Night After Night

Another ending, and a new beginning.

[I intended to post this here on Monday, but the DDoS hacker attack on Typepad put paid to that notion, so I posted this on Facebook. Here it is, in case you missed it before now.—Steve]

A new baby…a new work status…and now, a new job. What started with a simple email I received a few weeks ago has transformed with head-spinning speed into an opportunity I never saw coming, and obviously could not refuse. 

On Monday, May 19, I report to work as the new Assistant Arts Editor of the Boston Globe. 

My territory covers music – classical, popular and all shades in between – as well as visual art, for which I've had an intense lifelong passion. My new boss is Rebecca Ostriker. My remarkable colleagues will include Jeremy Eichler — just one of whose large shoes I stepped into at The New York Times in 2006 — as well as Matthew Guerrieri, David Weininger, James Reed, Sarah Rodman, Jon Garelick, Geoff A. Edgers and Sebastian Smee. To what extent I'll be writing remains to be seen in the short term, but anyone who knows me also knows that I can't clam up for long. 

Lara and I have begun our hunt for a new domicile; I'm a bit stuck on Jamaica Plain, but we're certainly open to suggestion. I intend to be settled somewhere by Friday, May 16, with Lara, Annina, Bruno and Lola joining me as soon as feasible if not immediately. 

Understand, my NYC friends, neighbors, comrades and colleagues, that I never envisioned leaving the city I've come to call home over the past 20 years. I hope you'll come up the highway to visit me from time to time, and I promise at some point to do the same. I also hope that we can see as many of you as we can during the next few weeks. 

Farewell but not goodbye, New York City. And hey, Boston: let's dance.

Agenda.

Truth be told, there wasn't a lot happening on Monday or Tuesday night, thanks to the convergence of Holy Week and Tax Day. Still, late is late, and late is frustrating – I'm still trying to get the hang of a schedule in serious flux, and there are new developments afoot as well. So much for all that free time I was supposed to have when I ended my Time Out stint! I've got two official gigs for The New York Times this week, and they're both choice occasions.

Official business

Wednesday, April 16: MATA Festival
The Kitchen; 8pm; $20, students $15

Produced by composers for composers, this always intriguing festival gets underway with the American debut of Finnish new-music group Uusinta. The program includes one instantly appealing prospect, Hikari Kiyama's Jōruri Death Metal, "influenced by the unlikely bedfellows of metal, Brian Ferneyhough, and Japanese folk music," plus further works by Aaron Helgeson, Alexander Khubeev, Joan Arnau Pàmies, Ilari Kaila and Sampo Haapamäki. The festival continues through Monday, April 21, and there's something worth hearing every day.

Saturday, April 19: Trillium J (The Non-Unconfessionables)
Roulette; 3 and 8pm; $35, advance $30; seniors and students $30, advance $25
Opens Thursday, April 17 (Acts I & II) and Friday, April 18 (Acts III & IV) at 8pm

Anthony Braxton's latest four-act opera receives its premiere in a semi-staged multimedia concert setting with vocal and instrumental soloists and orchestra. "I believe that the medium of opera is directly relevant to cultural alignment and evolution," says Braxton: a properly utopian viewpoint for this quixotic, vital venture. If a full day is too much Trillium, you can catch the four acts spread across two evenings on Thursday and Friday. Me, I'm in for the long haul, and hope to bring Annina to the matinee at the Tri-Centric Foundation's express invitation.

Elsewhere and -when

Wednesday, April 16:

Jocelyn Ho & Chris Pidcock play Kaija Saariaho, Anna Clyne, Olga Neuwirth, Arvo Pärt, Mauricio Kagel, Giacinto Scelsi, Nikolai Kapustin and Jocelyn Ho at Spectrum; 9:30pm (more)

The Manhattan String Quartet plays Eric Moe, Craig Walsh, Henri Dutilleux, Anton Webern and Igor Stravinsky at Tenri Cultural Center; 8:30pm (more)

JG Thirlwell & Sarah Lipstate at the Stone; 10pm (more)

Tigue Voices Up: New Poems Set to Music at Fordham University–Lincon Center 12th floor lounge; 7:30pm (more) FREE

