On April 27, I attended a performance by the extraordinary new music band, Alarm Will Sound, directed by Alan Pierson at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall as part of the series “collected stories” curated by composer David Lang. Lang’s series extended over a week of concerts, with this one come towards the end. The idea of this program was to bring together some diverse examples of music intended to illustrate a story of some sort, in … <Read More>
New York Philharmonic
Art Leonard’s Cultural Diary – March 22 through April 16, 2014
I’ve had a busy few weeks, both in terms of attending things and in terms of work having to get done, as a result of which there is a big pile-up of programs for me to write about, so herewith a diary of brief comments about the events I’ve attended from March 22 through April 16. I have omitted comment about the Jeremy Denk piano recital at Peoples’ Symphony Concerts, which I wrote about separately … <Read More>
March Musical Diary, Part II – Ending Spring Break with a Bang!!
New York Law School’s Spring Break period this year was March 8-16. I ended it with a real bang, attending concerts on five consecutive days (overlapping the beginning of classes): Thursday, March 13 – Vienna Philharmonic led by Andris Nelsons at Carnegie Hall; Friday, March 21 – Les Delices, Five Boroughs Music Festival, at the King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens; Saturday, March 14; Saturday, March 15 – New York Philharmonic led by Alan Gilbert … <Read More>
Culture Beat – Prototype Opera Festival; Met Fledermaus; NY Philharmonic; Lincoln Center Theater “Domesticated”
I have been so busy with LGBT legal developments over the past month that I have neglected to blog about my various cultural expeditions, so I’m going to play catch-up here with a few brief comments about the events I’ve attended since mid-December.
On December 17, I saw Lincoln Center Theater’s production of “Domesticated,” a play by Bruce Norris which seems to have been inspired, at least in part, by the hit network TV show, … <Read More>
Zinman/Goode/New York Philharmonic on December 5, 2013
Last night I attended the New York Philharmonic’s first presentation of a program that will be repeated on December 6 and 7, led by guest conductor David Zinman with Richard Goode as piano soloist. The program included “Three Studies from Couperin” by Thomas Ades in a first performance by the orchestra, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18, K. 456, and Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, Op. 56.
I was surprised that I was not as enthusiastic after the … <Read More>
From Machaut to Sondheim – A NYC Weekend Cultural Diary
This was a very busy weekend on my concert schedule — actually, an extended weekend since it began on Thursday night — so I have much to report. On Thursday night I was at the New York Philharmonic from a program that included the NYC premiere of Christopher Rouse’s Oboe Concerto, played by the NY Philharmonic’s excellent principal oboe player, Liang Wang. On Friday night I attended “Armida: A Baroque Opera Celebration” presented by New … <Read More>
NY Philharmonic: Salonen Violin Concerto with Leila Josefowicz
Tonight I attended the New York Philharmonic and heard the second of five scheduled performances of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Violin Concerto (2008-09) with soloist Leila Josefowicz. I can only say “Wow”! This is one terrific concerto, and I’m delighted to have heard it performed by the violinist for whom it was written with the composer – also one of the world’s leading conductors – on the podium. In four inventive movements, this piece is full of … <Read More>
NY Philharmonic Surrounds Penderecki with the Sounds of Ravel
This week’s subscription concert from the New York Philharmonic, which I attended Thursday night for the first performance of the cycle, surrounds the Concerto Grosso by Krzysztof Penderecki (a work for three cello soloists and orchestra) with music by Maurice Ravel. Both Ravel pieces, originally conceived for the piano, were subsequently orchestrated to sumptuous effect, and provided an opportunity to revel in the sheer virtuosity of the New York Philharmonic, which is conducted this week … <Read More>
NY Philharmonic Debuts: Arabella Steinbacher & Joshua Weilerstein
The NY Philharmonic’s most recent subscription program presented debuts for the soloist and the conductor. Violinist Arabella Steinbacher, already an established recording artist in Europe, performed the Violin Concerto in E Minor by Felix Mendelssohn, and Joshua Weilerstein, an assistant conductor of the orchestra, made his subscription concert debut. (Presumably he has already led the orchestra several times in non-subscription events, such as the Young Peoples’ Concerts.) I attended the last performance of this program, … <Read More>
The New Season Begins – Opera, Symphony, Film, Theater
My new culture season is duly launched. As of last night, I’ve taken in: “Anna Nicole,” apparently the last production of New York City Opera, presented in collaboration with the Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 21; the new film “Don Jon” by Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the AMC Theater on Broadway at 84th Street on September 29; a memorial celebration for my friend, the late Ari Joshua Sherman, at the DiMenna Center for the Arts … <Read More>