Month: March 2011
-
By Philippa Kiraly I first heard soprano Julianne Baird singing Baroque arias around a quarter century ago. I thought her voice was perfect then, but now, maturity has added more depth to a rich purity of sound making hearing her an experience not readily forgotten. Baird was performing with Gallery Concerts at Queen Anne Christian…
-
By Gigi Yellen A piano trio plays an all-Beethoven concert. So? So pianist David White’s sparkling standup delivery of script-free program notes, his hammy interpretations at the keyboard, and his jazz-combo-like connections with cellist Meg Brennand and violinist James Garlick combine to make an Onyx concert memorable. The program was smartly constructed, opening with Beethoven’s…
-
By R.M Campbell Arguably the most ambitious exploration of Handel ever held in Seattle — the American Handel Festival — opened Friday night with soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian singing music written for the famed Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Along with J.S. Bach, Handel is one of the twin towers of Baroque music. It is a mountain top,…
-
Andriessen isn’t as well known as his American minimalist counterparts. John Adams is close to a household name even if he doesn’t fit squarely in the minimalist frame anymore. Steve Reich and Terry Rile, not as well known, are endlessly inventive. Philip Glass is the purest exponent of the style. To compare Andriessen to these…
-
By Philippa Kiraly It’s always a red-letter week when Marvin Hamlisch comes to town, and even more so this time since he brought an entire program of Cole Porter’s music with him. I caught the last of four performances with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall Sunday afternoon and Hamlisch, who has been doing this…
-
Lot’s of interesting stuff happening this week in Seattle. Dutch minimalist started a short residency at Cornish on Monday. Andriessen’s Seattle stop concludes Wednesday with a recital where six pieces by the composer will receive their Seattle debut. This weekend Jan Harty continues her Music Northwest series. Her programs are always some of the most…
-
Seattle Symphony concertmaster Maria Larionoff plans to step down as the orchestra’s concertmaster at the end of this season. The move isn’t exactly surprising. Larionoff was picked to be the SSO’s concertmaster after the position went unfilled for a number of years. She was also one of four concertmasters for a time; an experiment unique…
-
The Boston Symphony sent out this press release today. Does this mean Ricardo Chailly is packing his bags? BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe announced today that as of September 1, 2011, James Levine will step down from his current role as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2004.…