JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET at Stanford Lively Arts, NYC's (le) Poisson Rouge

December 2011. The JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET has had a string of great fall dates, including a concert tour to China and Japan, part one of their annual concerts with Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (the season's second concert is April 4, 2012,) a concert for Stanford Lively Arts and a concert at Alice Tully Hall you may have read about in the New York Times...

"The ensemble was at its most muscular and sumptuous in the Beethoven. The players gave an enveloping, fluid account of the mammoth fugue, and though the rest of the work often pales beside that outsize finale, the quartet’s careful accenting and dynamic freedom brought the emotional depths of the first five movements fully into focus." -- Allan Kozinn, THE NEW YORK TIMES, Nov. 29, 2011

They play again in New York in January, just in time for those of you at the CMA, ISPA and APAP conferences. Be sure to plan your trip to join us at the bar and hear them on Thursday, January 12 at (le) Poisson Rouge, where they'll play Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 5 (a belated birthday tribute, if you will,) and Haydn Op. 54, No. 1. That concert is followed by a two-week European tour, with dates in Germany, France and at London's Wigmore Hall with pianist Stephen Hough.

Read More about Juilliard String Quartet

ZUILL BAILEY with the Los Angeles Phil, new recordings

December 2011. Cellist ZUILL BAILEY wraps up 2011 with a flourish, playing the Korngold Cello Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic last week -- Mark Swed for the LA Times said he was a "glowing" soloist -- and releasing a new album through Zenph Records.

If you're familiar with Zenph, you know this is a special sort of recording: it's a collaboration with a sonically re-created Manuel de Falla at the piano, performing the Seven Popular Spanish Songs. Learn more about the album here -- and catch some of the recent press, including a beautiful interview with Zuill and his co-album collaborator Isabel Bayrakdarian on NPR's Weekend Edition, and a piece by Jeremy Eichler for The Boston Globe, and an interesting video about the project from Zenph.

In the New Year, Zuill returns to the National Philharmonic at Strathmore for a special presentation of the Bach Cello Suites, and Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1. And on the horizon, Zuill's new Telarc Dvorak Cello Concerto album, with Jun Märkl and the Indianapolis Symphony, will be released January 17, 2012.

Read More about Zuill Bailey

MARINO FORMENTI plays the Diabelli Variations

December 2011. Pianist/conductor MARINO FORMENTI may be known for his mesmerizing performances of modern repertoire -- Kurtag, Lachenmann, Cage, Ligeti, etc. -- but it cannot be denied that his insight reveals surprising and beautiful truths in performances of core repertoire. (For example, watch this video of him playing Haydn at The Greene Space in New York City.)

Formenti brings his insight to one of the cornerstones of piano repertoire next month, on January 7, for the Philharmonic Society of Orange County: Beethoven's Diabelli Variations.

In the program note, Philharmonic Society President and Artistic Director Dean Corey explains:
"Who should play the Diabelli Variations? Alfred Brendel is retired from concertizing and Maurizio Pollini hates flying to California. The performer needs to be special, unique. This is the piece of music that started me on this unattainable journey. The right choice became clear. Marino Formenti is, I feel, the most amazing pianist for new and avant-garde music. His insight into music is uncanny. We have presented him at our Eclectic Orange Festival. He has appeared numerous times in L.A. On one of those occasions, he played a little D minor sarabande of Bach with such tenderness and understanding that I was moved to tears. I asked him a short time later, 'Do you know the Diabelli Variations?' He replied, 'No,' to which I responded, 'Please learn it.' '

Click to see the full program.

Formenti returns to the US later in the spring for a presentation of his visionary program, "The Party," with the Chicago-based new music ensemble Dal Niente. With solo and ensemble works, food, visual art, drink and more, "The Party" lasts approximately six hours, and is designed to allow audiences to experience the music outside any constraints; they can stand, lie down, move around the space, talk, eat, listen or not.

Read More about Marino Formenti

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA plays Vaughan-Williams, Ravel, Mendelssohn

December 2011. Violinist ALINA IBRAGIMOVA began the month playing Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending for a gala concert with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Bournemouth Symphony, benefitting the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

She then played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the with Philippe Herreweghe and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, at the Concert Hall Utrecht, and at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam (her next Hyperion Records disc will include this concerto, with Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.)

This weekend, she and regular duo and recording partner, pianist Cédric Tiberghien, play a recital in Italy, including repertoire from their recent acclaimed Ravel album. Ibragimova opens the new year playing Szymanowski's Concerto No. 2 with the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen in Switzerland, followed up with a German recital in Schoss Elmau with pianist Alessio Bax.

Read More about Alina Ibragimova

AKIKO MEYERS's new album, Air: The Bach Album

December 2011. While we're all thinking of Christmas gifts, don't forget that Valentine's Day follows soon after -- and what would be perfect for your sweetheart? Violinist ANNE AKIKO MEYERS's new eOne album, Air: The Bach Album. Recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and including Bach's Air, Violin Concerti Nos. 1 and 2, and the Concerto for Two Violins (in which Meyers plays both parts, using her two Stradivari, the Ex-Molitor and the Royal Spanish!), the album promises to be something special. You can watch a special preview video of the album here.

Read More about Anne Akiko Meyers

URSULA OPPENS receives a Grammy nomination (her fourth!) for "Best Classical Instrumental Solo" album

December 2011. We offer congratulations to pianist URSULA OPPENS, who has received a Grammy nomination (her fourth!) for "Best Classical Instrumental Solo" album, for her acclaimed disc, "Winging it: Piano Music of John Corgliano." The disc, which has received wide-spread critical praise, is the only non-orchestra album nominated in the new category. Learn more about the honor here.

Read More about Ursula Oppens

JACQUES LACOMBE leads Vancouver Opera's Roméo et Juliette

December 2011. JACQUES LACOMBE led the Vancouver Opera's Roméo et Juliette to great audience acclaim -- you can watch a reel of audience reactions here (lots of first-time opera goers there too, very nice to see!)

Next up the Maestro leads his home orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, in a Winter Festival of Fire.

Read More about Jacques Lacombe

AMARCORD is Coming Home for Christmas

December 2011. Vocal ensemble AMARCORD is Coming Home for Christmas this month -- that is, their new holiday album is out on iTunes. Get in the Christmas spirit, and check it out here.

Read More about amarcord

TAFELMUSIK celebrates the season with their annual (sold-out) performances of Handel's Messiah.

