Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:03:40 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Classical Music :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/classical-music istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/maazel-at-bat-for-a-final-season/86147/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST On Wednesday night, the New York Philharmonic began its 2008–09 season, and Lorin Maazel began his last as music director of the orchestra. He arrived in 2002. His successor will be Alan Gilbert, who is coming to us from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Because it was opening night, Mr. Maazel and his charges started out with the national anthem. As he has the last several years, Mr. Maazel conducted the anthem nobly, elegantly, and purposefully. Some people think he adds a little... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/ripped-from-a-romance-cover/86741/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Don Giovanni," Mozart's opera about that appalling man, was revived again at the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoon. The production is that from 2004 by Marthe Keller. And in the pit was Louis Langrée. New York audiences know him best as the music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival. A Frenchman, he exhibits many of the traits associated with his country, including elegance and refinement. He is one of the best phrasers in Mozart now working. And, on Saturday afternoon, he had a... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/the-art-of-the-octet/86740/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST In the field of composition, trios and quintets are fairly common. Quartets are very much so. And duos, sextets, and so on are rather less so. Last week, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center kicked off its season with a program of octets. The most famous of all, of course, is the Mendelssohn — produced when the composer was 16. Now there was a gifted adolescent. The Mendelssohn was not on CMS's program. But other interesting material was, including two octets by great 20th-century... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/personal-demons-powerful-messages/86742/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST My fondest memory of the old Metropolitan Opera House comes from New Year's Day of 1964, when I heard Roberta Peters sing Zerbinetta in a production of "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss. It was hilarious to see her gracefully frolic in the ocean surrounding the rather pompous and deadly serious Bacchus and Ariadne. But what I most remember was the young woman who radiantly sang the role of the composer, a certified star in the making. Her name was Teresa Stratas. On Thursday, Ms. Stratas... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/deborah-voigts-bold-gambit/86648/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST American soprano Deborah Voigt has had an up-and-down career over the last decade. Although some of her appearances at the Metropolitan Opera House have been powerful, especially her Sieglinde under both maestros Gergiev and Maazel, she has also disappointed as Elisabeth in "Tannhaeuser" and especially as Floria in "Tosca," where her rendition of Vissi d'arte on opening night was remarkably unmoving. At this point, she needs to prove herself at every appearance. Thus it may have been a bit of a... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/carnegie-hall-goes-all-bernstein/86618/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Another opening, another show — Carnegie Hall kicked off its 2008-09 season on Wednesday night. The hall looked absolutely beautiful. And it sounded beautiful, too. One can forget how good these acoustics are, over the course of a summer. The program was all-Bernstein. And why's that? Because the composer's dates are 1918 to 1990 — making this the 90th anniversary of his birth. And you know how music loves an anniversary — any anniversary, even 90th ones. Anniversaries are virtually the... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/pulling-out-the-stops/86546/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The G Major String Quintet, which was the featured work on an excellent program on Monday evening presented by the chamber group Concertante at Merkin Hall, was intended by Brahms to be his final effort, a rich, valedictory summing-up of his 56 years of aesthetic and life experience. His satisfied, autumnal mood lasted for approximately one year, until he met the clarinetist Richard Muehlfeld and began to compose once again, creating his great series of pieces for this instrument and arguably... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/in-the-buff-and-boffo/86547/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST When Karita Mattila does "Salome" at the Metropolitan Opera, she goes all the way — that is, she appears stark naked (briefly) at the end of the Dance of the Seven Veils. The former general manager of the Met, Joseph Volpe, put a photo of this moment in his memoirs. Ms. Mattila's striptease is known throughout the operagoing world. Chances are, there are more pairs of binoculars than usual at the Met when she performs "Salome." I'm not sure that the "full frontal" adds anything (except... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/what-becomes-a-legend-most/86440/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Two years ago, the American soprano Renée Fleming made an album called "Homage." The idea was to pay tribute to legendary sopranos of the past. Ms. Fleming, too, is a legend — or will be one, in the fullness of time. She has her off nights, like everyone else. But, unlike everyone else, she is an immortal. Ms. Fleming had the honor of opening the Metropolitan Opera's 2008-09 season on Monday night. She starred in a gala, consisting of three stretches from three operas. These stretches were Act... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/maazel-and-bronfman-light-it-up/86278/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Many years ago, my colleague Fred Kirshnit said that a concert had started with the "obligatory opening modern piece." I immediately shortened this to "OOMP." Well, Friday afternoon's concert by the New York Philharmonic had an OOMP — and it was a better-than-average one. It was "Rhapsodies" for Orchestra by Steven Stucky, an American who teaches at Cornell. His piece was jointly commissioned by the Philharmonic and the BBC Proms. It begins with percussion, which is no great surprise: Almost... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-requiem-for-pavarotti/86281/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Last week, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus gathered in their house. They were led by their chief, James Levine. And they performed Verdi's Requiem. That is no opera, although it has operatic stretches. What were they doing? They were giving this performance in honor of Luciano Pavarotti, the legendary tenor who died about a year ago. Pavarotti sang many Verdi Requiems, including on special occasions — much like this. He no doubt would have appreciated it. The first measures of the... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-gauzy-haze-a-holy-relic/86277/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Arguably the greatest aspect of Beethoven's genius was his certitude from an early age that he was to have an earthshaking effect on the history of music. Strolling with his good friend on a narrow path one day, he was horrified when his chum stepped off the stones to let a nobleman pass. "You are Goethe; I Beethoven!" he exclaimed. "Let him walk in the mud." The composer was also remarkably aware of time, inspired by the turn of the 19th century to revolutionize his art just as the calendar... GEORGE LOOMIS http://www.nysun.com/arts/the-presidential-treatment/86280/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST DALLAS — It would be interesting to have been a fly on the wall when Steven Stucky learned that the Dallas Symphony wanted him to write an evening-length oratorio commemorating the centennial of President Johnson. "What in heaven's name can I do with this?" he must have asked himself. The Dallas audience found out last Thursday evening when the first of four performances of "August 4, 1964" was given at the Meyerson Symphony Center by the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas Symphony Chorus, and four... Associated Press http://www.nysun.com/arts/new-mozart-piece-discovered/86163/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST A French museum has found a previously unknown piece of music handwritten by Mozart, a researcher said Thursday. The 18th-century melody sketch is missing the harmony and instrumentation, but was described as an important find. Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, Austria, said there is no doubt that the single sheet was written by the composer. "This is absolutely new," Mr. Leisinger said in a telephone interview. "We have new music here."... ERICA ORDEN http://www.nysun.com/arts/pavarotti-widow-plans-book-tribute/86179/ Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Luciano Pavarotti's widow, Nicoletta Mantovani Pavarotti, and the luxury Italian art publisher FMR have donated a book dedicated to the deceased tenor to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The book, "Pavarotti and La Bohème," features rare images of the singer taken from his archives and was developed in honor of the one-year anniversary of his death. "Pavarotti and La Bohème" will not be for sale, but will instead be donated to several libraries around the world including the... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-quirky-kid-a-comic-opera-and-an-old-master/86078/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Lang Lang, rolling through his career, has now made a recording of the two Chopin piano concertos. He has done so for Deutsche Grammophon. And the 26-year-old phenom is joined by a wise old conductor and a wise old orchestra: Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic. That's a lot of conductorial and orchestral firepower for the Chopin concertos, isn't it? We're always told that Chopin knew nothing about orchestration, and that these are nothing parts — the concertos are piano vehicles, pure and... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/iannis-xenakiss-architectural-sound/86081/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Scholars often speak of musical architecture, but it is very rare for an architect to become a composer. Iannis Xenakis, born in Romania to Greek parents, rose to become chief assistant to Le Corbusier before abandoning his craft to devote his creative energies to music. On Tuesday evening, Miller Theatre presented his only opera, "Oresteia." The program lists the date of this multimedia piece as 1992, but actually the music was written as incidental background to a protracted production of the... