Classical News & Reviews
L'Arpeggiata and 'La lyra d'Orfeo' at Zankel Hall
Tickets are available here, as the vocal music of Luigi Rossi is performed by L'Arpeggiata, which the New York Times calls "...the superb early music ensemble with a quirky sensibility." Rossi juxtaposes styles within a single work, often shifting from intense recitative to mellifluous song. ...
Pianist Daniil Trifonov Plays 'Hommage to Chopin' at Carnegie
Tickets available here. The silken legato line, glittering ornamentation, melancholy sighs, and sheer brio of dazzling pianism define Chopin’s music. The sensational young pianist Daniil Trifonov takes a deep dive into the Polish genius’s world and the music he inspired. Trifonov performs Chopin ...
Carnegie Hall's Exciting Fall 2017 Season Is On Sale Now!
Click here for a great season of Philadelphia, Trifonov, Israel, Nézet-Séguin, Mariinsky, Bronfman, Mehta, Lang, St. Luke's, Corea, Hannigan, Shaham, Matsuev, Hahn, Hadelich, Gergiev and more...
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecila Plays Mahler's Haunting Sixth ...
Tickets are available here as Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Celina continues their Carnegie Hall engagement. Tragedy and rapture are the essence of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. The storm-tossed finale’s three titanic hammer blows presaged personal tragedies in Mahler’s life, including his own ...
Orchestra of St. Luke's and Heras-Casado play Mozart and Beethoven ...
Click here for tickets as OSL's fiery conductor laureate Pablo Heras-Casado opens its season at Carnegie with Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor, joined by Camilla Tilling, Susanna Phillips, Thomas Cooley, Michael Samuel and Westminster Symphonic Choir in a performance that will be a season ...
Michael Feinstein With the Music of Harold Arlen at Zankel ...
Tickets are available here for Standard Time with Michael Feinstein: Harold Arlen was one of the great song masters of the 1930s and ’40s, composing such unforgettable hits as “Get Happy,” “Stormy Weather,” and the Academy Award–winning “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of ...
Philadelphia Opens Carnegie Season with Bernstein, Gershwin, Lang Lang & Chick ...
Tickets are available here as New York's classical music season begins officially with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra playing a popular program of Gershwin and Bernstein. Popular pianist Lang Lang, jazz icon Chick Corea, and 14-year-old Maxim Lando join Philadelphia for a ...
The Young Sphinx Virtuosi Play Music from Vivaldi to Jimmy ...
Click here for tickets as the young Detroit-based performers land at Stern Auditorium for a most interesting concert of string music. They make the New York premiere of the Carnegie Hall co-commission, Jimmy Lopez's Guardian of the Horizon: Concerto Grosso for Violin, Cello, and Strings. ...
Soprano Renée Fleming Sings at Carnegie Hall
Tickets are available here for Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall. "Vocally, Fleming’s renowned sumptuous sound has only slightly retrenched with age – ever so. She is smart, and she navigates her vocal journey with the shrewdness of that of her character work." That is ...
L'Arpeggiata and 'La festa d'Arpeggiata' at Zankel Hall
Tickets available here. An improvised double bass solo with a riff on Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," a rousing encore of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," and an impassioned Purcell song are some of the delights L'Arpeggiata brings to every performance. Artistic director Christina Pluhar is joined ...
Review: American Classical Orchestra Excels in a Revelatory Concert at Alice Tully Hall
By Christopher Johnson, Contributing Writer, September 18, 2017
Let’s cut right to the chase: the American Classical Orchestra is one terrific outfit, and their concert this past Saturday evening at Alice Tully Hall was a mind-blower.
This is a ...
Carnegie Hall Prepares for a Powerful Season of Exciting Programming
By Christopher Johnson, September 14, 2017
Carnegie Hall opens its 2017-2018 season on October 4, with the annual gala in the main hall, this time featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and a whole slew of bold-face names, including Yanick Nézet-Séguin, Chick ...
ZEALnyc FALL PREVIEW: Classical Music
ZEALnyc, September 12, 2017
The fall season typically signals a time of new beginnings, as well as the commencement of performances that we’ve been anticipating since they were first announced months ago, and this year is no exception. This season heralds ...
Review: American Classical Orchestra Excels in a Revelatory Concert at ...