December 2011. This weekend TAFELMUSIK celebrates the season with their annual (sold-out) performances of Handel's Messiah.
"To sing some of those choruses at Taurin's speeds, with every note clear and in place, is an almost superhuman achievement ... The orchestra ... effortlessly provided the ideal accompaniment ... one of the best Messiah's I have ever heard." —THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Read More about Tafelmusik

A Warm-Hued Beginning For Quartet's New Violinist

November 2011. "A beautifully balanced, transparent account of the Haydn, with spirited interplay in the Menuet and a tightly controlled finale, quickly created the sense that the quartet was feeling energized and renewed. The vital, warm-hued performance of the Martino made the point that new music would continue to be close to the heart of this quartet's mission and that its latest configuration was suited to its challenges. The Fifth Quartet, completed a year before Martino's death in 2005, sounds almost mellow in comparison with his earlier work, but the hallmarks of his style are all in place, most notably his shapely, often lyrical use of 12-tone themes and an alternation of melancholy introspection and lyrical vigor. The ensemble was at its most muscular and sumptuous in the Beethoven. The players gave an enveloping, fluid account of the mammoth fugue, and though the rest of the work often pales beside that outsize finale, the quartet’s careful accenting and dynamic freedom brought the emotional depths of the first five movements fully into focus." Read the full review here.

Read More about Juilliard String Quartet

Africa or Bust for AMARCORD

November 2011. The intrepid vocal quintet AMARCORD completed their debut African tour last month. They sang and led masterclasses in Ghana, Senegal and elsewhere.

Read More about amarcord

JACQUES LACOMBE leads Romeo et Juliette

November 2011. Maestro JACQUES LACOMBE is currently leading the Vancouver Opera's production of Romeo et Juliette.  It may just be that the Maestro has some special insights into the romance of Gounod's score -- he has been known to make some very romantic gestures of his own.  A perfect example:  he led his own mashup of Ravel's Bolero and Happy Birthday as an encore to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's season opener -- just in time for his wife's birthday.  Not bad!

Read More about Jacques Lacombe

TILL FELLNER and ALFRED BRENDEL in Vancouver and Montreal at the same time this fall

November 2011. If you were watching closely, you may have noticed that TILL FELLNER and ALFRED BRENDEL were in Vancouver and Montreal at the same time this fall  -- a nice coincidence for a pair of kindred musicians.  Fellner reunited with his recent ECM disc partners, Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony for more Beethoven, Concerto No. 2, with Brendel listening in the audience: "There’s a lightness to his touch that belies its intensity and precision." The Globe and Mail, Oct. 14, 2011

Read More about Till Fellner

ZUILL BAILEY joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic

November 2011. Next month ZUILL BAILEY joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic for performances of Erich Korngold's Cello Concerto in C, Op. 37, from the Hollywood movie,  Deception. (Bailey's recording of the work is out on the ASV label.)  The performances on Dec. 8, 9, and 11 are part of the Getty Center-led Pacific Standard Time initiative, a multi-media, cross-cultural series telling the story the birth of the L.A. art scene.  Learn more about the project here.

Read More about Zuill Bailey

CHRISTOPH von DOHNÁNYI opens the Boston Symphony's 75th Tanglewood summer residency

November 2011. CHRISTOPH von DOHNÁNYI opens the Boston Symphony's 75th Tanglewood summer residency on July 6, leading an all-Beethoven program that invokes the very first  BSO/Tanglewood program from 1937. Read more about the Tanglewood season in the Boston Globe here.

Read More about Christoph von Dohnányi

NYPL presented Rolex Arts Weekend, featuring JOSÉ VAN DAM

November 2011. On Saturday, November 12, Live from the NYPL presented Rolex Arts Weekend, featuring JOSÉ VAN DAM and Osvaldo Golijov in conversation with Paul Holdengräber.  Click here to learn more about this fascinating event.

Read More about José van Dam

MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN with Berlin Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony

November 2011. This fall pianist MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN has performed Liszt's Totentanz and Wanderer Fantasy with Dennis Russell Davies and the Sinfonieorchester Basel; Szymanowski Symphony No. 4 with Pablo Heras-Casado and the Berlin Philharmonic (a concert you can check out via the Berlin Phil's excellent Digital Concert Hall archives); and Fauré's Ballade and the Franck Variations Symphoniques with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, among other orchestral dates.

Hamelin began the month offering the world premiere of his "Cathy's Variations" and the US premiere of his Paganini Variations in recital for San Francisco Performances, alongside the Berg Op. 1 and Liszt's Sonata in B Minor:
"Hamelin luxuriated in a sonata that is often treated as a speed competition...In the most intimate parts of the work, he let the soft, resonant whispers speak fully. It was an exquisite example of how important silence is in music." - San Francisco Classical Voice, Nov. 3, 2011

This week he plays a program of Haydn, Wolpe, Schumann, Fauré and Liszt at the Lucerne Festival.

Other upcoming dates include the Seattle Symphony (Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 with Ludovic Morlot,) the Danish Radio Symphony, (Schubert Wanderer Fantasy, Liszt Totentanz,) a Wigmore Hall recital, and an Asian tour, with the Hong Kong Philharmonic (the Franck Variations Symphoniques and Strauss Burlesque, and also a solo recital,) and a Korean recital for the Seongnam Arts Center.

Read More about Marc-André Hamelin

AFIARA STRING QUARTET at Lincoln Center, BAC and elsewhere

November 2011. November finds the AFIARA STRING QUARTET in the midst of a busy fall. 

They performed at the Baryshnikov Arts Center with Stephen Prutsman (playing his original, completely charming live score to Buster Keaton's Sherlock, Jr.) returned to the Montreal Chamber Music Festival and The Banff Centre, played Haydn at Lincoln Center for Bruce Adolph's "Inside Music" program, and did more educational work through their visiting residency at the University of Alberta. 

(Speaking of residencies, have you seen this video about their residency work at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto?)

They are now back in New York City, preparing repertoire for the spring (including Bruno Mantovani’s string quartet, Les Fées, for an upcoming concert for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in April) and looking towards their Chamber Music Cincinnati -- playing Beethoven, Sibelius and Nielsen -- date next month.

Read More about Afiara String Quartet

PAUL JACOBS in solo recitals throughout US

November 2011. This fall, "the leading American organist of his generation,"  PAUL JACOBS has toured the US, playing a series of solo recitals in Nashville, Birmingham (AL), Denver, Minneapolis, and last week in New York City at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Jacobs is a virtuoso who knows how to balance interpretive insight with bravura showmanship. Each piece he played was full of intriguing ideas, be he bringing a fresh take to a tricky and transparent Trio Sonata by J.S. Bach or splicing an Edward Elgar sonata with the composer's familiar 'Pomp and Circumstance.' -- The Pioneer Press, November 13, 2011

“The organist offered a probing, reflective and moving take on this work, which offered abundant opportunities for nuanced tonal shadings that revealed both Jacobs‘ artistry and the beauty of this symphonic organ."   - The Denver Post, November 6, 2011

"Jacobs is an enthusiastic musician, totally immersed in his art, eager to explore all sides of every piece -- and every instrument -- he plays."  - Birmingham News, October 23, 2011

"On Sunday in downtown Nashville, Jacobs proved that his fingers and feet were equal to his intellect...he played every note with feeling and technical perfection."   - John Pitcher, Art Now Nashville, September 26, 2011

If you missed these dates, but would be interested in hearing the program, be sure to ask us about the soon-to-be-released DVD version, from a recording taken during the NYC concert.  As we here at Colbert can tell you (see the photos on Facebook,) the recital was a spectacular experience!

