Stare returns to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra podium this week with an unusually substantial program, the first of several coming up this year. After Vadym Kholodenko's appearance earlier this month, you can hear another of the RPO's favorite guests, Jon Nakamatsu, performing Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto. This is probably the least-played but also the most charming of Beethoven's five piano concertos. Bookending the Beethoven are Rachmaninoff's impressively gloomy tone poem "The Isle of the Dead" and Stravinsky's eternally provocative "The Rite of Spring." This whole program is so rich, you may want to hear it twice.
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra presents "Nakamatsu + Stravinksy's Rite of Spring" on Thursday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, February 2 at 8 p.m., at Eastman Theatre's Kodak Hall. $24-$106. 454-2100. rpo.org; jonnakamatsu.com.
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Organist Paul Jacobs To Give American Premiere Of Deutsch's OKEANOS With Cleveland Orchestra

Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs has been invited to appear as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, to give the highly anticipated American premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch's Okeanos, Concerto for organ and orchestra. Performances are slated for Thursday evening, March 14, 2019 at 7:30 pm; Friday evening, March 15, 2019 at 8 pm; Saturday evening, March 16, 2019 at 8 pm; and Sunday afternoon, March 17, 2019 at 3 pm at Severance Hall, 11001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106…
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Tchaikovsky's Fifth

Severance Hall
11001 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States
Cleveland, Ohio, 11001, United States
March 14 19:30, March 15 20:00, March 16 20:00, March 17 15:00
PROGRAMME
Haydn, Joseph (1732-1809)                      Symphony no. 34 in D minor
Deutsch, Bernd Richard (b. 1977)             Okeanos (US première)
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich (1840-1893)     Symphony no. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
PERFORMERS
Paul Jacobs                                              Organ
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welzer-Möst                                   Conductor
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Ursula Oppens

To mark her seventy-fifth birthday, the pianist Ursula Oppens is throwing a party and inviting her friends. Nothing unusual—except that Oppens, an inveterate champion of new music, will spend her fête onstage, and those friends (all fellow New Yorkers) are represented by pieces that they wrote for her. The program, which includes two world premières, opens with three solo works: first, “Ursula,” a celebratory dedication by Tobias Picker, and then two opulently spiky pieces, “Two Diversions,” by Elliott Carter, and John Corigliano’s “Winging It, No. 3.” The Cassatt Quartet takes the spotlight to play Ravel’s String Quartet, before joining Oppens in a new piano quintet by Laura Kaminsky. — Fergus McIntosh
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PIANO RECITALS IN NEW YORK, AUTUMN 2018—A RETROSPECTIVE

Norman Krieger, who earned his Bachelor and Master’s degrees at Juilliard, can’t exactly be considered a stranger to New York, but he hasn’t played here in some years, focussing on his native Southern California, where he was a professor at the Thornton School of Music at USC between 1997 and 2016. He was appointed Professor of Piano at the distinguished Jacobs School of Music at the University of Indiana. Successful appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series have lured him back to New York, and that’s a good thing. On this occasion Terry Eder’s Key Pianists series sponsored the recital. An outstanding pianist herself, Terry Eder founded the series to give important players, much admired by their colleagues, more exposure among the general public. I have yet to attend any of these recitals that I did not thoroughly enjoy…
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PIANO RECITALS IN NEW YORK, AUTUMN 2018—A RETROSPECTIVE

…Daniel Ciobanu, a young Romanian pianist, who crowned a dense series of piano competitions extending over several years, in which he won several first prizes, with a silver medal and audience favorite award at the Rubinstein Piano Competition in 2017. A spectacular virtuoso technique was one to the qualities, still hot from the pan, he brought along to Weill from the competition. He made no attempt to conceal this, but never for one moment did he take his mind off the musical essence of the works he played…
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5 Questions to Ursula Oppens (pianist) on her 75th Birthday

You can’t tread very far into the world contemporary classical music without coming across legendary pianist Ursula Oppens. Her wide-reaching commissioning efforts have produced not just a high volume of works, but keystones of the modern piano repertoire by composers such as John Adams, Elliott Carter, Meredith Monk, Frederic Rzewski, Joan Tower, and Charles Wuorinen, to name a few. On Saturday, February 2, 2019, Oppens comes to Merkin Hall for a 75th Birthday Tribute concert hosted by WQXR’s Terrance McKnight. The evening features works by composers with whom she has had a longstanding partnership, such as Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, and Tobias Picker (world premiere). The program also features Ravel’s String Quartet and a piano quintet by Laura Kaminsky (world premiere), for which the Cassatt String Quartet joins Oppens.
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Christoph Denoth: Tanguero

Guitarist Christoph Denoth presents a new album of works inspired by South America, centered on the iconic tango. The continent of South America, with its diverse countries and various lines of historical development, has stimulated the creation of many musical traditions. The guitar has a central part to play as a national instrument in all South American countries. This collection (titled “Tanguero,” describing one who sings or dances the tango) brings together many of the styles and genres of that vast continent in a colorful blend of melodies, rhythms, and harmonies.
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Nakamatsu Steps In With Escher Quartet

