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The Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia at Zankel HallThe New York Times, January 28, 2009 A new work by MSM president Robert Sirota receives its world premiere on a program featuring music by Grieg and Richard Strauss, the latter featuring more than a few superstar ringers on stage.
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The Miró Quartet at Weill Recital HallThe New York Times, January 27, 2009 This bright young string quartet shoots off sparks in native-born works by Antonin Dvořák, Charles Ives and Kevin Puts.
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The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher HallThe New York Times, January 24, 2009 Riccardo Muti conducts strangely pedestrian Haydn (with a little help from Thomas Quasthoff) and positively radiant Brahms.
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Robert Ashley's Celestial Excursions at La MaMa E.T.C. AnnexThe New York Times, January 20, 2009 A review from Ashley's recent triple bill in the East Village. I never managed to catch Dust, the only one of the three I'd not seen previously, nor did I see the revised version of what's now called Made Out…
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CD review: LIGETI: ‘Lux Aeterna,’ ‘Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin,’ Sonata for Solo Viola; HEPPENER: ‘Im Gestein’Susanne van Els, violist; musikFabrik; Cappella Amsterdam, conducted by Daniel Reuss.Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901985; CD.The New York Times, January 18, 2009(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble) A review of a wonderful recent release that might easily have crept up to…
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(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog) We've been enjoying the sounds we've been hearing from Victrola, a newish all-female "bandsemble" led by classically trained composer and groove-oriented keyboardist Missy Mazzoli. Turns out, however, that a certain multinational media conglomerate we won't specify felt the group's name infringed upon that of one of its long…
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Among the casualties of the dearth of original blog posts that resulted from my job change last fall was my playlists, those recaps of the more meaningful things to have gone through my head from post to post. Honestly, a lot of what I've been listening to in recent months isn't altogether pertinent for listing:…
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"Mahler for the Children of AIDS" at Carnegie Hall and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Rose StudioThe New York Times, January 17, 2009 Two reviews from this week's activities. The first covers a charity performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, conducted by George Mathew and performed by principal players and other…
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(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog) Sobering news arrives from Steven Joerg of Brooklyn ecstatic-jazz indie label AUM Fidelity: Saxophonist and bandleader David S. Ware, whose titanic sound and spiritualized compositions have long made him a pillar of the free-jazz/Vision Festival crowd, is seriously ill and in dire need of a kidney transplant. According…
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Olli Mustonen at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe New York Times, January 14, 2009 The provocative Finnish pianist plays Tchaikovsky's The Seasons and his own Jehkin Iivana, and collaborates with members of the New York Philharmonic in Shostakovich's Piano Quintet.
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(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog) Despite earlier denials in the press, former Miller Theatre impresario George Steel has just this afternoon accepted the position of former Dallas Opera general director. In a move that in the end surprised no one, Steel is on his way back to New York City, where he is…
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Yesterday's New York Philharmonic press conference was webcast live for invited international e-attendees. "Smile when you look back," orchestra president Zarin Mehta urged those present on the Avery Fisher Hall stage as he pointed out the cameras behind them, "and don't do anything you don't need to do." But don't take my word for it…
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(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog) Alan Gilbert under the spotlight "Evolution, not revolution" was the theme of the morning when the New York Philharmonic gathered the local press corps, artists, assorted guests and dignitaries on the stage at Avery Fisher Hall for a press conference announcing details of its 2009–10 season. Speculation had…
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Ensemble ACJW at Paul Hall, the Juilliard SchoolThe New York Times, January 12, 2009 Asher Fisch conducts Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and Lucy Shelton is featured in Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire.
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The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher HallThe New York Times, January 10, 2009 The U.S. premiere of Tristan Murail's Gondwana, along with performances of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 11, Debussy's La Mer and Messiaen's Oiseaux exotiques. Ludovic Morlot conducts; Olli Mustonen is the soloist.
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Time, at last, to share my picks for the year. Honestly, what follows has been up on the Time Out New York website for more than a week now (here and here). But in forcing myself to actually observe a rare week off from work (Dec. 24 to Jan 1.), I included blogging in that…
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The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan OperaThe New York Times, December 24, 2008 Happy holidays, everyone. Back in a few days with this year's top picks.
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MMArtists in Concert at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe New York Times, December 22, 2008
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I come not to praise Gilbert Kaplan, nor to bury him. Instead, what follows is my attempt to make peace with an unusual situation in which I found myself embroiled during the past week — in large part within the confines of my own skull. Not quite two weeks ago, I had the unique experience…
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"Independent Classical Labels Embrace a D.I.Y. Ethos"The New York Times, December 21, 2008 From tomorrow's Arts & Leisure round-up of the year in culture, here's my essay on the continued proliferation of significant record labels run by artists, ensembles and composers. That such labels exist is nothing new, a point I'm sure is clear to…
Night After Night 