Thursday, April 17:

Robert Ashley and Alex Waterman Vidas Perfectas at the Whitney Museum of American Art; 1:30 and 4:30pm (more)
Also Friday, April 18 at 1:30 and 6:30pm; Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20 at noon and 4:30pm; various segments at each performance

Axiom plays Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez at Alice Tully Hall; 8pm (more) FREE

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center plays Ezequiel Viñao, Detlev Glanert, Sebastian Currier, Osvaldo Golijov and Fred Lerdahl at the Kaplan Penthouse; 7:30pm, live stream on CMS website (more)

Curtis 20/21 plays Joan Tower and Johann Sebastian Bach at Miller Theatre; 8pm (more)

Mary Jane Leach at the Old Stone House of Brooklyn; 8pm (more)

Nate Wooley with Giacomo Merega at Prospect Range; 8:30pm (more)

Friday, April 18:

Lucian Ban with Mat Maneri and Tony Malaby at Greenwich House Music School; 7:30pm (more)

Brooklyn New Music Collective plays Glen Roven, Herschel Garfein, Thomas Millioto, Michael Rose, Ben Morss, Lowell Liebermann, Steven Gerber, Jen Baker, Adam Tendler and Julia Wolfe; 7:30pm (more)

Jason Lescalleet Trophy Tape at Anthology Film Archives; 7:30pm (more)

Karen Mantler Trio at Barbès; 8pm (more)

Gilles Vonsattel plays Frederic Rzewski, George Benjamin, Heinz Holliger, Olivier Messiaen, Franz Liszt and Leoš Janáček at Bargemusic; 7pm (more)

Saturday, April 19:

Composers Concordance All About Japan at Goddard Riverside—Bernie Wohl Center; 8pm (more) FREE

Luke Gullickson To Evening Lands and Marcel with Eliot Cole and Majel Connery at Spectrum; 8:45pm (more)

Nadav Lev plays Fausto Romitelli and more at Spectrum; 7:30pm (more)

Evan Calder Williams Violent X with Taku Unami at Issue Project Room; 8pm (more)

Sunday, April 20:

Architeuthis Walks on Land (Katherine Young and Amy Cimini) at Spectrum; 8:30pm (more)

Ramin Arjomand, Andrew Niess & Sarah Segner play Morton Feldman at Spectrum; 3pm (more)

Koen Holtcamp, Mind Over Mirrors and Mike Wexler at Union Pool; 8pm (more)

David Virelles Continuum at Greenwich House Music School; 7:30pm (more)

Agenda.

This week's agenda – delayed due to circumstances beyond my control, and reined-in because of my family's arrival in NYC to meet the newest member of the clan – includes just two events, both tomorrow night. That said, they're unquestionably meaty items.

Tuesday, March 25: Jacob Greenberg
Spectrum; 7:30pm; $15

Tuesday, March 25: Reinier van Houdt
Spectrum; 8:45pm; $15

Two recitals back to back; taken together, a pretty broad survey of pianistic modernism. Greenberg, pianist for the International Contemporary Ensemble, plays Beethoven's Sonata No. 31 in A-flat and Helmut Lachenmann's Serynade. Van Houdt, who plays in the Ives Ensemble and Ensemble MAE, heads to the outer limits in pieces by Luc Ferrari, Alvin Curran, Peter Adriaansz and Michael Pisaro—the last of which I wrote about here on Friday.

Elsewhere and -when

Monday, March 24: Benefit for Three Robert Ashley Operas at Issue Project Room (more)

Monday, March 24: Build, Victoire, itsnotyouitsme and Empyrean Atlas at Roulette (more)

Tuesday, March 25: Eric Huebner and Max Mandel play Annie Gosfield, Yotam Haber, Michael Vincent Waller, Gavin Bryars and Morton Feldman at Roulette (more)

Tuesday, March 25: Kathleen Supové and Le Train Bleu play Randall Woolf, Daniel Wohl, Sean Friar and Ted Hearne at Drom (more)

Wednesday, March 26: Chris Brown/Suzanne Thorpe/Nate Wooley and Alexandra Gardner at Issue Project Room (more)