By Christopher Johnson, Contributing Writer, September 18, 2017 Let’s cut right to the chase: the American Classical Orchestra is one terrific outfit, and their concert this past Saturday evening at Alice Tully Hall was a mind-blower. This is a “period-instrument ensemble,” using “era-specific performance techniques” proper ...
Art Break: Water-Inspired Works by Maya Lin at Pace Gallery
By A. E. Colas, Contributing Writer, September 18, 2017 This week Art Break is highlighting Maya Lin, a unique voice in contemporary art. Among her many strengths as an artist is the ability to use unusual materials, such as water, to invoke a mood or state of ...
The Arts Converge at the 12th Annual NY Art Book ...
By A. E. Colas, Contributing Writer, September 15, 2017 The NY Art Book Fair is a great way to kick off the fall season of art fairs in New York City. Now in its twelfth year with over 370 vendors from 28 countries, this free event showcases the intimate ...
Carnegie Hall Prepares for a Powerful Season of Exciting Programming
By Christopher Johnson, September 14, 2017 Carnegie Hall opens its 2017-2018 season on October 4, with the annual gala in the main hall, this time featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra and a whole slew of bold-face names, including Yanick Nézet-Séguin, Chick Corea, and Lang Lang. Like much ...
ZEALnyc FALL PREVIEW: Arts and Culture in Canada
By Caitlin Leonard, Contributing Writer, September 13, 2017 This fall, Canada’s arts scene is going strong with international ballets, film festivals, and tons of outdoor performances and activities. Venture up North to catch the biggest names in music, art, and the movies, and enjoy the fall ...
Celebrate All Things Italian at San Gennaro
ZEALnyc, September 12, 2017 For the 91st time the Feast of San Gennaro, a faith-based celebration honoring the Patron Saint of Naples, Italy, takes place in the neighborhood of Manhattan affectionately known as "Little Italy" (Mulberry Street between Canal and Houston Streets; the festival stage is located ...
ZEALnyc FALL PREVIEW: Classical Music
ZEALnyc, September 12, 2017 The fall season typically signals a time of new beginnings, as well as the commencement of performances that we've been anticipating since they were first announced months ago, and this year is no exception. This season heralds the initial centennial celebrations for legendary ...
Art Break: All You Need is Love (And Some Great ...
By A. E. Colas, Contributing Writer, September 11, 2017 This week, Art Break is thinking about what artists do to show love, so our choices feature artists who are passionate about creating and connecting with others. Robert Rauschenberg’s friendships, Leon Polk Smith’s joyous colorful forms, ...
Review: NYCO Brings the Old West to Life in Puccini's ...
By Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, September 8, 2017 New York City Opera has not only successfully risen from the ashes, but is doing so through stimulating programming that fills a needed niche. They have opened this season with Puccini's overlooked, but heavenly, La fanciulla del West, and ...
Jazz Notes: Drummer Matt Wilson Channels Poet Laureate Carl Sandburg ...
By Dan Ouellette, Senior Editor ZEALnyc, September 8, 2017 The kinship between jazz and poetry has been a mainstay of the fine arts world, dating back to the 1920s and most prominently spawned during the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat movement and the hip-hop generation. Most often, the ...
Review: NYCO Brings the Old West to Life in Puccini’s ‘La fanciulla del West’
By Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, September 8, 2017
New York City Opera has not only successfully risen from the ashes, but is doing so through stimulating programming that fills a needed niche. They have opened this season with Puccini’s overlooked, ...
Review: Schumann and Brahms Shine Bright at Mostly Mozart
By Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, August 18, 2017
This has been quite the year for New York audiences to revisit the music of Robert Schumann, and this former sceptic has been finding great art therein. Recent concerts at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart ...
Commentary: Thoughts on Polymath’s Exploration of Music and Philosophy
By Leonard Bopp, Contributing Writer, August 17, 2017
This past Sunday there was a summer lab project performance at National Sawdust involving the combined forces of Found Sound Nation and Polymath Club. In order to appreciate the work of Polymath Club, a ...
Review: A Dynamic Duo—Bell and Isserlis—Are ‘Perfectly Synched’ at Mostly Mozart
By Joshua Rosenblum, Contributing Writer, August 9, 2017
Not many musicians can match violinist Joshua Bell for the sheer ferocity he brings to his music-making, but cellist Steven Isserlis is his perfect foil. Friends, colleagues, and sparring partners for three ...
