Classical Music
Saturday’s attendance hopefully warms the hearts of the BSO’s management. Not only was the house very full, but the assembly also included a healthy proportion of younger heads.
Pianist Richard Goode provided everything that is asked of a Beethoven master: color, infinite shadings, interesting, convincing tempi, and soul.
Quibbles about some characteristics of the new pieces aside, hats off to Richard Pittman and the New England Philharmonic for daring to present a program like this..
Isango’s Magic Flute/ Impempe Yomlingo is lit by flashes of brilliance. Most can be traced directly to Mandisi Dyantyis’ reorchestration of Mozart’s orchestral score for an ensemble of marimbas.
As they often do in repertoire that doesn’t turn up too frequently, the orchestra responded to the music with heightened sensitivity and attention to detail.
Simply put, Blue Heron is one of the best perks of concertgoing in 21st century Boston.
The orchestral playing, a couple moments of questionable intonation notwithstanding, was commanding and, at times, exhilarating.
Maurizio Pollini’s Chopin was breathtakingly beautiful, and often downright thrilling.
The BSO played with palpable enthusiasm. Andris Nelsons conducted with characteristic energy. There was, by the end of the evening, certainly, quite a bit about which to be happy.
Music Commentary: “I’ve neither seen nor heard it, but I don’t like it. (And neither should you.)”: “The Death of Klinghoffer” Meets the Know-Nothing Protest
What we seem to have here is one of the glories of our democracy in action: the blind leading the oblivious; aping distortions and downright falsehoods about the opera.
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