On the horizon, Jacobs joins Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony for the American Mavericks project (featuring Lou Harrison's Organ Concerto and a new work by Mason Bates,) with national dates in San Francisco, Ann Arbor, and in New York City at Carnegie Hall.

Read More about Paul Jacobs

TAFLEMUSIK returns to Carnegie Hall

November 2011. This month the Canadian baroque orchestra TAFELMUSIK toured the US, with dates at the University of Virginia Tuesday Evening Concert Series, Shenandoah University and a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall.

As Steve Smith wrote in The New York Times (November 22, 2011): "Familiar melodies aside, the music had a frisson of added intensity, even melancholy; Ms. Lamon was an exciting soloist, conjuring a whirlwind in the final Badinerie. Elsewhere Tafelmusik mixed insight, assurance and visceral engagement in works to show stylistic cross-pollination among Baroque composers."
Read the full review here.

The tour featured a mixed program, with works by J.S. Bach, Fasch, Vivaldi and Lully.  Watch video of Tafelmusik performing a movement from Lully's Phaeton suite here.

Their next US tour, March 1-15, 2013, is an extraordinary multi-media program, HOUSE OF DREAMS.  Including works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Marais, HOUSE OF DREAMS takes the audience on a splendid journey through the meeting places of baroque art and music, with memorized musical performances, dramatic narration, and stunning projected images of paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto and Watteau.

Read More about Tafelmusik

Marc-André Hamelin live with the Berlin Philharmonic, and on Performance Today

October 2011. Join Marc-André Hamelin live this Saturday, October 22

This Saturday, October 22, you have TWO opportunities to hear Marc-André Hamelin in live performance.

Watch him in instant transmission from the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall, playing Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4, and hear him  through American Public Media's broadcast of an all-Liszt recital program, live from the Fraser Studio, on the master's 200th Birthday.

Celebrating LISZT's 200th Birthday with APM

As most of you know, this Saturday, October 22, is the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt's birth.

In celebration of the birth-bicentennial, American Public Media welcomed Hamelin into the Fraser Studio at WGBH-Boston last month for all-Liszt program, which concludes with the composer’s crowning masterwork for piano, the Sonata in B Minor. (Check out Hamelin's acclaimed 2011 Liszt album for Hyperion here.)

Hosted by APM’s Fred Child, the hourlong special will air throughout the United States tomorrow, Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 6pm Eastern. 

Listen online  at American Public Media, on WGBH-Boston, on Minnesota Public Radio or on APM affiliates throughout the US.

And, if you simply cannot wait to hear the B Minor Sonata, listen now to the second hour of today's Performance Today broadcast.

LIVE with the Berlin Philharmonic

Even if you are not in Berlin this weekend (like those of us at Colbert,) you can hear Marc-André Hamelin live tomorrow, October 22, playing Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4 for Piano and Orchestra, with Pablo Heras-Casado and the Berlin Philharmonic, via the Berlin Phil's Digital Concert Hall.

For 9.90 € (approx. $13 USD,) you can purchase a 48-hour ticket, which will allow you to watch the concert on Saturday October 22 (8pm in Berlin, 2pm Eastern time).  The program also includes Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture and Symphony No. 3, and Luciano Berio's Quatre dédicaces for orchestra.

Learn more about the Digital Concert Hall and purchase your ticket here.

Read More about Marc-André Hamelin

Jacques Lacombe opens the New Jersey Symphony season

October 2011. Many reasons to celebrate at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert
By Ronni Reich/The Star-Ledger Published Sunday, October 16, 2011

"Everything that one might expect in a season opening was planned for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s festive first night—rousing renditions of light, lively fare, showtunes sung by an icon of the stage as well as music that could elicit sighs of contentment with its simple, lush beauty.

At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Friday, under music director Jacques Lacombe with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, the NJSO executed these pieces with consummate skill and plenty of flair.

But it was the outlier of the program that became the highlight. George Antheil’s Symphony No. 6 “After Delacroix,” an obscure, high-octane work and a more challenging listen showed Lacombe and the orchestra at their best.

As they did throughout, they confidently conquered its complexities, embraced varied styles with abandon, and poured forth a satisfyingly full, multi-faceted sound without sacrificing clarity."

Read the full review here.

Read More about Jacques Lacombe

ANTHONY MARWOOD plays Adès Mozart and more

October 2011. Violinist ANTHONY MARWOOD has a characteristic range of dates this fall and beyond -- we thought you'd enjoy hearing about some of them!
In September, he performed with and led the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at London's King's Place "Mozart Unwrapped" Festival.  The performance, which was praised by the audience and collaborating musicians alike, included Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 2 in D, K. 211 and Symphony No. 41 in C, K. 551 ‘Jupiter’.

Other upcoming dates include performances of the Thomas Adès violin concerto, "Concentric Paths" (written for and premiered by Marwood) with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and, in the summer of 2012, with the Sydney Symphony and David Robertson. 

Marwood  plays the London premiere Hugh Wood's Violin Concerto No. 2 with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra next spring, and his recording of the Britten Violin Concerto and Double Concerto for Violin and Viola (Lawrence Power, viola) with Kanako Ito and the BBC Scottish Symphony Or will be released on February 1, 2012, by Hyperion Records.

In North America this season, Marwood and pianist Aleksandar Madzar tour a recital program featuring works by Beethoven, Schumann and Bartok, with dates at the Nasher Sculpture Garden in Dallas, and a New York debut at the Frick Collection.

Listen to Marwood's Hyperion recording of Schumann works with pianist Susan Tomes here.

Read More about Anthony Marwood

MASQUES on North American tour

October 2011. In October and November, the excellent young baroque ensemble MASQUES tours North America with a program which takes audiences on a journey from Biber to Bach (including works which you can hear on their  “clear, beautifully tuned and balanced” disc Mensa Sonora: Biber and His Contemporaries.)

First, Masques joins San Diego Early Music Society at The Neurosciences Institute, then heads north to Los Angeles for a concert at the Doheny Mansion for the Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary’s College.
They also take the program toCalgary for Early Music Voices, and then Edmonton, to the University of Alberta.

If you’re not in any of these locales, you can hear Masques’ 2009 concert at The Frick Collection in New York City.  Listen to the archival WQXR broadcast here.

Read More about Masques

JACQUES LACOMBE opens the New Jersey Symphony season

October 2011. This month, conductor JACQUES LACOMBE leads concerts in Spain, Canada and New Jersey. 

Last Friday was the opening gala of Lacombe's home orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony.  For the event, Lacombe conducts the NJSO with guest artist Frederica von Stade in a program of songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and selections from the "Chants d'Auvergne." The evening also features Gershwin's "An American in Paris", Ravel's Boléro, and George Antheil Symphony No. 6, "After Delacroix".