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-no-show-a-young-star-and-a-mercurial-russian/85962/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST There will be many, many concerts and recitals from now till New Year's. Shall I try to pick some winners for you? I'll do my best — but we offer no money-back guarantees. Begin at Carnegie Hall, that fabled home of music. October 2 will see "Leon Fleisher & Friends." Mr. Fleisher will be joined by three other pianists for duets and so forth, and one of those pianists will be Yefim Bronfman. Three days later, on October 5, the Met Orchestra will appear, under James Levine. Their soloist will be... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/on-board-with-becks-beethoven-survey/85791/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST In Beethoven's lifetime, his two most popular pieces were the "Moonlight Sonata" and the Septet in E-flat major. Guess which one had some of its material featured on Saturday evening as pianist Steven Beck continued his complete survey of the master's 32 piano sonatas aboard Bargemusic. Wrong. The "Moonlight" was nowhere to be found, as Mr. Beck has established a rule for these concerts: only one nicknamed sonata each evening (we will get to it in due time). No, it was indeed the jaunty septet... GEORGE LOOMIS http://www.nysun.com/arts/classical-at-a-literal-crossroads/85671/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST How did an outdoor music festival come to be established at one of the Upper West Side's busiest intersections? Contrary to what you might think, there is a logical explanation. And it involves more than just the presence of a statue of Giuseppe Verdi on a half-acre tract north of 72nd Street between Amsterdam and Broadway. The triggering event was the opening a few years ago of the new 72nd Street subway station, as an organizer of the ambitiously named Verdi Square Festival of the Arts... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/soheil-nasseri-keeps-his-word/85588/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Pianist Soheil Nasseri, who gave a recital at Merkin Hall on Tuesday evening, and composer Samir Odeh-Tamimi apparently never got the memo announcing the end of the 1960s. Mr. Nasseri spent one quarter of his performance time burrowing around inside his piano, thwacking its strings with open palms — Glenn Gould was so protective of his appendages that he wouldn't even shake hands — or striking his keyboard, or rather the extreme upper and lower regions of it, with various body parts other than... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/joshua-bells-four-seasons/85590/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Everyone and his brother has recorded Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" — meaning, of course, every violinist and his brother. You can no more skip "The Four Seasons" than you can the Mendelssohn Concerto. And now Joshua Bell, the famed American, age 40, has gone and put Vivaldi's work on Sony. The composer wrote this hit in 1723, and it comprises four little violin concertos, really. Each has three movements, and is intended to be "programmatic" — to represent a season. Do the concertos work on this... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/glorious-sounds-from-salzburg/84759/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — The Vienna Philharmonic has no permanent conductor — instead they have an endless string of guests. But if they did have a permanent conductor, they could do worse than Mariss Jansons, the formidable Latvian-born musician. It was he who conducted them in a concert at the Salzburg Festival last weekend. Mr. Jansons has plenty of work to do — he heads two big orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. In earlier days... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/mozarts-magic-flute-done-right-in-his-hometown/84561/ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — A few years ago, the Salzburg Festival had a production of Mozart's "Magic Flute" that was roundly disliked — disliked by the public. Even some critics risked being thought square by objecting. Then, the festival acquired a new production: by Pierre Audi, a Beirut-born British citizen. It was more like it. Like what? Like "The Magic Flute." It is whimsical, friendly, and interesting. There are goofy touches — such as the little red circus car in which Papageno rides around... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/wrapping-up-mostly-mozart/84493/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Never has the title of Mostly Mozart's series at the Kaplan Penthouse been more appropriate than on Thursday, when A Little Night Music presented the last great work of the 19th century: Arnold Schoenberg's string sextet "Transfigured Night." One of the most moving aspects of "Verklärte Nacht" is its remarkable ability to re-create the atmosphere of the original Richard Dehmel poem, a startling juxtaposition of the frigid attitudes of polite society and the warm glow of inner beauty. The woman... ALAN LOCKWOOD http://www.nysun.com/arts/onstage-and-on-screen-tributes-for-pavarotti/84496/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Tenor Luciano Pavarotti died on September 6, 2007, and now, almost a year after his passing, the tributes are coming. Next month, two important celebrations of the King of the High C's will bring his legacy to the public. On September 10, Thirteen/WNET will broadcast a new Great Performances special, "Pavarotti: A Life in Seven Arias." Directed by David Thompson, the documentary film provides a chronology of Pavarotti's career. It ranges from a 1965 performance of Rodolfo's "Che gelida manina"... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/christine-schafer-subpar-but-great-in-salzburg/84487/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — It is a privilege to sing a voice recital at the Salzburg Festival — particularly a recital of German art song. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau did it, a lot. And, last week, Christine Schäfer, the German soprano, did it. She certainly deserves the privilege. Her program was a Schwarzkopfian one: Bach, Mahler, and Wolf. And she began with five songs of Mahler, four of them from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn." As always, Ms. Schäfer was tasteful and intelligent. I... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/an-uglified-rusalka-in-the-worlds-most-beautiful/84488/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — The Cleveland Orchestra is not very often found in an opera pit: They are a symphonic band, occupying the famed Severance Hall. But there they were in the pit of the House for Mozart, here at the Salzburg Festival. They were not playing Mozart: They were playing Dvořák's "Rusalka," the opera about a water nymph who longs to be human, gets her way, and pays a heavy price. Apparently, some members of the Vienna Philharmonic grumbled about the Clevelanders' moment in the... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/ohioans-in-austria/84404/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Salzburg, Austria — The Vienna Philharmonic is king of the Salzburg Festival — the king orchestra — but other bands are let in, for a few moments in the sun. This year, the Cleveland Orchestra, Ohio's own, has more than a few: They are enjoying a full-scale residence. Of course, their music director, Franz Welser-Möst, is Austrian — a Linz boy. And in 2010, he will assume the biggest Austrian job of all (musical division): general music director of the Vienna State Opera. But he will remain... NICHOLAS WAPSHOTT http://www.nysun.com/arts/glimmerglass-times-four-on-an-elizabethan-stage/84297/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Glimmerglass Opera has four productions on its bill this summer, and each employs a shared backdrop: an elegant facsimile of an Elizabethan theater in pale gray timber. In front of that background, the flats and scenery for each opera float in. Operagoers who attend performances to applaud lavish sets rather than the singing and staging may be disappointed by it, but the ingenious device — which is both artistically apt and economical — successfully unifies the quartet under a single theme... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/beethoven-vs-beethoven-at-mostly-mozart/84300/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Coinciding nicely with the new century — it was conceived in 1800 — the Piano Concerto No. 3 of Beethoven, which was given a lively reading at Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday evening as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival, is the first piece of music to deify the creator-performer. Without this elevation of the auteur as the force majeure, there would be no piano concerti of Brahms or Schumann, Tchaikovsky or Greig, Prokofiev or Rachmaninoff. For the first time, the artist is at least the equal, if... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/don-giovanni-deep-in-the-woods/84285/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" was first performed at the Salzburg Festival in 1922, two years after the festival began. In the pit was that great Mozart lover and exponent Richard Strauss. And the stage director was a man named Hans Breuer. This year, the stage director is Claus Guth, a German. And he is undisputed boss, as directors tend to be on this continent. I will describe a little of his first act — and I do mean his, not Mozart's or that of his librettist, Da Ponte... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/muti-lights-otello-on-fire-in-salzburg/84299/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — Back when he was starting with the Philadelphia Orchestra, 25 years ago, Riccardo Muti was the target of a particular criticism: Everything he conducted sounded like Verdi. Whether that was true or not, this is clear: The man can well and truly conduct Verdi, as he proved in Salzburg's Great Festival Hall on Sunday afternoon when he presided over "Otello." Mr. Muti was on fire, and so was the Vienna Philharmonic, and so was Verdi's score. The opera began with a fantastic... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/rafal-blechacz-starry-young-lisztian/84111/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — Rafal Blechacz, born in 1985, is a Polish pianist and a rising star. He had the honor of a recital at the Salzburg Festival last week — in the Grosser Saal of the Mozarteum, one of the most beautiful concert venues (or venues period) in all the world. Young Mr. Blechacz studied at the Artur Rubinstein School — which is natural — and, three years ago, won the Chopin Competition, held in Warsaw. That, too, might be regarded as natural. This has been a pretty good summer in... KATE TAYLOR http://www.nysun.com/arts/tenors-in-training-the-next-generation/84037/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Luciano Pavarotti's death last year prompted much speculation about who will eventually replace the triumvirate of Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras. Most of the discussion has focused on stars in their 30s, such as Juan Diego Flórez and Rolando Villazón. But what about even younger tenors whose careers are developing? In New York, at least, the demands for talented opera singers will be greater than ever in the coming years. In 2009, Gérard Mortier will arrive to take the helm at... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-moveable-finnish-feast/84038/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Mostly Mozart Festival is celebrating Finland: Two conductors, three soloists, and one composer took up residency on the Upper West Side in a moveable feast of musical events showcasing the nation currently most dedicated per capita to the cause of our beloved art form. On Saturday evening, Osmo Vänskä, who moved to Minneapolis in order to feel that he had stayed home on the Baltic, led the Festival Orchestra in an interesting program at Avery Fisher Hall. The evening featured a familiar... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/their-gig-their-glory/84041/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST SALZBURG, Austria — The Vienna Philharmonic is hard at work, as it usually is at the Salzburg Festival. This is their summer home — their gig, their glory. Late last week, they played programs of Bartók and Brahms. Those programs give us plenty to chew on. This is something of a Bartók summer here in Salzburg. About a dozen of that composer's works are sprinkled throughout the festival, including concertos, sonatas, ballets — and the composer's lone opera, "Bluebeard's Castle." There is even a... ALAN LOCKWOOD http://www.nysun.com/arts/saariahos-take-on-simone/84042/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The oratorio "La Passion de Simone," performed last week at the Rose Theater, had as its sole props a writing desk and a richly burnished, framed door. While the audience was being seated, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra filtered in among dozens of chairs and music stands, and those spare devices seemed a mite inconsequential. But director Peter Sellars hadn't left any tricks up his sleeve for the 90-minute work he and the Mostly Mozart Festival's composer in residence, Kaija... ALAN LOCKWOOD http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-finnish-finish-for-mostly-mozart/83929/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Mostly Mozart Festival presents a distinctive opportunity in its final two weeks to enjoy a focus on contemporary Finnish music and musicians. Osmo Vänskä returns to conduct the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in programs at Avery Fisher Hall. Conductor Susanna Mälkki makes her festival debut, leading the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in two large-scale works by the festival's composer-in-residence, Kaija Saariaho. Ms. Saariaho's oratorio, "La Passion de Simone,"sung by soprano... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/new-york-grand-operas-aida-extravaganza/83930/ Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST If ever there were a perfect opportunity to mount a production of "Aida" featuring elephants, it was Wednesday night in Central Park. The vast, wide-open spaces could hold any and all elements of a true spectacular. Alas, the New York Grand Opera does not have a budget for a pachyderm parade, but it did mount a pretty fabulous extravaganza within the bounds of its limited resources. Many companies are afraid of "Aida." Its sheer grandeur daunts the potential director. Before the New York City... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/the-many-gifts-of-krystian-zimerman/83811/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Salzburg, Austria — Krystian Zimerman, the famed Polish pianist, has said that he will not play in America: He is angry at America and American policy. But he is perfectly happy to play in Austria, that model among nations. He played a recital on Tuesday night in the Great Festival Hall, Salzburg's premier venue. The Salzburg Festival begins in late July and continues until the end of August. People here believe that this is the world's most prestigious music festival. And they are not to be... Bloomberg News http://www.nysun.com/arts/george-steel-leaving-columbia-for-dallas-opera/83807/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Dallas Opera, a high-profile regional company that moves into a new Norman Foster-designed home next year, yesterday appointed George Steel as its new general director. One of New York's leading specialists in contemporary music, Mr. Steel, 41, will join London-born Graeme Jenkins, 49, who has been music director of the company since 1994, at a key juncture in its history. In October 2009, the 52-year-old company will inaugurate the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, in the new Dallas... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/arts/14-year-old-composer-wins-50k-award/83810/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST A 14-year-old pianist and composer, Conrad Tao, will be honored as a 2008 fellow laureate of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, an honor that includes a $50,000 prize, the organization announced today. Fellows of the program, designed to help the creative development of gifted youths from a variety of fields, receive awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Mr. Tao, a New Yorker, attends the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. He composes and performs classical music that is... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/variety-vs-quality-at-mostly-mozart/83814/ Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST The Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra is greatly improved since the appointment of music director Louis Langrée. But it reached a plateau a few seasons ago and has not made any significant strides forward since. Tuesday evening at Avery Fisher Hall provided an illustrative case in point. Admittedly the group had little to do during the first half of the program. The guest conductor, Jiri Belohlávek, brought some music from his homeland, the Serenade No. 2 of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu... Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/arts/great-performers-season-to-honor-prokofiev/83635/ Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Lincoln Center's 2008-09 Great Performers season will honor Sergei Prokofiev with a series titled "Russian Dreams: The Music of Sergei Prokofiev," the organization announced Monday. The series will open in November with the composer's work for stage and film, conducted by Valery Gergiev and performed by the Kirov Orchestra and the chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg. In March, Mr. Gergiev will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in performances of Prokofiev's symphonies. The... JAY NORDLINGER http://www.nysun.com/arts/making-room-for-mikhail-pletnev/83554/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Mikhail Pletnev is one of the most extraordinary musicians we have. He is a pianist of the first rank, and a worthy conductor. He composes as well. I have never heard any of his music, but how bad can it be? His overall musicianship is too good to allow bad composition — or at least to allow the public airing of bad composition. He is also something of an entrepreneur or impresario — founding the Russian National Orchestra in 1990, even before the disintegration of the USSR. With this... KATE TAYLOR http://www.nysun.com/arts/rare-cello-expected-to-set-world-record-at-auction/83553/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Note: Correction appended. A rare Stradivarius cello is expected to set a world record when it goes to auction this fall. The cello, which was owned for decades by the British cellist Amaryllis Fleming, is being sold by the online instrument auction house Tarisio and carries an estimate of $1.75 million to $2.3 million. Made in 1717, the instrument is one of only 60 extant Stradivarius cellos. The current record for a cello at auction is $1.288 million, which was set by a Stradivarius cello at... GEORGE LOOMIS http://www.nysun.com/arts/kaija-saariahos-musical-modernism/83560/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Back when people went to the Mostly Mozart Festival less for mental stimulation than to escape August heat, they would not encounter "La Passion de Simone" by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Indeed, the oratorio wasn't even written when the festival was revamped to cut back on its namesake in favor of more eclectic programming. Yet it is not a coincidence that "La Passion de Simone" made its premiere in 2006, the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. It was given in Vienna at Peter... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/giving-grief-a-light-touch/83559/ Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST One of the highlights of last season's Mostly Mozart Festival was a sensitive performance conducted by Louis Langrée of the "Pavane for a Dead Princess" of Maurice Ravel. Maestro has just the proper Gallic sensibilities to communicate this haunting, spectral dance in a stately and dignified manner. On Saturday evening, he led the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in two French works that again showcased his ability to develop surprising color from a smallish summer instrumental ensemble. Ravel's... FRED KIRSHNIT http://www.nysun.com/arts/jeremy-denks-labyrinthine-lyricism/83431/ Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST Michael Tilson Thomas has made the perspicacious argument that the history of Western music would have looked very different if Alban Berg had not died at a young age. On Wednesday at the late-night recital of the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Kaplan Penthouse, the pianist Jeremy Denk offered music of the man whose untimely demise left the biggest hole in the progression of the art form. No, it's not Mozart. Of course, Wolfgang died young and, had he lived, would have undoubtedly given to the...