Susan Miron
BEMF’s Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs have, once again, produced a work of impeccable and imaginative scholarship for a production that’s not only historically informed, but musically, dramatically, and visually entertaining. Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell and Nahum Tate. Presented by the Boston Early Music Festival. At New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA,…
Read MoreThe Hartford Stage may be far from the shores of the Nile, but this lively production of Antony & Cleopatra and the company’s rejuvenated theater space are fit for the entertainment of a Pharaoh. Anthony & Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Directed by Tina Landau. At the Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, Hartford, CT, through November…
Read MoreMusic making of this caliber communicates—yet transcends—the tragic tone of these dramatic, religious texts. It brings both the words and the audience who hears them to life. By Susan Miron. Stile Antico, the youthful vocal superstars of Early Music, thrilled a packed St. Paul Church in Cambridge Friday evening. Having wowed audiences at Boston’s Early…
Read MoreAlfred Brendel was the first pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano music in the 1960s and made many world tours with the 32 sonatas, which seemed like old, close friends. At times he would simply play a snippet here and there to illustrate a point, yet never long enough to satisfy this listener. I…
Read MoreWe often hear about how Brahms and Mahler lived under the shadow of Beethoven’s symphonies, but I suspect many other composers had the last three sonatas in their heads, keeping them both inspired and humble. Beethoven Opus 109. 110, 111. Performed by pianist Till Fellner. At Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, October 12, 2010. By Susan…
Read MoreThe Cantata Singers, a choral group highly esteemed for their programming and superior music making, has devoted the past few years to examining the choral music of one composer per season. The three previous composers to receive this lavish attention were Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, and Heinrich Schütz. This is their 47th season and their…
Read MoreThe complete Women of Will is an exhausting adventure, led by a manically enthused and deeply generous and talkative tour director who also is a fabulous actor. Reviewed by Susan Miron Women of Will. Written and performed by Tina Packer. Directed by Eric Tucker. Featuring Tina Packer and Nigel Gore. At Shakespeare & Company, Lenox,…
Read MoreShakespeare’s late romance, with its catastrophic opening capped by a supernatural-tinged happy ending, is not for those who like their tragedies undiluted. The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare. Directed by Kevin G. Coleman. Staged by Shakespeare & Company at the Founders’ Theatre, Lenox, MA, through September 5. Reviewed by Susan Miron The Winter’s Tale is…
Read MoreActor John Douglas Thompson can captivate, seduce, and thrill any audience in any play, which is exactly what he did, once again, in Shakespeare & Company’s enthralling new production of The Life and Death of King Richard III. The Life and Death of King Richard III by William Shakespeare. Directed by Jonathan Croy. Conceived and…
Read MoreBy Susan Miron Two things of overwhelming beauty—an ocean view and an extraordinary pianist’s recital—nearly generated sensory overload on Sunday in Rockport, Massachusetts’s highly touted new concert hall. Presented by the excellent Rockport Chamber Music Series, now in their fifteenth season under the Artistic Director pianist David Deveau, the late afternoon Sunday concert included music…
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