"Authoritatively led by Lacombe, as was the case throughout the concert, the NJSO unleashed a fierce, explosive depiction of violence and built to anthemic fervor." - THE NEW JERSEY STAR-LEDGER, Oct. 16, 2011

Other upcoming highlights include returns to the Vancouver Opera for Roméo et Juliette, the Deutsche Oper Berlin for Un Ballo in Maschera, and a program of Sibelius and Prokofiev with the Montreal Symphony.

Lacombe also leads the New Jersey Symphony at Carnegie Hall for the Spring for Music festival in May 2012; the performance was singled out by James R. Oestreich in The New York Times's season preview for its especially enticing program.

Read More about Jacques Lacombe

Ursula Oppens plays Elliott Carter, interviews Tobias Picker

October 2011. This fall, URSULA OPPENS heads to Slovenia for the Festival Slowind 2011. Hosted by the the Slowind Quintet each year in Ljubljana, this year's festival focuses on Elliott Carter. Long hailed for her interpretation of Carter's work, Oppens plays solo and chamber performances of the master's works throughout the weeklong festival, including "Night Fantasies," "Triple Duo," "Let's be Gay,"  and many others.

"Ms. Oppens played [Night Fantasies] with an unfailing sense of drama and almost cinematic color."
-- Allan Kozinn for THE NEW YORK TIMES

After these peformances, she travels east to Russia, where she joins the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic for the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky's Piano Concerto. Learn more about that date here.

This past summer, Oppens performed an acclaimed recital at Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival (where she played works by Jason Exkardt, Bernard Rands, Jo Kondo, and Tobias Picker's " Four Études for Ursula".)  Speaking of Mr. Picker, Ursula hosted the composer on stage at his recent Composer Portrait concert at Miller Theatre.  Their rapport and friendship were readily apparent as he told her that "when writing for myself, I can only write what I can play. When I write for you, I can write work much more difficult than I can play!"

Read More about Ursula Oppens

MARK KOSOWER opens the Erie Philharmonic's season with Dvorak

October 2011. Cellist MARK KOSOWER opened the season playing the Dvorak Cello Concerto with DANIEL MEYER leading the Erie Philharmonic. 
Acclaimed by audience members and musicians alike, the performance was a happy reunion for Kosower and Meyer, who worked together for the first time several seasons back. In the midst of concert preparations, Kosower took some time before the date to speak with the Erie Times-News about the importance of keeping great works of music fresh. Read the full interview here.

Kosower's upcoming dates include a program of Russian music at Fontana Chamber Arts in Kalamazoo, MI, (with Kosower's duo partner and wife, pianist Jee-Won Oh,) and the Boccherini Concerto in D with Ton Koopman and the Cleveland Orchestra (where Kosower is principal cellist.)

Kosower's recent Naxos release of the Ginastera Cello Concerti Nos. 1 and 2, with Lothar Zagrosek and the Bamberg Symphony, has received wide critical acclaim:
“Kosower has earned his merit badge, and then some, with this exciting and technically solid performance, and the musicians of the Bamberg orchestra add to the music’s spidery thrills...Even in the composer’s most demanding passages, there’s no sense that the cellist is being pushed beyond his limits, and his sound remains rich and full throughout the cello’s range." - Fanfare, Sept. 1, 2011

Together with Kosower's earlier album of Ginastera's cello/piano works, these recordings mean that Kosower is the first to record the composer's complete works for solo cello. 
He spoke with Naxos' Dominy Clements about his strong affinity for Ginastera's compositional language:
"‘Like Ginastera I function as a living and evolving link from the past to the future. I am a cellist whose playing is clearly rooted in the classical playing traditions of the 20th century. At the same time, I am a modern player belonging to my generation and am working, along with many others, for the advancement of music and cello playing in the 21st century."
Read the full interview here.

Read More about Mark Kosower

Yolanda Kondonassis and Jason Vieaux tour with new and traditional music for harp and guitar.

September 2011. Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and guitarist Jason Vieaux*, two truly groundbreaking musicians of our time, join forces for a sublime concert experience of traditional and new music.

"…sheer luminescence at the harp."  AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
“…among the elite of today’s classical guitarists.”  GRAMOPHONE

Maximo Diego Pujol: Suite Magica
Keith Fitch: New Work for Harp and Guitar
Granados, Albeniz et al: Spanish Miniatures for Guitar and Harp
                      (arranged by the artists)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan Hovhaness: Sonata for Harp and Guitar: “Spirit of Trees”
J.S. Bach: Guitar Solo
Carlos Salzedo: Chanson dans la nuit for Solo Harp
Xavier Montsalvatge: Fantasia
(program subject to change)

Watch video of each artist at the acclaimed NPR Tiny Desk Concert series:
Yolanda's Tiny Desk Concert (in which she plays the Salzedo Chanson dans la nuit!)
Jason's Tiny Desk Concert (which he starts off with a solo Bach prelude!)

Read More about Yolanda Kondonassis

ADAM GOLKA opens the season with Beethoven Piano Cti Cycle

September 2011. Pianist ADAM GOLKA begins the season playing all five Beethoven Piano Concerti with the Lubbock Symphony -- a characteristically focused feat for this serious young artist. This follows an excellent summer, which included a number of recitals (the Garth Newel Music Center, Dakota Sky International Piano Festival, the Piano Texas International Academy and Festival, et al) and chamber music dates.

His recital for the Washington International Piano Festival was praised: "Summer music festivals should start with a bang, and the fine young pianist Adam Golka was suitably explosive on Sunday night, launching the third annual Washington International Piano Festival with a combination of brilliant technique and real emotional depth...These were absolutely stunning performances - luminous, probing, deeply personal and drawn with unerring emotional accuracy." -- THE WASHINGTON POST, August 1, 2011

Later this fall, Adam returns to the Phoenix Symphony for Liszt's Totentanz and Piano Concerto No. 1.

Read More about Adam Golka

CHRISTOPH von DOHNANYI leads Summer Festival Concerts

September 2011. This summer, eminent Maestro CHRISTOPH von DOHNÁNYI led concerts with the Chicago and Boston symphony orchestras, first at Ravinia, where he lead all-Brahms concerts featuring the Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 and both Piano Concerti, with Emanuel Ax at the keyboard.  "Seldom has standard Teutonic repertory felt less standard, in terms of both execution and interpretation...One must hope, on the evidence of the two Brahms programs, that the summer management invites Dohnanyi back at the earliest opportunity." -- John von Rhein, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, July 17, 2011.  Then at Tanglewood, Dohnányi led two concerts; first a pair of first symphonies (Brahms and Prokofiev) with Yo-Yo Ma playing the Schumann Cello Concerto, and then the Schoenberg Symphony No. 1, Schumann Piano Concerto with Martin Helmchen and Beethoven Symphony No. 3.
"Dohnanyi and the orchestra closed up the night with a focused and forceful account of Beethoven’s “Eroica’’ Symphony. Dohnanyi’s grasp of this score is masterful, and the details, pacing, and dynamics all fell into place. The second movement’s funeral march was particularly arresting, played with a freshness of conception as if nothing could be taken for granted." -- Jeremy Eichler, THE BOSTON GLOBE, August 20, 2011

Read More about Christoph von Dohnányi

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA with The Brothers Quay, OAE and Vladimir Jurowski

September 2011.