What does a string quartet ensemble do when one of its violinists is unavailable for a tour date? The most practical answer is for the remaining three to look through the string trio literature for something else to play…
The three [remaining Escher] quartet members also had a secret weapon with which to enlarge their repertoire. This was pianist Jon Nakamatsu, who frequently appears in local concert programs. With him, the ensemble was equipped to play piano quartets, and they filled the rest of the concert with two masterworks of that form: Mozart’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493, and Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25…
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Jon Nakamatsu at Trianon Theatre

The San Jose Chamber Music Society presents its first concert of the year—a pair of piano quartets by Mozart and Brahms, plus a string trio by Ernst von Dohnanyi featuring Escher Quartet members and acclaimed local pianist Jon Nakamatsu. In 1997, the St. Francis High School graduate took home the gold medal from the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. He was the first American to take home the gold since Andre-Michel Schub claimed the prize back in 1981.
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Soundcheck: A chat with pianist Misha Dichter

Misha Dichter likens piano performance over decades to being a scientist.
“You keep going back to what is given and asking and asking and asking,” he said in a phone interview last week.
I spoke to Dichter while he was sitting in his library in Manhattan, the top shelves filled with music he feels he has yet to work through.
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IN SEARCH OF SWEET SOUNDS

Tanguero: Music from South America. Christoph Denoth, guitar. Signum Classics. $17.99…
The word “tanguero” means “one who sings or dances the tango,” and although neither Christoph Denoth’s voice nor his feet may be heard on a new Signum Classics CD, his sense of song and dance rhythms is everywhere present… Denoth, who is Swiss, shows considerable sensitivity to the ways in which South American dance forms, broadly defined, explore and interpenetrate European norms in the classical-music field. There is actually little on the CD that is new, whether arranged for guitar or written for it: Denoth appears more interested in presenting a carefully arranged and thoughtful program than in offering anything truly revelatory. So listeners interested in tango have likely heard El choclo by Ángel Villoldo, La Cumparsita by Gerardo Motos Rodriguez, Sueño de barrilete byEladia Blázquez, Sons de Carrilhões João by Teixeira Guimarães de Pernambuco, Se ela perguntar by Dilermando Reis, Te vas milongaby Abel Fleury, Milonga by Ernest Cordero, and Violetas by Julio Sagreras – or at least some of these. Familiar or unfamiliar, though, all the works share a folkloric background to which the composers in their own ways have applied rhythmic changes, traditional variation form, extended harmonies, and other techniques common to classical music. By bringing these elements to the forefront while performing the pieces with sensitivity, Denoth offers tango lovers – especially those of a refined and perhaps somewhat academic bent – a fascinating exploration of the ways in which simple dance forms have evolved into something more complex and of greater emotional depth.
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Clarinets and Piano at the Fore With the San José Chamber Orchestra

The tiny stage of the Trianon Theatre was packed with concerto soloists at the conclusion of the San José Chamber Orchestra concert on Sunday. Pianist Jon Nakamatsu and father-and-son clarinetists Jon and Alec Manasse returned to the stage to play together in a specially commissioned encore piece to celebrate their all having played full concertos earlier on.
Nakamatsu, always up for appearing in small-scale concerts when he’s at home in the South Bay, had performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Jon Manasse played Copland’s Clarinet Concerto, written for Benny Goodman, and was joined by his son Alec for a little-known Mendelssohn work for two clarinets.
In such a small venue as the Trianon, Nakamatsu kept a soft and gentle touch on a full-sized Steinway for his Beethoven, with occasional excursions into reasonable fortes. He played with pure evenly-paced lyricism in the first movement’s second theme and in the Andante. Clouds of furry overtones rose from light and tripping runs of notes. A pianist as great as Nakamatsu will always give a fine performance, no matter how restricted the setting.
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Fischer and Utah Symphony launch three-volume recording of Saint-Saens works

Classical music lovers can now take another little piece of the Utah Symphony home with them.
Last Friday, the Salt Lake-based symphony orchestra released the first compact disc of a planned three-volume set featuring the works of French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921). When all three volumes are released, later this year, it will mark the first complete commercial recording of the composer's five symphonies by an American orchestra…
The first volume of Saint-Saens' work includes Symphony No. 3 in C minor ("Organ"), featuring Paul Jacobs; "Danse Bacchanale" from Act III of the "Samson et Dalila" opera; and Trois tableax symphoniques d'apres La foi, based on the composer's incidental music for a play by Eugene Brieux.
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AMORE AND MORE AMORE

We enjoyed Amore Opera's La Bohème so much that we returned for the New Year's Eve Gala, eager to see how the work held up with a different cast. Although vocal artistry is the most important aspect, it certainly doesn't hurt to have a Rodolfo who looks like a young poet. 
Tenor Thomas Massey convincingly portrayed youthful high spirits in Act I, a lovesick poet in Act II, a troubled young man in Act III (breaking up is hard to do) and an anguished sufferer in Act IV. With superlative vocalism and Italianate phrasing, his performance added a great deal to the evening…As his Mimi, Michelle Pretto's generous soprano and winsome presence made her a fine romantic partner. Elisabeth Slaten did well as the flirtatious Musetta.
A major highlight was hearing Nathan Hull (President and Stage Director) sing the "Mikado's Aria" from the eponymous Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Mr. Hull, as we know from his writing for Scrooge, has a real feel for G&S, as do we. His delivery was a source of not-so-innocent merriment.
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