Wednesday, March 26: Mivos Quartet plays Katharina Rosenberger at Longhouse Projects (more)

Wednesday, March 26: S.E.M. Ensemble and Ostravská banda celebrate Christian Wolff's 80th birthday at Roulette (more)

Thursday, March 28: Eviyan at the David Rubenstein Atrium, Lincoln Center (more) FREE

Thursday, March 28: S.E.M. Ensemble and Ostravská banda celebrate Christian Wolff's 80th birthday at the Bohemian National Hall (more) FREE

Thursday, March 27: String Orchestra of Brooklyn plays Eli Keszler, Catherine Lamb, Zach Layton and Doron Sadja at Roulette (more)

Friday, March 28: ensemble mise-en plays Reiko Füting, Brian Fennelly, Clara Hunter Latham, Enno Poppe and Isang Yun at Tenri Cultural Center (more)

Friday, March 28: Ghost Ensemble plays Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, Luciano Berio, Alvin Lucier, Damon Loren Baker and Sky Macklay at Spectrum (more)

Friday, March 28: loadbang plays David Smooke, Martin Iddon, Scott Wollschleger, Edward Hamel and Quinn Collins at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music (more)

Friday, March 28: The Music of Alvin Lucier with the Callithumpian Consort at Roulette (more)

Saturday, March 29: Jean-Baptiste Barrière composer portrait at Miller Theatre (more)

Saturday, March 29: Composers Concordance plays Milica Paranosic, Dan Cooper, Gene Pritsker, William Schimmel and more at the 92nd Street Y (more)

Saturday, March 29: The Music of Alvin Lucier with Charles Curtis and Stephen Drury at Roulette (more)

Saturday, March 29: nmperign and Peter Evans/Sam Pluta at Snugs (more)

John Zorn: Masada Book 3 at the Town Hall, March 19, 2014

John Zorn: Masada Book 3 at the Town Hall, March 19, 2014
The New York Times, March 21, 2014

The biggest surprise about this particular concert was the fact that I was there; I'd originally been scheduled to cover a different event, but a sick colleague prompted a last-minute shuffle, and here we are. Because of a last-minute space crunch, a few things were excised from the review without my knowledge. I reckon that at least a few people might be interested in the bits that were lost.

First, the paragraph about Masada numerology originally ended with an interesting announcement.

The reason? 215 plus 306 plus 92 equals 613, the number of commandments that Jews are obliged to observe, according to the Torah. A 614th commandment introduced after World War II, he added, will prompt a final, long-form Masada composition that he intends to write next year.

Keen-eyed Zornithologists will note that the first two numbers are actually 205 plus 316, a point we quickly corrected. My original draft as submitted and edited also identified the trio of Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey by their collective name, Fieldwork.

Finally, lost entirely in the cut was my final paragraph. While there's no way that I could have cited all the worthy performers who participated in Zorn's shuffle-concert, I did in fact name more than saw print. These things happen all the time, and no hard feelings – but for those who might be curious, here's the original ending.

Many Arms, a Philadelphia trio, read “Panim” in a manner that recalled the Nels Cline Trio in its punk-jazz-vinyl salad days. The guitarist Gyan Riley and the art-rock band Secret Chiefs 3 wrested adrenalized fusion from their respective selections. The singer Sofia Rei brought out a throaty romantic sway in “Setumah.” And Zion80, a joyous ensemble that usually patches Shlomo Carlebach’s songs into Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat template, found “Hod” amenable to its positively Zornian hybrid approach.

Agenda.

A week of big orchestral concerts ahead for coverage in The New York Times, and, as ever, plenty that I'd like to see were sleeplessness (well, additional sleeplessness) or cloning available options.

