MEMETERIA by Thomas May

Music & the Arts

August 5, 2022 • 8:53 am Comments Off on A Week at the 2022 Bravo! Vail Music Festival

A Week at the 2022 Bravo! Vail Music Festival

Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic at Bravo! Vail. (Photo by Tom Cohen for Bravo! Vail Music Festival)

This summer I was able to visit the Bravo! Vail Music Festival in the heart of Colorado during the New York Philharmonic’s residency. Here’s my report for Classical Voice North America:

VAIL, Colo. — More than one-and-a-half miles above sea level, there’s a special tang to the music. Or perhaps it’s a side-effect of the serene backdrop of wooded slopes, alpine flowers, and spectacular cloud formations. Whatever the reason, the fading A minor chord that closes the lid on Mahler’s Sixth Symphony reverberated with a peculiar blend of shell-shocked dread and exuberant release.

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Filed under: Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Mahler, music festivals, New York Philharmonic

July 30, 2022 • 2:05 pm Comments Off on The New York Phil Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Bravo! Vail

The New York Phil Pays Heartfelt Tribute to Stephen Sondheim at Bravo! Vail

Emmett O’Hanlon, Isabel Leonard, Leonard Slatkin; photo (c)Carly Finke

Here’s my report on the New York Philharmonic’s closing orchestral concert of the 2022 Bravo Vail Music Festival:

One of four orchestras appearing at Bravo! Vail this summer, the New York Philharmonic brought along six different programmes, the first four of which were led by music director Jaap van Zweden – including a cathartic Mahler Sixth. Leonard Slatkin took over the reins for the remaining two programmes in the open-air main venue: an all-Tchaikovsky evening and this concluding concert, “A Sondheim Celebration”….

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Filed under: Bravo! Vail Music Festival, New York Philharmonic, review, Stephen Sondheim

April 3, 2020 • 12:32 am Comments Off on The Mother of Us All Tonight

The Mother of Us All Tonight

This evening at 7pm EST, the Met Museum hosts the digital premiere of The Mother of Us All by Virgil Thomson to Gertrude Stein’s libretto about Susan B. Anthony and the women’s suffrage movement.

The production, which was filmed during live performances at the Met’s sculpture court in the American Wing in February, is a collaboration between Juilliard and the New York Philharmonic (and part of the latter’s ongoing Project 19 initiative.

Watch the premiere on Facebook, YouTube, or at the bottom of the Met’s page here.

Louisa Proske, the production’s brilliant director, offers an introduction here:

Filed under: American opera, directors, Juilliard, New York Philharmonic

May 7, 2019 • 6:26 am Comments Off on Bruch Plus Strauss: Curious Pairing, Inspired Playing in Semyon Bychkov’s Latest NYPO Engagement

Bruch Plus Strauss: Curious Pairing, Inspired Playing in Semyon Bychkov’s Latest NYPO Engagement

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Semyon Bychkov © Umberto Nicoletti

For his recent pair of programs guest conducting the New York Philharmonic over the past two weeks, Semyon Bychkov has made a point of combining familiar repertoire with new discoveries. At the end of April, it was a Brahms symphony with the American premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Symphony no. 2 (Kenotaph), a response to the tragedy of refugees who have drowned in the Mediterranean. The Russian returned to the podium for a second program that placed Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben side-by-side with a piece that might as well have been a premiere: the last time the NY Phil performed the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (Op.88a) by Max Bruch was in 1917.

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Filed under: Max Bruch, New York Philharmonic, review, Strauss

October 1, 2018 • 2:06 pm Comments Off on Apocalypse Not Yet: Jaap van Zweden and the NY Phil Combine New Work with Bruckner 8

Apocalypse Not Yet: Jaap van Zweden and the NY Phil Combine New Work with Bruckner 8

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Jaap van Zweden; image (c) © Hans van der Woerd

Here’s my review of Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic in their recent program of a new work by Conrad Tao and Bruckner:

It’s been a month of firsts for the New York Philharmonic: along with the start of its inaugural season with music director Jaap van Zweden, each programme since the opening gala has included a world première…

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Filed under: Jaap van Zweden, New York Philharmonic, review

July 4, 2018 • 12:01 am Comments Off on Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day, courtesy of two children of immigrants.

Filed under: Bernstein, George Gershwin, New York Philharmonic

April 7, 2018 • 4:10 pm Comments Off on Alan Gilbert Reflects on Juilliard

Alan Gilbert Reflects on Juilliard

Nearly a year after bringing to a close his eight-year tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert reflects on another farewell—he’s stepping down as director of conducting and orchestral studies at Juilliard this spring. As announced in March, David Robertson will succeed him in the fall.

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Filed under: conductors, Juilliard, New York Philharmonic

January 13, 2017 • 12:58 am 2

Alan Gilbert’s Legacy

gilbert-e1482347799819My cover story for the February 2017 issue of Strings is now online:

Two years ago, in February 2015, Alan Gilbert announced his surprising decision to step down from his position as music director of the New York Philharmonic…

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Filed under: New York Philharmonic, Strings

November 22, 2016 • 7:20 am Comments Off on Jaap van Zweden Takes the New York Philharmonic for a Test Drive

Jaap van Zweden Takes the New York Philharmonic for a Test Drive

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Last week Jaap van Zweden conducted the New York Philharmonic in their first concert together since he was named Alan Gilbert’s successor as music director (starting in the 2018-19 season).

The program was a rich one: the Prelude to Wagner’s Lohengrin, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, and the New York premiere of a brand-new viola concerto, Unearth, Release, by the highly talented young LA-based composer Julia Adolphe.

My review for Musical America has now been posted (behind the usual paywall):

NEW YORK—Four-and-a-half years after making his New York Philharmonic debut, Jaap van Zweden ascended the podium on Thursday for his first concert with the orchestra since being appointed …

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Filed under: Musical America, new music, New York Philharmonic, review, Tchaikovsky, Wagner

November 17, 2016 • 12:21 am Comments Off on Listening to Julia Adolphe

Listening to Julia Adolphe

Tonight brings the New York Philharmonic’s world premiere of Julia Adolphe’s Viola Concerto for Cynthia Phelps, titled Unearth, Release — along with a bit of Wagner and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, with Jaap van Zweden conducting.

Filed under: new music, New York Philharmonic, Uncategorized

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