The State of the Art—Thoughts on the Final Week of ‘Bang on a Can Festival’
By Leonard Bopp, Contributing Writer, August 8, 2017
NORTH ADAMS, MA. When curating a project, an exhibition, a concert, even a festival, there are typically two approaches the producing organization may take. One, is to organize around a particular idea, ...
Bard Music Festival Focuses on ‘Chopin and His World’
ZEALnyc, August 8, 2017
As many summer festivals are beginning to wind down, there’s one just to the north of New York City that is getting ready to commence. The 28th annual Bard Music Festival, taking place on the campus of Bard College in ...
Review: Ksenija Sidorova—Accordionist Extraordinaire—at Mostly Mozart
By Joshua Rosenblum, Contributing Writer, August 7, 2017
Ksenija Sidorova’s program bio says that she is “the world’s leading ambassador for the accordion.” After seeing her solo recital on August 5 at the Kaplan Penthouse, as part of Mostly ...
Review: Bang On A Can’s ‘Road Trip’ Reflects on the Journey
By Leonard Bopp, Contributing Writer, August 2, 2017
North Adams, MA. Music and art, at their best, have always been modes of communication, methods of making abstract qualities of beauty feel experiential, tangible, visceral. But some works manage to so ...
Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble Is UNTAMED! at La MaMa This Summer
ZEALnyc, August 2, 2017
Now that the summer doldrums are upon us, you may feel as though you need something to shake things up a bit. Well, you’re in luck, because the dell’Arte Opera Ensemble is bringing lots of wildlife and “wild things” ...
Mostly Mozart Festival Opens Tomorrow—What To See and Hear
ZEALnyc, July 24, 2017
Summer in New York brings many performances and festivals for which we look forward, from the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in Central Park to the
An International Opera Festival in HD at Symphony Space
ZEALnyc, July 18, 2017
While many of the major opera houses are on hiatus until their fall seasons begin (at least here locally), there’s no reason you can’t still get your opera fix through some welcomed programming by the stalwart venue on the Upper ...
Bang On A Can Festival Is Making Some Noise Again This Summer in North Adams, MA
By Leonard Bopp, Contributing Writer, July 14, 2017
Thirty years after their debut concert—a day-long marathon concert of experimental music in a SoHo art gallery—the founders of Bang on a Can, the composer trifecta of Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and David ...
Review: Fireworks In Fog as the Fiery Daniil Trifonov Plays Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood
By Mark McLaren, Editor in Chief, July 13, 2017
The young pianist Daniil Trifonov dashed Berkshire tranquility last night in a fierce display of virtuosity at Ozawa Hall on the previously serene grounds of Tanglewood. In Lenox for Mozart with the BSO on
Review: Sixteen-Year-Old Daniel Lozakovich Makes Impressive Debut with BSO at Tanglewood
By Mark McLaren, Editor in Chief, July 10, 2017
After a wet start, heavenly weather accompanied the final days of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s opening weekend at Tanglewood. Under vivid blue skies and aside a gentle breeze, Andris Nelsons ...
Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra Opens 2017 Tanglewood Season with Drama
By Mark McLaren, Editor in Chief, July 8, 2017
The 2017 Tanglewood season opened last night with stormy drama on and off the stage as Andris Nelsons settles into the longest Berkshire residency since his appointment as BSO music director and the Boston Symphony ...
News from Tanglewood
ZEALnyc, Summer 2017
Young piano sensation Daniil Trifonov gives a fiery, virtuosic recital at Ozawa Hall prior to his Boston Symphony Orchestra appearance playing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467.
Tanglewood Opens On Friday and Continues Through Labor Day Weekend
ZEALnyc, with Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, July 6, 2017
Although there have already been a number of concerts and events taking place at Tanglewood, the festival’s official opening concert is on Friday, July 7, when Andris Nelsons conducts The Boston ...
Review: NYCO Celebrates the LGBT Community With ‘Angels in America’
By Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, June 19, 2017
Commencing a new annual tradition of programming in honor of LGBT Pride in June, New York City Opera recently presented the New York premiere of Hungarian composer Pétér Eötvös’s 2004 operatic ...