Wednesday, March 12: New York Philharmonic
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; 7:30pm; $39–$59

Alan Gilbert and the Phil continue the outstanding cycle of Carl Nielsen's orchestral music undertaken in collaboration with the Danish record label Dacapo, which has already produced a dynamic CD of the Symphonies Nos. 2 ("Sinfonia espansiva") and 3 ("The Four Temperaments"). This week's program includes the Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 (no nicknames) and Helios Overture, and it repeats on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16: Vienna Philharmonic (1, 2)
Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall; Sat at 8pm, Sun at 7pm; $34–$225

The Vienna Philharmonic returns to Carnegie for two more concerts under the Vienna: City of Dreams festival banner. On Saturday, Christoph Eschenbach fills in for an injured Daniele Gatti, conducting Schubert's Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished") and Mahler's Symphony No. 4, the latter with Juliane Banse as soloist. And on Sunday, Zubin Mehta steers a celebration of all things Viennese, from waltzes to Webern with a juicy centerpiece in Korngold's Violin Concerto (featuring Gil Shaham). Diana Damrau and the New York Choral Artists are also pitching in.

Elsewhere and -when

Monday, March 10: Jay Campbell plays David Fulmer, Simon Steen-Andersen, Matthias Pintscher and more at Weill Recital Hall (more)

Monday, March 10: Benjamin Hochman plays Luciano Berio, Oliver Knussen, Frederic Rzewski and Tamar Muskal at SubCulture (more)

Tuesday, March 11: Aventa Ensemble plays Rolf Wallin and Michael Osterle for Ear Heart Music at Roulette (more)

Wednesday, March 12: Imperial Topaz and Hex Breaker Quartet at Death by Audio (more)

Wednesday, March 12, and Thursday, March 13: Elliott Sharp's SysOrk at Roulette (more)

Thursday, March 13: Bang on a Can Peoples' Commissioning Fund concert at Merkin Concert Hall (more)

Thursday, March 13: Ensemble Signal plays Unsuk Chin at Miller Theatre (more)

Thursday, March 13: Rachel Golub and Nick Didkovsky at Spectrum (more)

Friday, March 14: David Del Tredici and Marc Peloquin play Del Tredici at Bargemusic (more)

Sunday, March 16: counter)induction plays Salvatore Sciarrino, Robert Suderburg, Ryan Streber, Douglas Boyce and Kyle Bartlett at Greenwich House Music School (more)

Sunday, March 16: String Noise and Friends at the Firehouse Space (more)

Wandelwatching: Michael Pisaro/Miguel Prado, White Metal

We had already agreed in principle that the entire structure of the piece would be derived from Mozart’s 40th Symphony, and that obviously, “White Metal” should carry a variation of the concept “Black Metal” and the term “white noise”.—Miguel Prado

Having declared last week in my initial Wandelwatching post that this series of essays is meant to keep track of upcoming concerts featuring pieces by Wandelweiser Group composers and their fellow travelers, I'm veering onto a parallel track already to share news of a record that's soon to arrive.

Lacking detailed notes, I can't fully explain the nature of the collaboration between Wandelweiser composer Michael Pisaro and Spanish composer/performer/provocateur Miguel Prado on White Metal, a new vinyl LP from the Italian label Senufo Editions. But what I've heard in the Soundcloud preview track embedded above is enough to assure me it will make for fascinating listening when it arrives.

I don't regret having ordered a copy from Giuseppe Ielasi via Discogs last week, since there are only 300 copies available and Erstwhile, my go-to source, doesn't tend to stock vinyl. That said, I'm always happy to recommend Experimedia, source of the Soundcloud excerpt that promptly hijacked today's posting.

I promise, especially to those composers and impresarios who obliged my request for concert listings last week, that I'll turn my attention to those promptly. But since I'm already on the subject of recordings, I'll finish with one more nod to the Classical Playlist that ran on The New York Times ArtsBeat blog on Wednesday, which included a pithy little capsule about a beautiful solo-piano disc by Eva-Maria Houben (as composer and performer).

It's the second time I've included a Houben disc in that still young Classical Playlist series, and it's unlikely to be the last since I've spent much of the past week spinning the four most recent CD-R releases from her own label, Diafani. People will talk…

Agenda.

After more than a month off the beat—and after a quiet soft-start (in multiple senses) with the very impressive opening event of the new series Music for Contemplation last Saturday night—I'm finally heading back out into concert life. There are three events on my agenda this week: two on assignment for The New York Times, the third a personal pick related to an upcoming NYT project.

