Classical Music
Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest living cellist. Now 54, he has been playing the cello for 50 years amassing a huge number of awards and other honors along the way. The Celebrity Series coaxed him home from his world-wide touring for a sold-out Symphony Hall recital on March 26 with British…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb I was not able to catch Ariadne auf Naxos until the last of six performances that the Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) presented at the Shubert Theatre. By this time everything was clicking superbly—both the singers and the instrumentalists in the pit. What we got was a production that the BLO imported…
Read MoreDer Zwerg (The Dwarf) by Alexander Zemlinsky. Libretto by George Klaren, based on Oscar Wilde’s “The Birthday of the Infanta.” Staged by OperaHub at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, through March 13. Free Reviewed by Helen Epstein For a truly worthwhile evening of music drama—free admission no less—get yourselves to the Boston…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb It has been many years since a major new opera was mounted here. But Opera Boston has done just that with its recent world premiere of “Madame White Snake” at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. This was the most demanding and expensive undertaking in the company’s history.
Read MoreBy Caldwell Titcomb The Student Symphony Orchestra of Trondheim, Norway, concluded its U.S. tour at Massachusetts Institute of Technololgy’s (MIT’s) Kresge Auditorium on February 26. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the 70-member orchestra was under the leadership of Gavin David Lee, who has been in his post since 1992. The group’s repertory on this…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Among the top pianists who live in our area is Victor Rosenbaum (b. 1941). A faculty member of the New England Conservatory since 1967 (and a former chair of its Piano and Chamber Music Departments), he was also president of the Longy School of Music for 16 years (1985-2001). He teaches…
Read MoreReviewed By Helen Epstein An hour and a half before curtain, operagoers are lining up at the AMC 10 cineplex in Burlington, Massachusetts across the road from the mall. Forty-five minutes later, the only available seats in Theater 3 are in the first two neck-craning rows. It’s 12:15 p.m., a sunny Saturday in February when…
Read MoreReviewed By Caldwell Titcomb Solo piano recitals occur all the time, but concerts by duo-pianists are not common these days. The Celebrity Series filled the gap on February 7 when Richard Goode and Jonathan Biss teamed up for a Jordan Hall program of music for piano duet and for two pianos.
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Arts Remembrance: In Memoriam — Tom Stoppard