Tanglewood Is Making Music Again With Stars Onstage And Up Above
By Brian Taylor, Contributing Writer, June 16, 2017
New York City music lovers have many things to look forward to in the summer “off season.” Concerts in the park and Bargemusic to name just two. But the spiritual heart of the classical music world, ...
Caramoor Has Something For Everyone With This Summer’s Multi-Faceted Festival Lineup
ZEALnyc, June 15, 2017
As we move into summer, we begin the transition from our standard concert hall settings and begin enjoying music and theatrical presentations in the more natural surroundings of, well, nature. Summer festivals are a hallmark of the season ...
New York Philharmonic Goes Outdoors for Their Annual Concert Series in the Parks
ZEALnyc, June 12, 2017
The New York Philharmonic has completed its scheduled 2016-2017 concert season in David Geffen Hall this past weekend with Alan Gilbert as its Music Director before embarking to Shanghai for a series of concerts in July. So this week before ...
Review: Salonen Displays ‘Exquisite Range’ Leading the MET Orchestra at Carnegie
By Jose Andrade, Contributing Writer, June 12, 2017
Late spring/early summer is a special time in New York, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra makes great use of this time flexing their symphonic muscles, presenting orchestral works in New York. On June 3rd, ...
Review: ‘Das Rheingold’ Shines Bright at the New York Philharmonic
By Joshua Rosenblum, Contributing Writer, June 5, 2017
In the end, all the trouble started when the pretty girls made fun of the short, funny-looking guy who had a crush on them. Hurt and angry, he stole their gold. If I can’t have love, he reasoned, at least I ...
Review: Opera On An Aircraft Carrier—’Glory Denied’ By Opera Upper West
By Christopher Johnson, Contributing Writer, June 5, 2017
Perhaps the most fascinating component of this year’s New York Opera Fest was Opera Upper West’s production of Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied on the ...
Review: The MET Orchestra Is a Commanding Force—Even Outside the Opera House
By Joshua Rosenblum, Contributing Writer, June 2, 2017
The MET Orchestra’s popular post-season appearances at Carnegie Hall are a grand opportunity to hear the celebrated ensemble outside of the opera house, center stage, playing symphonic music. Often the ...
Review: Conductor Jakub Hrůša In An Impressive Debut With New York Philharmonic
By Jose Andrade, Contributing Writer, May 29, 2017
An all-Czech program at David Geffen Hall this past Thursday evening featured the debut of Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša leading the New York Philharmonic in works by Antonín Dvořák (Violin Concerto and ...
Rebecca Clarke Is ‘Composer of the Week’ In Upcoming BBC Series
ZEALnyc, May 26, 2017
It seems odd that we are still playing catch-up with highlighting and bringing focus to the accomplishments of the vast majority of female composers, both domestically and internationally, but there you have it. Our media counterparts across ...
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Returns to Carnegie
By Mark McLaren, Editor in Chief, May 26, 2017
If you are a NYC classical music lover, you can save on travel expenses. Talent comes to you. And generally to Carnegie.
One important orchestra begins a three-night Carnegie run next week, following a ...
Rite of Summer Music Festival Begins With A Bang This Weekend on Governors Island
Colonels' Row, Governors Island
http://riteofsummer.com
ZEALnyc, May 25, 2017
Rite of Summer Music Festival returns for its seventh season this weekend on Saturday, May 27 with performances by Talujon Percussion. They will be performing a program entitled “Dark Full Ride,” which includes works by ...
Review: Perahia Brings His ‘Colossal Artistry’ to Carnegie Hall With ‘Electric’ Results
By Joshua Rosenblum, Contributing Writer, May 22, 2017
The celebrated pianist Murray Perahia was the first North American to win the prestigious Leeds Competition in 1972 when he was 25. Since then, he has accumulated numerous other accolades, a large ...
Review: Kyung Wha Chung Is ‘Unequalled’ Making History at Carnegie Hall
By Christopher Johnson, Contributing Writer, May 19, 2017
As predicted, it was quite an evening. Looking like God’s soldier, her magnificent ...
Violinist Kyung Wha Chung Prepares for a Series of Firsts at Carnegie Hall This Week
By Christopher Johnson, Contributing Writer, May 15, 2017
Bach’s modestly-titled Six Solos for Violin without Bass Accompaniment are the Mount Everest of that instrument’s literature, ventured again and again in the safety of the studio—there are ...