Tuesday, March 4: Talea Ensemble
Austrian Cultural Forum; 7:30pm; free

Checking in with Talea is always welcome, whatever's on the bill. This ensemble is among the fewish NYC institutions deeply engaged with rigorous modernists and their progeny, one that keeps tabs on prominent European composers poorly represented stateside as well as emerging creators of substantial promise. Tuesday's program, part of Carnegie Hall's big Vienna: City of Dreams festival, includes recent chamber pieces by Olga Neuwirth, Bernhard Gander and Pierluigi Billone. According to the ACFNY website, this concert is already booked to capacity, but you can still make reservations for Talea's second program on Friday, March 7, which takes place at the more spacious Czech Center New York and includes large-ensemble premieres by the same three composers.

Thursday, March 6: The String Orchestra of Brooklyn
Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity; 8pm; $15, seniors and students $10

Strictly speaking, this isn't a performance by the SOB, but an evening of chamber music by Brooklyn-based composers, presented under the orchestra's banner. Whatever you call it, it's a chance to hear New York premieres by Christopher Cerrone, Ted Hearne and Scott Wollschleger, as performed by a clutch of excellent musicians that includes Mellissa Hughes, Timo Andres, Ashley Bathgate and the Mivos Quartet.

Sunday, March 9: Lamentatio: Darkness and Light
Trinity Church; 5pm; $25

This fascinating new six-concert series at Trinity Church is meant to explore concepts of darkness and light through a range of works—early and contemporary, sacred and secular. Several ensembles are involved, including Decoda, Novus NY and the Choir of Merton College, Oxford. The inaugural event showcases the wonderful Trinity Choir and its director, Julian Wachner; beginning with two portions from Ockeghem's Missa pro defunctis (late 15th c.), the program encompasses settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet by Ernst Krenek (1942), Alberto Ginastera (1946) and Orlando de Lassus (1585).

Elsewhere and -when

Monday, March 3, 7:30pm: Orli Shaham plays Steve Mackey and John Adams at SubCulture (more)

Tuesday, March 4–Sunday, March 9, 8 & 10pm: International Contemporary Ensemble at the Stone (more)

Tuesday, March 4, 8pm: Cygnus Ensemble plays Mario Davidovsky at Merkin Concert Hall (more)

Tuesday, March 4, 6pm: Ekmeles sings Peter Ablinger, Kaija Saariaho and more at Miller Theatre (more) <- free!

Wednesday, March 5, 7pm: Frances-Marie Uitti plays Giacinto Scelsi at the Italian Academy, Columbia University (more) <- free!

Thursday, March 6, 8pm: Charlemagne Palestine organ concert at Plymouth Church (more)

Friday, March 7, 8pm: Ensemble LPR plays Bryce Dessner, Jonny Greenwood and Bartók at Le Poisson Rouge (more)

Friday, March 7, 10pm: Fennesz with Lillevan—inspired by Mahler—at Zankel Hall (more)

Friday, March 7, 8:45pm: James Moore plays John Zorn and Lainie Fefferman at Spectrum (more)

Friday, March 7, 7:30pm: Nate Wooley Quintet plays Wynton Marsalis at Greenwich House Music School (more)

Saturday, March 8, 8pm: Stile Antico sings Byrd, Tallis and more at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (more)

Sunday, March 9, 5pm: The Improvised Traumdetung with Franz Hautzinger, Martin Siewert, Dieb13, Burkhard Stangl, Billy Roisz and others—inspired by Webern—at Le Poisson Rouge (more) <- free!

News: Unsound Festival New York 2014 lineup announced

Suzanne Ciani

Having taken 2013 off to venture into world domination elsewhere around the globe, the Unsound Festival plants its flag anew in New York City in early April. I wrote about this groundbreaking Polish fest and its founder, Mat Schulz, for The New York Times in 2010, so I'll refer you to that article for the basic facts.

There are some amazing events in store this year, including intriguing projects from Oren Ambarchi and Demdike Stare; a very promising collaboration featuring electronic-music pioneer Suzanne Ciani with Neotantrik (Andy Votel and Demdike Stare's Sean Canty); a rendition of Michael Pisaro's ricefall by Norwegian percussionist Håkon Stene; and a performance by "post-rave" duo EVOL featuring compositions by artist Hanne Darboven, to whose work I was introduced during an Eyvind Kang concert last year.