Violinst ALINA IBRAGIMOVA spent the month of July in an acclaimed partnership with American-born, UK-based filmmakers, The Brothers Quay. 
The project was premiered at the Manchester International Festival, and was staged in the atmospheric spaces of Chetham’s School of Music.  In an 18-concert run, Ibragimova performed a programme of musically connected solo works by Berio, Bach, Biber and Bártok, given a beguiling new visual context by legendary filmmakers and stage designers the Quay brothers.

"Though Ibragimova possesses a range of technique to cover all styles from the baroque to the present day, her unique asset is the priceless ability to make time stand still."
-- Alfred Hickling, THE GUARDIAN, July 6, 2011

The project then traveled to London for the Barbican Blaze Festival, where it received praise from audiences and critics alike.  "Her technical finesse enables her to make a beautiful sound in Bach with no vibrato, while her sense of fantasy shapes the Chaconne’s desperate poetry into a marvel as psychologically probing as the Bartók and as vivid as a film in its own right. Ever wondered why great musicians are called ‘artists’? Here’s the proof." -- Jessica Duchen, THE INDEPENDENT, July 26, 2011.

In August, Ibragimova toured with Vladimir Jurowski and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at the Edinburgh International Festival and the San Sebastian Festival in Spain.   Watch a video discussing the program (with the Liszt Faust Symphony) here.  This month, Ibragimova, Jurowski and the OAE record the Mendelssohn for Hyperion -- where Ms. Ibragimova's other albums are available, including a new disc with pianist Cédric Tiberghien of the complete Ravel music for violin and piano!

Read More about Alina Ibragimova

JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET kicks off the season at Ravinia & Juilliard

September 2011.

The Juilliard String Quartet has returned from the summer break with a bang -- leading off last week with an opening concert for The Juilliard School's freshman class.  The completely silent and rapt crowd of student actors, singers, dancers and musicians stood, stomped and cheered at the close of the Quartet's performance of Beethoven's Op. 130 with the Grosse Fuge.   As Dean Ara Guzelimian so aptly briefed the audience, "You are starting at the Mountaintop, the absolute pinnacle of Beethoven's achievement," which the Juilliard Quartet inhabited and sustained through the depths and heights of everything Beethoven put on offer.

You may have heard them Tuesday afternoon, live at the WFMT studios (Chicago) where they joined George Preston for a preview of their concert last night at Ravinia, where they played the Beethoven alongside quartets by Haydn and Donald Martino.

They recently taped a performance for Sirius Radio, which will be featured in the September 11 memorial day of broadcasting -- check their Facebook page for more details about that broadcast soon -- and they will participate in Musicians For Harmony's September 11 Memorial Concert, playing the Janacek Quartet No. 1 "Kreuzer Sonata".

Fall highlights include returns to Chamber Music Cincinnati, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and a Far East tour with dates in China and throughout Japan.

Read More about Juilliard String Quartet

Colbert Artists tours Tafelmusik's new program HOUSE OF DREAMS in 12/13

September 2011.

HOUSE OF DREAMS US TOUR DATES: March 1-15, 2013

A magical journey to the meeting places of baroque art and music -- five European homes where works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Marais were played against a backdrop of exquisite paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto and Watteau.  Includes a memorized musical concert with stage direction, narration, and stunning projected images on a 12'x16' screen with a baroque frame.

"A superb evening...an event steeped in intellect and imagination...That the musical performance, through it all, was of the highest order hardly needs saying. As usual Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik’s music director, led from the violin. Charlotte Nediger, on harpsichord, and Ms. Mackay, on bass, were also solid presences, and the bursts of virtuosity were too widespread and numerous to list. But what was truly remarkable, for a band of 17 playing a kaleidoscopic variety of repertory, was that it was all done from memory: necessarily, given the almost constant movement and the occasional semidarkness. It said much for the professionalism of the enterprise that an understudy, replacing an ailing violinist, could step seamlessly into the mix. This production, which has traveled to China and Malaysia, to Mexico and California, and is bound for Australia, the Netherlands and Spain, has yet to find its way to New York. That can’t happen soon enough."  -- James R. Oestreich for THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 4, 2011 on Tafelmusik's Galileo: Music of the Spheres program.  (Watch video of the Galileo program.)

Read More about Tafelmusik

24 May 2011 MARINO FORMENTI plays a new program in Hamburg: LISTZ INSPECTIONS

May 2011. "What James Joyce did for the novel, Formenti seems intent on doing for the piano recital. The results were unforgettable...He is a unique artist, whose presentations should not be missed."- THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Tonight, 20:00 in the Laeiszhalle Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
pianist/conductor MARINO FORMENTI unveils a new program

LISZT INSPECTIONS 1:
Franz Liszt: Ungarisches Volkslied f-moll S 245/5 • György Kurtág: Doina (Játékok)
 • Franz Liszt: Klavierstück Nr. 2 S 189a
 • György Kurtág: ... waiting for Susan ...
 • Franz Liszt: Bagatelle sans Tonalité S 216a
 • Gérard Pesson: Speech of Clouds (aus: »Vexierbilder II«)
 • György Ligeti: Touches bloquées / Étude Nr. 3 (Études pour piano, premier livre)
 • Franz Liszt: Funérailles S 173/7 (Harmonies poétiques et religieuses)
 • Wolfgang Rihm: Klavierstück Nr. 7 • 
Galina Ustwolskaja: Sonate Nr. 6 für Klavier solo


***intermission***


Franz Liszt: Au lac de Wallenstadt S 160/2 (Années de Pèlerinage, Première Année, Suisse)
 • Luciano Berio: Wasserklavier (Six Encores Nr. 3)
 • Franz Liszt: En rêve S 207 • 
György Ligeti: En suspens / Étude Nr. 11 (Études pour piano, deuxième livre)
 • Tristan Murail: Cloches d'adieu, et un sourire
 • Franz Liszt: Cloches du Soir (aus: L'Arbre de Noël S 186) • 
John Adams: China Gates
 • Franz Liszt: In festo transfigurationis Domini S 188 • 
Salvatore Sciarrino: Polveri Laterali • 
Franz Liszt: Resignazione • 
Morton Feldman: Piano Piece

Read More about Marino Formenti

DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI in Germany

April 2011.

Pianist DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI toured Germany last month, playing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn in Bielefed, Wiesbaden, Bad Neuenahr, Hamburg, Bonn, Stuttgart, München, Nürnberg, and Karlsruhe (and a recital of works by Bach and Prokofiev at the Berlin Konzerthaus presented by the Classic Young Stars Festival.)

Critics have responded with high praise.

