December 10, 2016 • 9:41 am 1
Jonathan Biss. (Benjamin Ealovega)
My Seattle Times interview with Jonathan Biss, who will perform in two events this coming weekend at UW:
At the advanced age of 36, Jonathan Biss finds himself fascinated by “late style” — the manner of expression an artist adopts as the end of life approaches.
Filed under: Beethoven, Brahms, Kurtág, pianists, Seattle Times
November 1, 2016 • 12:10 am Comments Off on Dudamel and LA Philharmonic on Tour with Mahler’s Ninth
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform Mahler’s Ninth Symphony at Benaroya Hall. (VERN EVANS PHOTO)
The charismatic conductor makes his first-ever Seattle stop with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a one-night performance of Mahler’s profoundly moving Ninth Symphony.
Filed under: Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mahler, Seattle Times
October 13, 2016 • 9:30 am Comments Off on Marcy Stonikas and Seattle Opera’s Hansel and Gretel
My latest Seattle Times story:
Growing up in a Chicago suburb, soprano Marcy Stonikas was more musically active than the average American teen. She played in the high-school band, attended symphony concerts regularly, sang jazz and took part in musicals…
Filed under: Seattle Opera, Seattle Times
October 4, 2016 • 8:51 am Comments Off on Mark Morris Dance Joins Silk Road for Layla and Majnun
My Seattle Times preview of the latest show from Mark Morris Dance Group, in collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, is now online:
The world-renowned choreographer (and native Seattleite) Mark Morris teams with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble for a new work of music and dance based on the Middle Eastern story <i>Layla and Majnun</i>.
Filed under: choreography, Mark Morris, Seattle Times
May 31, 2016 • 7:58 am Comments Off on Pairing Masterpieces by Shostakovich and Stravinsky
Here’s my new story for the Seattle Times on this week’s upcoming Seattle Symphony program:
On Jan. 28, 1936, Dmitri Shostakovich woke up to read a sternly worded condemnation of his music in the official Soviet newspaper, Pravda.
Filed under: Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times, Shostakovich, Stravinsky
May 19, 2016 • 11:06 pm Comments Off on Gluck’s Revolution: Orphée in Seattle
photo: tenor Aaron Sheehan, who sings the role of Orphée (credit: Kevin Day)
Here’s my story for The Seattle Times on the new production of Gluck’s French version of his epochal Orpheus opera, which Stephen Stubbs and Pacific MusicWorks are performing this weekend.
In May of 1774, 15 years before the French Revolution, the 18-year-old Marie Antoinette ascended the throne as queen of France. Less than a month before that, German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, her former music teacher — and the son of a gamekeeper — made his debut in Paris with his opera “Iphigénie en Aulide.”
Filed under: directors, Gluck, Pacific MusicWorks, Seattle Times, Stephen Stubbs
May 15, 2016 • 4:50 am Comments Off on The Agony and the Ecstasy: Byron Schenkman & Friends
My preview of the final Byron Schenkman & Friends concert of the season has now been posted by The Seattle Times:
When great artists are struggling, that pain sometimes comes through in their work — but not always. Take Beethoven and Schubert, who produced some of their loftiest music during periods of intense suffering.
Filed under: Beethoven, preview, Schubert, Seattle Times
May 13, 2016 • 5:30 am Comments Off on Mystery Mass: Seattle Pro Musica celebrates Bach’s enigmatic masterpiece in B minor
Here’s my Seattle Times story on Karen Thomas and Seattle Pro Musica’s preparation for the Bach Mass in B minor, their concluding program of the season (this weekend):
Many classical-music fans consider Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B minor as the ultimate peak of Western choral music — but the composer never heard it performed in its entirety.
Filed under: Bach, choral music, preview, Seattle Times
April 24, 2016 • 9:33 am Comments Off on Strad on the Run
My feature on the extraordinary luthier Rafael Carrabba for the Seattle Times is now available:
Lately, Rafael Carrabba has been able to breathe just a little bit easier.
Filed under: Seattle Times, Strad
April 22, 2016 • 8:35 am 1
Mark Padmore Photo: Marco Borggreve
The countdown to Shakespeare400 continues. Here’s my look ahead at this week’s Shakespeare-themed program from Seattle Symphony and Ludovic Morlot, with guest artist Mark Padmore:
If music be the food of love, centuries of composers have failed to surfeit the appetite of our collective passion for Shakespeare.
Filed under: Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times, Shakespeare
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MEMETERIA by Thomas May 