There's no official website just yet, but here's a quick run-down of the schedule as it presently stands.

UNSOUND FESTIVAL NEW YORK 2014

Presented by Fundacja Tone and the Polish Cultural Institute New York
Production Partner ISSUE Project Room

Wednesday April 2 8pm
Issue Project Room

* EVOL plays Hanne Darboven scores – USA premiere
* “Knots” with Oren Ambarchi, Sinfonietta Cracovia players, James Rutherford and Joe Talia – USA premiere  

(EVOL are co-presented with Mark Lewis at Yale Union)

Thursday April 3, 7.30pm
David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center

* Pietnastka
* Neotrantrik & Suzanne Ciani – USA premiere

Friday April 4, 8pm
First Unitarian Church, 50 Monroe Pl, Brooklyn

* Stara Reza
* Phill Niblock
* “Concealed” with Demdike Stare, Michael England and Sinfonietta Cracovia players – USA premiere  

Friday April 4, 10pm
Mutual Dreaming @ Cameo Gallery, Williamsburg

* DeepChord (Live)
* copeland (Live)
* Wilhelm Bras (Live)
* Huerco S (DJ)
* Visuals by Aurora Halal
* Lighting installation by Nitemind  

Saturday April 5, TBA (afternoon)
Location TBA

Artist talks and discussions 

Saturday April 5, 3pm
Issue Project Room  

Percussion event featuring
* Sean Meehan and Ben Manely
* Håkon Stene
* Hubert Zemler  

Saturday April 5
BAMcinématek at BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn

* “Rondo” (directed by Janusz Majewski) with a live score by Piotr Kurek
* Andy Votel presents “Kleksploitation” – USA premiere  

Saturday April 5, 9pm
The Bunker @ The Wick, 260 Meserole St, Brooklyn

* Porter Ricks (Live)
* Vladislav Delay (Live)
* Ital & Halal (Live) – world premiere
* Miles (DJ)
* Leisure Muffin (Live)
* Le Petit Garçon (Live)  

Sunday April 6, Time TBA (afternoon)
Experimental Intermedia

* Ben Vida presents “Damaged Particulates (undersong edition)” – world premiere  

Sunday April 6, 6pm
Issue Project Room

Bocian Records showcase
* Kapital
* Paal Nilssen-Love & Robert Piotrowicz – world premiere
* James Rushford & Joe Talia

Days between: New York Times writing, January 10–29, 2014

The New York Times building, by Richard Drew/AP

I'd intended to make the previous "Days between" post the last…until such time as I once again fall so badly behind that I can't locate the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to flog a bit of my writing for The New York Times here on my own site, anyway. Then I looked at the eight items on hold since my last post, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players performance of Patience on January 3, and changed my mind. What's past is past; time to clear out whatever remains and look ahead.

So, here: A profile of indie-opera impresario Beth Morrison; two reviews of shows in Prototype, the festival Morrison co-directs; two reviews of operas that were not part of Prototype; and three Classical Playlist posts from the Times's ArtsBeat blog – and thus we arrive at my present sabbatical. As ever and as applicable, the performance date is provided first, followed by the publication date.

One final note: The service information underneath the review of composer-soprano Kate Soper's brilliant musical-theater piece Here Be Sirens notes four further performances that were meant to take place between January 30 and February 2. Those performances were cancelled due to a sick vocalist, but watch out for a return engagement in September.

Prototype "Paul's Case" at HERE, January 8, 2014
January 11, 2014

In the first of two continuous acts, Paul is encircled and trapped by his teachers; in the second, the same singers, as hotel maids, buoy and buffet Paul’s airy elation.

Bronx Opera Company "The Rivals" at Lovinger Theater, January 11, 2014
January 13, 2014

In spirit, “The Rivals” harks to Rossini and Donizetti; in sound, it weds Puccini’s generous lyricism to the dancing meters of Bernstein’s “Candide.”

"Ears for Opera, Eyes on the Future – Beth Morrison, Opera Producer with Prototype Festival"
January 12, 2014

“I think the performer thing wasn’t right, because it was all about me, all about me, all about me,” she said. “The minute that it could be not about me at all, and about everything else, then I relaxed and became very excited and passionate.”