From 28 March 2011 GENERAL-ANZEIGER-BONN:

"Dudana Mazmanishvili heißt die junge, international gefeierte Pianistin aus Georgien, die in der ausverkauften Beethovenhalle das Klavierkonzert Nr. 3 c-Moll von Ludwig van Beethoven nicht nur spielt, sondern lebt. Mit selbstverständlicher Meisterschaft, abgeklärt und mühelos, demonstriert sie das ganze Ausdrucksspektrum dieser Musik.

Sie hat die Kraft, die das groß angelegte Passagenwerk des Allegros erfordert, sie hat in jeder Fingerspitze so viel Gefühl, dass ihre Anschlagsnuancen auch die verborgenen Farben des Largo zum Vorschein bringen. Jeder Ton spricht. Lebendig, fast mutwillig klingt das Rondo. Nur der verträumte langsame Satz fällt durch verschwommene Orchestereinsätze ein wenig auseinander. Als Zugabe gönnt Dudana Mazmanishvili dem Publikum Chopins Barcarolle."

From 20 March 2011 BIELEFELD-MITTE:

"In jeder Klang-Hinsicht erfüllt auch die sinfonisch-dialogische Rolle, die das Orchester im 3. Klavierkonzert mit seinen neuartigen Lösungen des großformatigen Exponierens und Aneinanderbindens der beiden Klangkörper spielt. Hier war mit Dudana Mazmanishvili einmal mehr eine fabelhafte junge Solistin aufgeboten. Hervorragende Technik und Musikalität sind das Rüstzeug eines Beethoven-Zugriffs, der sich durch überlegene Selbstverständlichkeit auszeichnet."

From 18 March 2011 WIESBADENER TAGBLATT:

"Die Programmauswahl bot die Möglichkeit, der „Mozartnähe“ der Partitur nachzuspüren. Die junge georgische, mit vielen Auszeichnungen bedachte Pianistin Dudana Mazmanishvili interpretierte das c-Moll-Konzert in klassischem Ebenmaß, weitab des Effektvollen, in feingliedriger Disposition gelangen die Ecksätze, wunderschön aufgelichtet und in bestem Einvernehmen mit dem Orchester erklang das Largo, die Kadenzen erhielten markante und sensible Statur in erstaunlicher Bandbreite des Anschlags. Eine makellose Gestaltung mit entsprechend begeistertem Beifall, für den sich die Künstlerin mit der bravourösen Interpretation der „Barcarolle“ op. 60 von Frédéric Chopin bedankte."

Next up, Ms. Mazmanishvili plays a May 6, 2011 recital in Düsseldorf for the Bechstein Concert Series. Click here for more information.

She also plays a May 8, 2011 recital in Nettetal.

* * *

Recent highlights include dates in the US: recitals of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt and Prokofiev in the New York area and in California, where her exceptionally moving performances were greeted with standing ovations. She also played Mozart's Concerto K.467, "Elvira Madigan" with Daniel Meyer and the Asheville Symphony, and performances of Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2, with Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony:

Her most memorable qualities were an unflagging lyricism and a limpid sound that made even the most firework-ridden passages sound like an intimate personal confession, never overly sweet or maudlin. She conveyed strength as well, but never unnecessary force. If surprising, hers was still a lovely, fresh performance of the popular work." - The New Jersey Star-Ledger , October 30, 2010

 

Read More about Dudana Mazmanishvili

Zuill Bailey plays Brahms: KDFC's pick of the week

April 2011. Next week ZUILL BAILEY's latest recording is released by Telarc International: Brahms Cello Sonatas and Songs.

A collaboration with pianist and longtime duo partner, Awadagin Pratt, the album includes the Cello Sonatas in E Minor and F Major, as well as transcriptions of songs: Wie Melodien, Minnelied, Lerchengesang and others. The disc is San Francisco's KDFC's pick of the week.

In other broadcast news, Chicago's WFMT has produced a two-hour special about Zuill's home series, El Paso Pro Musica. The piece includes live performances from EPPM's 2010 Festival (its 20th anniversary.) Click here to learn more about the special production.

Last month Bailey offered a critically acclaimed reading of the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Jün Markl and the Indianapolis Symphony (the performances were recorded for future release on Telarc International.) This week he plays a recital for Chamber Music Society of Detroit.

Read More about Zuill Bailey

Marc-André Hamelin on BBC Radio 3, YouTube, WGBH and more

April 2011. Last week BBC Radio 3 offered a broadcast of MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN's March 10 peformance of the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 with Tomás Netopil and London's Philharmonia Orchestra.

If you missed that broadcast, we now offer you a different Hamelin Liszt performance: Sonata in B Minor, recorded live in the studio at Boston's WGBH.

Speaking of Liszt, Hamelin has two new studio albums out on Hyperion next month: The Liszt B Minor Sonata and Venezia e Napoli Variations (and more,) and the Reger Piano Concerto and Strauss Burleske, recorded with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin.

And, although it was not broadcast, you can now watch and listen to a YouTube video from December 2010's Concert for the Cure in Boston. Sir Simon Rattle joined an orchestra of Boston-based musicians (gathered together by fundraiser and flutist Julie Scolnick) for a gala fundraising performance, featuring Hamelin at the keyboard, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto in G Major, K.453.

"This was the first Hamelin-Rattle collaboration anywhere, and they seemed in perfect sympathy. Hamelin eschewed superficial charm and mined the score for its many harmonic subtleties" - The Boston Globe, December 8, 2010

Read More about Marc-André Hamelin

Paul Jacobs Bach's Clavier-Übung III on Pipedreams

April 2011. This week organist PAUL JACOBS is featured in a national broadcast by American Public Media's Pipedreams. They broadcast his acclaimed November 2010 performance of the complete Bach Clavier-Übung III, and his pre-concert discussion with the Juilliard School's Ara Guzelimian. The performance was presented as part of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival, and marked the inuauguration of Alice Tully Hall's newly re-installed Kuhn organ.

“The show was chiefly Mr. Jacobs’s, and he rose magnificently to the occasion." - The New York Times, November 17, 2010

Click here for video of Jacobs at the Alice Tully Kuhn organ, on the New York Times site, and here for Lincoln Center's video interview with Paul about the work and the Alice Tully Kuhn organ.

Some of you may have also heard Jacobs speak yesterday morning on Columbia University's WKCR about his GRAMMY award-winning recording of Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement.

In other recording news, Jacobs's performance of the Copland Organ Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (recorded live at the beginning of the season) is now available on a very well-received disc.

Jacobs, Tilson-Thomas and the SFSO re-convene next season for a presentation of American Mavericks, with Jacobs playing the Lou Harrison Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra, both at Davies Hall and at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in NYC.

Read More about Paul Jacobs

Bernhard Gueller leading Symphony Nova Scotia, Johannesburg Philharmonic

April 2011. This month Maestro BERNHARD GUELLER has led concerts far south of the equator, in South Africa with the Johannesburg Philharmonic, where he is Principal Guest Conductor.

