Celebrity-Series

Classical Music Sampler: February 2012

February 1, 2012
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February feels like the ‘New November’: concerts of real interest during the weekdays and too many great concerts during the weekends.

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Concert Review: Lang Lang at Symphony Hall

November 1, 2011
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After intermission, Mr. Lang closed the concert with Frederic Chopin’s Twelve Etudes (Op. 25). This is music in which Mr. Lang is completely in his element, and his performance of these fearsomely difficult pieces was a marvel of extraordinary technical skill.

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Music Review: Celebrity Series Audience Falls in Love with Audra McDonald

October 4, 2011
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Audra McDonald is so popular on stage, in concert, and on television that she has become, to many, a one-name goddess like Bette, Judy, and Barbra. Judging from her recent star turn in the American Repertory Theater’s production of “Porgy and Bess” and this brilliant concert, she can give the other One-Named Ones a run for their money.

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Classical Music Review: Finally Joining the Cult of Tomsic

April 17, 2011
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The audience went wild; Chopin’s Ballades do that to people. Cheering broke out after Dubravka Tomsic played the second ballade, and by the fourth, which starts out quietly like a lullaby and builds up to an all-out, rhapsodic, virtuosic tour de force, the entire audience seemed smitten. Dubravka Tomsic. Presented by the Celebrity Series at…

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Classical Music Review: The Mastery of Guitarist John Williams

March 27, 2011
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Once he managed to get his recalcitrant instrument in tune, guitarist John Williams played each piece with great mastery. One might not remember the names of the composers or even what each composition sounded like, but no one will forget the sheet beauty of his guitar playing

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Classical Music Review: The Astounding Tenor Matthew Polenzani

March 26, 2011
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The world of tenors has expanded exponentially, it would seem, since the days when Luciano Pavoratti and Placido Domingo dominated the big tenor roles and the attention of the media and opera-loving public. Domingo, astonishingly, is still singing brilliantly, conducting, and running an opera company, but recently there have been a good half dozen excellent youngish tenors singing at the Met, including the fabulously gifted lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani.

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Classical Music Review: Clear As a Joshua Bell

February 5, 2011
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The recipient of countless honors and awards, the perennially popular Joshua Bell, now 43, can still pass for a 20-something. He’s still slender with the same trademark head of straight, light brown, swinging hair (think Ringo in a shampoo commercial) that he’s always had. Joshua Bell, violin and Sam Haywood, piano. Presented by the Celebrity…

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Classical Concert Review: Garrick Ohlsson’s Chopin

November 21, 2010
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Pianist Garrick Ohlsson is helped by having unusually wide stretches in both hands. And like Chopin’s own playing, he never resorted to harshness or banging even in climactic passages. By Caldwell Titcomb Of all the musical events scheduled for this season I was most eagerly looking forward to the November 14 Symphony Hall recital by…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: November 2010

October 31, 2010
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Holiday season is kicking in, which means it becomes harder to find theater that doesn’t set out to warm your heart and melt your mind. Though a Santaland Diary or two remains, the vogue for cynical Xmas shows has run its course. Still, all is not lost when you can still find such extraordinary family…

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Musical Theater: Brian Stokes Mitchell

May 10, 2010
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One admires not just the quality of Brian Stokes Mitchell’s voice, but his artistry in getting to the emotional heart of whatever he is singing. He has long been a national treasure. Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb The Celebrity Series concluded its 2009-10 season with one of its finest offerings: a solo concert by Brian Stokes…

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