Morningside Opera "Here Be Sirens" at Dixon Place, January 12, 2014
January 23, 2014

…Brad Peterson’s video projections present an oceanic horizon increasingly cluttered with victims of the sirens’ irresistible allure — a quality shared by Ms. Soper’s remarkable show.

Classical Playlist: Louis Lortie, Daniel Barenboim, the Hilliard Ensemble and More
January 15, 2014

VIVALDI: Concertos for Two Violins and Strings I
Dmitry Sinkovsky and Riccardo Minasi, violinists; Il Pomo d’Oro
(Naïve)

SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7; ‘Tapiola’
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Robert Spano, conductor
(ASO Media)

PISARO: ‘asleep, forest, melody, path’
Greg Stuart, percussionist, and ensemble
(Soundcloud)

Mr. Pisaro’s close collaborator Greg Stuart leads a 30-member ensemble in a patient, unpredictable, exceedingly beautiful mingling of simple structures, improvised textures and field recordings

Prototype "Have a Good Day!" at HERE, January 15, 2014
January 17, 2014

After invoking the slumbering groceries (“Buttermilks in a deep sleep/Eggs in line, wearing calcium pajamas”), the cashiers robotically chant shopping lists and sales incentives in Lithuanian, with English titles projected overhead on the back wall.

Classical Playlist: Olivia Block, William Christie, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and More
January 22, 2014

BLOCK: ‘Karren’
Olivia Block, electronics, field recordings
(Sedimental)

SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 4
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; conductor, Vasily Petrenko
(Naxos)

ROSENBLUM: ‘Möbius Loop’
Raschèr Saxophone Quartet; Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose
(BMOP/Sound)

…the two tremendous pieces that constitute her newest LP are as rigorously assembled, finely detailed and dramatically taut as any modern composition you might care to name, each evoking a dreamlike story without words.

Classical Playlist: Zuill Bailey, Natasha Paremski, Leon Kirchner and More
January 29, 2014

RADIGUE: ‘Naldjorlak I II III’
Charles Curtis, cellist; Carol Robinson and Bruno Martinez, basset horn players
(Shiiin)

VERDI: ‘Otello’
Giovanni Martinelli, Elisabeth Rethberg, Lawrence Tibbett, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Ettore Panizza
(Naxos Historical)

STREIFF: ‘Vokal/Instrumental’
Anne Schmid, contralto; Katharina Suske, oboe d’amore player; Elisabeth Grimm, violinist; Klavierduo Kordzaia-Blum and others
(Edition Wandelweiser)

…her goal remained the same: to parse the vast range of overtones and resonances latent in every humble note — “a kind of wild and frail, versatile and volatile world of sounds,” in Ms. Radigue’s own words.

Related:

Days between: New York Times writing, March 23–August 12, 2013

Days between: New York Times writing, August 20–November 10, 2013

Days between: New York Times writing, November 25–December 30, 2013

Days between: New York Times writing, November 25–December 30, 2013

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 individually elsewhere. I'm including the "Classical Playlist" CD capsule-review posts that have been appearing on the paper's ArtsBeat blog, but I also intend to create a new landing page specifically to compile those reviews for easy access.

At this point, I intend (or at least hope) to present fresh reviews and articles as they appear…fingers crossed. As before, the first date refers to the event, the second to when the review appeared.

David Lang "New Voices, New Music" at Zankel Hall, November 20, 2013
November 25, 2013 (web-only)

Nicholas Deyoe’s “Lullaby 4,” played by the startlingly versatile gnarwhallaby, a California quartet in matching black outfits, murmured and pounced with the spontaneity of free improvisation, yet always conveyed the sense of a firm guiding hand.

Juilliard String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall, November 21, 2013
November 27, 2013

Paradoxically balancing thoroughgoing poise with an almost reckless edge, they expertly enacted visionary qualities intrinsic to late Schubert.