He now returns to his home orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, for a concert tonight featuring Jacques Hétu's Antinomie, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor, and Mozart's Symphony No. 40, "Jupiter."

Gueller and the Symphony Nova Scotia have a strong relationship with the CBC/Radio Canada. Here is a CBC Radio 2 broadcast of a concert from last year's Dvorak Festival from May 2010; SNS's 2011 Scandinavian Festival (focusing on works by Grieg and Sibelius) will also be broadcast by the CBC in late April/early May.

Read More about Bernhard Gueller

Anthony Marwood plays the Adès Violin Concerto with the Boston Symphony

April 2011. This week you can listen live on Boston's WGBH-FM to ANTHONY MARWOOD's Boston Symphony performance of the work Thomas Adès wrote for him: the violin concerto Concentric Paths. Click here for the link to listen to the Saturday, March 26th 7pm EDT performance.

With the composer at the podium, the program explores works inspired by William Shakespeare's "The Tempest," featuring Tchaikovsky's The Tempest, Adès's Violin Concerto, Concentric Paths, Sibelius's Prelude and Suite No. 1 from The Tempest and Scenes from Adès's opera The Tempest. Learn more here.

If you're curious about Thomas Adès's Concentric Paths, you can check out Marwood's critically acclaimed recording for EMI Classics, with Adès leading the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Last month Marwood joined David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony for Steve Mackey's Beautiful Passing; the Feb. 26 performance was broadcast live on the St. Louis Public Radio KWMU station, as part of their regular coverage of the SLSO's performances.

“Negotiating high harmonics, fluttering triple stops, precise long-distance leaps up and down the finger board, and furious, bow-hair-shredding passages, Marwood never broke a sweat and made the many difficulties in this powerful score look easy." - ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, Feb. 27, 2011

Read More about Anthony Marwood

Marino Formenti NY Phil broadcasts, recitals at Duke & LPR

April 2011. Earlier this month, pianist-conductor MARINO FORMENTI made an unexpected but triumphant New York Philharmonic debut, playing the Ligeti Piano Concerto in the first concert of the Hungarian Echoes festival, programmed and led by Esa-Pekka Salonen:

“The Italian-born pianist Marino Formenti, making his Philharmonic debut, was an impressive replacement, capturing the color and character of the music in his brilliant performance, complemented by Mr. Salonen and the Philharmonic." - THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 11, 2011

The performance will be broadcast today at 9pm EDT on New York City's WQXR, and will be available for listening on the New York Philharmonic's site from March 25- April 8.

You can also watch video of Formenti speaking about the Ligeti Concerto here, and the webcast of the NY Phil's visit to WQXR's new Greene Space, in conversation with Esa-Pekka Salonen, and with performances by Formenti and members of the Philharmonic.

Next week, on Tuesday, March 29, Marino Formenti returns to New York City for a performance of a new recital program, "The Eclectic Nite: Song Project No. 1" at (Le) Poisson Rouge. With works by John Adams, George Antheil, Kurt Weill, Conlon Nancarrow and modernist "covers" of songs by Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Björk, Brian Eno and Nirvana, it promises to be a special evening!

He also brings his "Kurtag's Ghosts" recital to Duke Performances on Sunday, March 27. Click for video of his performance of this extraordinary program (available on Kairos Records), at San Francisco Performances in 2007.

Read More about Marino Formenti

Tafelmusik on tour

March 2011.

From THE NEW YORK TIMES Arts Beat Blog, March 4, 2011:

Star-Studded Early Music in Toronto
By JAMES R. OESTREICH
TORONTO
"...it was a superb evening: a revival of the group's magnum opus, "The Galileo Project," created in 2009 to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, tied to the 400th anniversary of Galileo's development of the astronomical telescope...

That the musical performance, through it all, was of the highest order hardly needs saying. As usual Jeanne Lamon, Tafelmusik's music director, led from the violin. Charlotte Nediger, on harpsichord, and Ms. Mackay, on bass, were also solid presences, and the bursts of virtuosity were too widespread and numerous to list.
But what was truly remarkable, for a band of 17 playing a kaleidoscopic variety of repertory, was that it was all done from memory: necessarily, given the almost constant movement and the occasional semidarkness. It said much for the professionalism of the enterprise that an understudy, replacing an ailing violinist, could step seamlessly into the mix.  This production, which has traveled to China and Malaysia, to Mexico and California, and is bound for Australia, the Netherlands and Spain, has yet to find its way to New York. That can't happen soon enough."  Click to read the full review.

Now, for the 2012/2013 season, TAFELMUSIK unveils a new program: "THE HOUSE OF DREAMS."

Created by Alison Mackay, the creator of "The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres" and other exceptional programming, THE HOUSE OF DREAMS takes audiences on tour to five private houses of the baroque period, with a lush combination of baroque music, drama, art and architecture.

Featuring narration, film, paintings of Canaletto, Vermeer and Watteau, THE HOUSE OF DREAMS will be a fully-memorized, musical and visual exploration, Tafelmusik's biggest artistic creation to date.

R E P E R T O I R E:
Handel Concerti Grossi Op. 6
Bach Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra in D minor
Vivaldi Concertos for two Cellos/ two Oboes/ Bassoon
Marin Marais Alcyone
Telemann Watermusik

Tafelmusik tours the US with THE HOUSE OF DREAMS
in February & March in 2013.

Please contact us with inquiries for more information.

Click to see video of a live performance of Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violins, in The Galileo Project.

Click to explore Tafelmusik's YouTube Channel.

Read More about Tafelmusik

DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI tours Germany

March 2011.

Pianist DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI tours Germany this month, playing a recital of works by Bach and Prokofiev at the Berlin Konzerthaus (presented by the Classic Young Stars Festival), and playing Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn:

15 March 2011 • Bielefeld, Oetker Halle
16 March 2011 • Wiesbaden, Das Kurhaus
17 March 2011 • Bad Neuenahr, Kurtheater
20 March 2011 • Hamburg, Laeiszhalle
(24 March 2011 • Berlin, Konzerthaus RECITAL)
25 March 2011 • Bonn, Beethovenhalle
29 March 2011 • Stuttgart, Leiderhalle
30 March 2011 • München, Philharmonie, Gasteig
31 March 2011 • Nürnberg, Meistersingerhalle
1 April 2011 • Karlsruhe, Johannes-Brahms-Saal
(4 April 2011 • Kempten, Residenz RECITAL)

with other upcoming recitals in Düsseldorf and Nettetal.

Recent highlights include dates in the US: recitals of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt and Prokofiev in the New York area and in California, where her exceptionally moving performances were greeted with standing ovations. She also played Mozart's Concerto K.467, "Elvira Madigan" with Daniel Meyer and the Asheville Symphony, and performances of Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2, with Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony:

"Her most memorable qualities were an unflagging lyricism and a limpid sound that made even the most firework-ridden passages sound like an intimate personal confession, never overly sweet or maudlin. She conveyed strength as well, but never unnecessary force. If surprising, hers was still a lovely, fresh performance of the popular work." - The New Jersey Star-Ledger , October 30, 2010

Click here for a video of Dudana playing the Bach/Busoni Chaconne.

