The New York Times

  • The third and, for now, last next to last in a brief series, this post collects all of my writing for The New York Times between my report on the American Symphony Orchestra concert of November 17 and the collective article "Critics Weigh In on Standout Operas of Recent Decades," both of which I posted

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  • The second in an occasional (though not occasional enough) series that started with a blog post in October, here's another omnibus entry covering all of my writing for The New York Times between the Bard Music Festival in mid-August and the New York Philharmonic concert of November 14, both blogged up individually elsewhere. The first

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  • New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, by Richard Termine/The New York Times New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: Patience at Symphony Space, January 3, 2014The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2014 Don't know that I would call Patience my favorite Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, as did a friend of mine on Facebook – I love

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  • "Tomorrow's Valhalla: Critics Weigh in on Standout Operas of Recent Decades"The New York Times, January 5, 2014 As longtime perusers of this blog already know, I always enjoy features in which all the classical-music reviewers for The New York Times are asked to mix it up on a single topic. I missed posting the recent

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  • Kate Soper and Gelsey Bell, by Kobi Davis Welcome to 2014—and what a crazy weekend for contemporary American opera in NYC January 11-12 is turning out to be. Not only will the second PROTOTYPE Festival be in full swing (about which more to come), but Morningside Opera will present Here Be Sirens, a new chamber

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  • American Symphony Orchestra, by Hiroyuki Ito American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, November 17, 2013The New York Times, Nov. 19, 2013 The other of my two reviews that ran on November 19. Another satisfying outing with the A.S.O., and maybe the first review in which I came right out and said that anyone still getting

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  • John Orfe of Alarm Will Sound, by Hiroyuki Ito Alarm Will Sound at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 16, 2013The New York Times, Nov. 19, 2013 Finally getting around to posting two reviews that ran in the Times last Tuesday. Both concerts were events I specifically requested, and neither disappointed. This Alarm Will Sound

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  • New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, November 14, 2013The New York Times, Nov. 18, 2013 A brilliant local premiere for Christopher Rouse's gorgeous Oboe Concerto by Liang Wang, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, bracketed by rock-solid renditions of Richard Strauss's Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra. This was the kind of night

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  •   Marcos Balter, by Kat Keers Classical Playlist: András Schiff, Janine Jansen, Rebekah Heller and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, Nov. 13, 2013 A playlist of a different kind than the sort this blog is known for, and an attempt at solving the recent problem of too many worthy recordings and not enough space in

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  • The New York Times building, by Richard Perry/The New York Times I've promised myself for quite some time now that I'd finally get around to catching up with posting my writing for the Times here with a couple of omnibus posts, and now I'm finally making the time for it. Here's the first, covering everything

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  •   Jean Stilwell with the American Symphony Orchestra, by Cory Weaver   Bard Music Festival, Weekend Two, at Bard College, August 16-18, 2013The New York Times, August 20, 2013 Here's a little something you probably figured out about me some time ago: I have a nearly pathological aversion to posting my work for The New

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  • Jon Gillock, by Kenneth Dickerman/The New York Times Jon Gillock at the Church of the Ascension, March 5, 2013The New York Times, March 7, 2013 A gripping account of Messiaen's awe-inspiring Méditations sur la Mystère de la Sainte Trinité, played by a Messiaen expert on an instrument made to order as part of an ongoing

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  • Marcello Giordani, Eva-Maria Westbroek and Mark Delavan, by Ruby Washington/The New York Times Francesca da Rimini at the Metropolitan Opera House, March 4, 2013The New York Times, March 7, 2013 I don't often get much direct response to my Times reviews in the form of email; usually that's reserved for social-media channels and the occasional

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  • Jennifer Koh, by Jennifer Taylor/The New York Times Jennifer Koh at the 92nd Street Y, March 2, 2013The New York Times, March 5, 2013 I specifically remember thinking, as Jennifer Koh managed to give each voice in Bach's fugues its own sound and personality, that the shadows playing on the wall behind her served as

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  • Collegiate Chorale, by Richard Termine/The New York Times Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall, February 27, 2013The New York Times, March 2, 2013 Here we are at Night After Night post No. 1,000. Feels auspicious, even if it's just a link to the latest of my New York Times reviews. If this particular report comes off

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  • Matoaka Little Eagle, Cleek Schrey, Mary MacKenzie and Jessica Schmitz, by Julieta Cervantes/The New York Times Avant Music Festival at the Wild Project, February 16, 2013The New York Times, Feb. 20, 2013 Last month I was lucky enough to get to hear a live performance of John Cage's Apartment House 1776 as part of the

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  • Allison Cook and William Ferguson in Powder Her Face, by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Powder Her Face at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, February 15, 2013The New York Times, Feb. 18, 2013 New York City Opera opened its latest season with a brash, intelligent and sexy staging of English composer Thomas Adès's notorious debut

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  • Brentano String Quartet, by Karsten Moran/The New York Times Brentano String Quartet at Zankel Hall, February 12, 2013The New York Times, Feb. 15, 2013 The world premiere of Steven Mackey's thoughtful, engaging One Red Rose, a fascinating reflection on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, shared a program with cheery Haydn and grandiloquently

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  • Trombonists of the Juilliard Orchestra, by Michael Nagle/The New York Times Juilliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, February 9, 2013The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2013 Not many people know it, but we live in a golden age for contemporary concert-band music, with both well-established composers and inventive up-and-comers creating new pieces for (mostly) collegiate wind

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  • Soloists and the Orchestra for the Next Century, by Tina Fineberg/The New York Times Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall, February 6, 2013The New York Times, Feb. 11, 2013 Given that Penelope, a large-scale song cycle composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider and sung by Shara Worden and recorded for the New Amsterdam record label,

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