Classical Playlist: Martha Argerich, Third Coast Percussion, Garrick Ohlsson and More
November 27, 2013

THOMAS: ‘Resounding Earth’
Third Coast Percussion
(New Focus Records)

EVA-MARIA HOUBEN: Piano Music
R. Andrew Lee, piano
(Irritable Hedgehog)

Through his consistently impressive solo releases on the curiously named Irritable Hedgehog label, the Colorado-based pianist R. Andrew Lee has asserted a vision of musical Minimalism far broader than the limited patch that abused term usually signifies.

21c Liederabend at the BAM Harvey Theater, November 22, 2013
November 26, 2013

Despite a growth trajectory that has seen each successive 21c Liederabend housed in a larger space with more elaborate production elements, Ms. Morrison and Ms. Prestini preserved the sensation of a family affair…

Classical Playlist: Anna Caterina Antonacci, Mivos Quartet, Matthew Brown and More
December 4, 2013

‘REAPPEARANCES’
Mivos Quartet
(Carrier)

…the group covers an admirably broad expressive range: from Alex Mincek’s rigorously calibrated violence to Felipe Lara’s voluptuous, elemental lyricism, by way of expressive contemplations from Wolfgang Rihm and David Brynjar Franzson.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir Composer Portrait at Miller Theatre, December 5, 2013
December 11, 2013

In just eight minutes, this chamber orchestra work perfectly encapsulates her uncanny knack for conjuring the natural world — not through quaint, picturesque mimicry, but with potent evocations of elemental power, flux and potential.

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, December 9, 2013
December 11, 2013

…those qualities were enacted convincingly at the close of a brilliantly played, fervently felt account, enriched with silken strings, robust brass and eloquent solos by the principal winds and the concertmaster, Max Tan.

UnCaged Toy Piano Festival at Pianos, December 12, 2013
December 14, 2013

The spirits of John Cage and Charles M. Schulz’s Schroeder converged on the Lower East Side on Thursday night…

Classical Playlist: Leonard Bernstein, Keller Quartet, Cassandra Miller and More
December 18, 2013

BEUGER: ‘Sixteen Stanzas on Stillness and Music Unheard’
Greg Stuart, vibraphone
(l’innomable)

‘DUETS FOR SOLO SNARE DRUM’
Nick Hennies, snare drum
(Weighter Recordings)

SHIM: ‘LOVE’
Nick Hennies and Greg Stuart, percussion
(Senufo Editions)

…a ghostly, gorgeous lesson in how close, concentrated listening can alter and enhance perception.

Stars of the Lid with the Wordless Music Orchestra and Justin Walter, Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, December 17, 2013
December 20, 2013

Like Satie’s “Gymnopédies” as heard through a narcotic veil, the music stair-stepped and circled with melancholy deliberateness, slight disharmonies lending the sensation of cracked, yellowed photos.

"That's Vintage Verdi, That '61 'Otello' – Critics Pick Recordings to Celebrate Verdi's Bicentennial"
December 26, 2013

‘FALSTAFF’ Herva Nelli, Teresa Stich-Randall, Giuseppe Valdengo; Arturo Toscanini, conductor; Robert Shaw Chorale, NBC Symphony Orchestra (RCA Gold Seal).

‘OTELLO’ Renata Scotto, Jon Vickers, Cornell MacNeil; James Levine, conductor; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Sony Classical, DVD).

‘LA TRAVIATA’ Maria Callas, Alfredo Kraus, Mario Sereni; Franco Ghione, conductor; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon (Myto Records).

VERDI REQUIEM Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazón, René Pape; Antonio Pappano, conductor; Santa Cecilia Academy Chorus and Orchestra (EMI Classics).

‘RIGOLETTO’ (from “Verdi at the Met: Legendary Performances at the Metropolitan Opera”) Bidú Sayão, Jussi Bjoerling, Leonard Warren; Cesare Sodero, conductor; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Sony Classical).

True story: “Rigoletto” changed my life.

New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, December 28, 2013
December 30, 2013

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, titled “Pathétique” and completed in August 1893, is a beautiful time bomb with a faulty firing pin — or so it can seem, given the response its unorthodox construction almost inevitably compels.

Related:

Days between: New York Times writing, March 23–August 12, 2013

Days between: New York Times writing, August 20–November 10, 2013