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New York Philharmonic Young People’s Concert at Avery Fisher HallThe New York Times, January 14, 2008 I got about halfway through a post about the Met’s Saturday night performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia on Sunday afternoon before duty called me away; I hope to finish and post it later today. The short version: Garanča…
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On Monday morning, I had the pleasure of addressing attendees at Chamber Music America’s New Music Institute, held at New York University’s Kimmel Center. Friendly interrogator Richard Kessler and I discussed successful strategies for programming, presentation and promotion of new works. We covered a lot of ground, including multimedia presentations, themed programs and alternative venues.…
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(Posted this morning on the TONY Blog) Lorin Maazel, music director of the New York Philharmonic and an experienced hand in the opera pit, returned to the Metropolitan Opera last night after a 45-year absence to conduct Die Walküre, the second installment in Richard Wagner’s "Ring" cycle and arguably the most popular. It was big…
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Walking on 34th Street this afternoon on my way to TONY‘s palacial west side HQ, I was startled to see a photograph of Lorin Maazel staring out from the front page of the New York Sun. (The photo, left, is credited to Stephen Chernin/AP.) Immediately alarmed, I rushed over to the newsstand to see what…
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Miguel Frasconi — composer, improviser and player of a magical glass menagerie — has marked the recent passing of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Ike Turner with an utterly ingenious mash-up that absolutely demands to be heard. He’s also pondered some reader feedback about the piece. (Thanks to the Friday Informer for the tip.)
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Flushing Mall, January 1, 2008: The first sign was taped over a spotless sink in the men’s room, the second over a plastic trash bin. Around the corner, two impressive limited-edition Be@rbrick 1000% size figures stared out of a toy store window. Dr. LP and I opted for two of the regular-size Be@rbrick figures (roughly…
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As published in the December 27 edition of Time Out New York, here is my annual list of the top ten events, happenings and developments in New York City’s classical music scene for 2007 (in alphabetical order), followed by lists of my top ten classical and non-classical recordings. "Berlin in Lights" Carnegie Hall’s ambitious salute…
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The most striking thing I’ve read about Canadian band The Musical Box is that Peter Gabriel (pictured left) once took his children to see the group, so that they would understand what daddy did back when he was a lanky young man with an inverse mohawk shaved into his shaggy hair. For some years now,…
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Master drummer Billy Hart is leading his killer quartet with pianist Ethan Iverson, saxophonist Mark Turner and bassist Ben Street (L-R in Jim Eigo’s photo, above) through Sunday night at Iridium in midtown Manhattan. I reviewed this group at the Village Vanguard in April 2006 (go here, scroll down), and caught it again in the…
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The New York Philharmonic Messiah at Avery Fisher HallThe New York Times, December 21, 2007
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The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the Rose TheaterThe New York Times, December 19, 2007
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Philip Glass has had a huge 70th-birthday year, and now he’s sharing his good fortune. Head over to Glass Notes, the official Glass blog, and you can download free of charge an exclusive unplugged performance of "Raising the Sail," a cue from Glass’s score for The Truman Show, taped live in Gmuden, Austria during the…
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Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola and Isaac Mizrahi does Peter and the Wolf at the Guggenheim MuseumThe New York Times, December 17, 2007
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The New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie HallThe New York Times, December 11, 2007
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(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog) Peter Cherches — poet, occasional vocalist, jazz fan and food blogger extraordinaire — compiled a concise but thorough research guide covering the history of New York’s downtown music scene(s) for the Fales Library at New York University earlier this year. Today he posted his work online for everyone’s…
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The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at the New York Society for Ethical Culture and The Tallis Scholars at St. Thomas ChurchThe New York Times, December 8, 2007
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I’ll be the first one to admit that I have been a very, very slack blogger just lately: I’ve been out to see and hear things almost every night, but workload, official assignments and my much-discussed technical problems have kept me from writing much of anything. Last night I heard Einstein on the Beach, or…
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Sad news has poured in at a steady pace today. I had no personal connection with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Andrew Imbrie or H. Wiley Hitchcock. But my life has been enriched by the work of each, so I turn to the words of more knowledgeable souls. Alex Ross on Karlheinz Stockhausen Robert Commanday on Andrew Imbrie…
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Here is a complete list of this year’s classical Grammy nominees. There’s a lot here to talk about, but for now, discuss amongst yourselves. Hearty congratulations to my old friend and colleague Blanton Alspaugh for the Producer of the Year nod. Field 29 — Production, Classical Category 96 Best Engineered Album, Classical (An Engineer’s…
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Alain Planès at the Frick CollectionThe New York Times, December 4, 2007
Night After Night 