Read More about Dudana Mazmanishvili

MARINO FORMENTI in New York City this March

March 2011.

Formenti appears with the NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC March 10, 11, 12 & 15, 2011 playing the Ligeti Piano Concerto led by ESA-PEKKA SALONEN as part of Hungarian Echoes: A Philharmonic Festival and in recital at (LE) POISSON ROUGE - March 29, 2011 - for a new recital program, "The Eclectic Nite: Song Project No. 1".

March 4, 2011: This month, more than six years since his last New York City appearance for Great Performers at Lincoln Center, the dynamic, unique pianist MARINO FORMENTI returns in a series of New York dates, including debut performances with the New York Philharmonic, and in recital at (Le) Poisson Rouge.

On March 10, 11, 12 and 15, Formenti joins Esa-Pekka Salonen and the New York Philharmonic, playing the Ligeti Piano Concerto for the first program of Hungarian Echoes: A Philharmonic Festival. The festival, which runs March 10-26, explores the music of three composers of different periods, styles, and approaches - Haydn, Bartók, and Ligeti - all bearing strong ties to Hungary. The performances mark Formenti's New York Philharmonic debut; he replaces Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who has withdrawn from the concerts due to illness.

Then, on March 29, Formenti unveils a new recital program, "The Eclectic Nite: Song Project No. 1" at the classically serious, coolly informal NYC venue, (Le) Poisson Rouge.

In this program, Formenti explores the fractal relationship of modern music with pop and jazz, setting music of Jacques Brel, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk and others in dialogue with composers including John Cage, Harrison Birtwistle, Erik Satie, George Antheil et al.

The result is a modern musical family portrait of sorts, reflecting the scope of music in the 20th century, as well as the history of the Greenwich Village venue itself: in the 20th century as the Village Gate (where Brel, Holiday and Monk all performed), and now in the 21st century as a home to adventurous modern music, (Le) Poisson Rouge.

Formenti explains the Song Project No. 1: "The challenge of performing at LPR consists in trying to create a dialogue with this space - its history, aura, etc. Since I think that many of the real masters of the 20th and 21st centuries are not only in ‘ernste Musik' - written, classical music - but in jazz, pop, blues and rock as well, my thoughts have been: how can I integrate this music into myself, how can I approach it? The Song Project No. 1 is the result: a very personal homage to artists I absolutely worship - Billie Holiday, Jacques Brel, Thelonious Monk (some of whom have even played in that space) - infused by my experiences playing John Cage, Harrison Birtwistle, Erik Satie, etc."

Ronen Givony of (Le) Poisson Rouge says: "As a lover of piano music and pianists, I was immediately taken by Marino Formenti's ‘Kurtag's Ghosts' album and have since looked forward to the day Marino was able to perform at LPR, which is a treat that I and our audience will finally get to experience on March 29."

Formenti also brings his "Kurtag's Ghosts" program to Duke Performances on March 27, 2011.

"Marino Formenti was the exhilarating, superhuman piano soloist. The performance was, in every respect, fabulous." Mark Swed for THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Jan. 17, 2008, Messiaen "Des canyons aux étoiles" with Esa-Pekka Salonen & the Los Angeles Philharmonic

"Formenti is clearly a rare sort of pianist...Surely the most original and brilliantly executed solo recital any of us are likely to see this year." Ivan Hewett for THE TELEGRAPH, Feb. 10, 2011, "Kurtag's Ghosts" at Wigmore Hall

Click for video of a live performance of "Kurtag's Ghosts".

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
Hungarian Echoes 1: Esa-Pekka Salonen & Marino Formenti
Avery Fisher Hall
Thu, 7:30pm, Mar. 10, 2011
Fri, 11:00am, Mar. 11, 2011
Sat, 8:00pm, Mar. 12, 2011
Tue, 7:30pm, Mar. 15, 2011
Haydn: Symphony No. 6, Le Matin
Ligeti: Piano Concerto
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
Click for event and ticket information.

(LE) POISSON ROUGE
Marino Formenti plays "The Eclectic Nite: Song Project No. 1"
Tue, March 29, 2011
doors open 6:30pm, show 7:30pm
with works by Jacques Brel, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk,
John Cage, Harrison Birtwistle, Erik Satie and others
Click for event and ticket information.

Read More about Marino Formenti

MARINO FORMENTI and Kurtag's Ghosts at Wigmore Hall

March 2011.

This month pianist MARINO FORMENTI brought his fascinating program, KURTAG'S GHOSTS to London's Wigmore Hall:

"There's a lot of anxious debate about how we can 'reinvent the concert experience.' This recital by the Italian-born pianist Marino Formenti proved that to achieve that you don't need giant screens, purple lighting or multi-media bolt-ons. You just need a genuinely musical idea, which can shape a whole programme down to the smallest details, and allow us to hear the music in a different way. To pull that off is a rare thing, but Formenti is clearly a rare sort of pianist...surely the most original and brillantly executed solo recital any of us is likely to see this year." - Ivan Hewett for THE TELEGRAPH, Feb. 10, 2011

Watch video of Formenti playing Kurtag's Ghosts here.

Next month, Formenti brings Kurtag's Ghosts to Duke Performances, and unveils a new program: THE SONG PROJECT #1 at New York City's (le) Poisson Rouge.

Looking forward, Formenti unveils another explorative program, LISZT INSPECTIONS at the Philharmonie Hamburg , juxtaposing the music of Liszt, Feldman, Brian Ferneyhough, John Adams, and Stockhausen.

Read More about Marino Formenti

DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI with Asheville Symphony, in recital at the Berlin Konzerthaus

March 2011.

Pianist DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI returns to North America this winter, playing recitals of Bach, Beethoven, Liszt and Prokofiev at Howland Chamber Music Circle, and at John Kongsgaard's Chamber Music in Napa Valley, where her exceptionally moving performance was greeted with standing ovations.

She also joined Maestro Daniel Meyer and the Asheville Symphony for Mozart's Concerto K.467, "Elvira Madigan."

Next month she joins the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn for a German tour, playing Beethoven Cto. No. 3. She also plays a March 24 recital of Bach and Prokofiev at the Berlin Konzerthaus.

Other highlights of the season included performances of Rachmaninoff Cto. No. 2, with JACQUES LACOMBE and the New Jersey Symphony:

"Her most memorable qualities were an unflagging lyricism and a limpid sound that made even the most firework-ridden passages sound like an intimate personal confession, never overly sweet or maudlin. She conveyed strength as well, but never unnecessary force. If surprising, hers was still a lovely, fresh performance of the popular work." - The New Jersey Star-Ledger , October 30, 2010

Click here for a video of Dudana playing the Bach/Busoni Chaconne.

Read More about Dudana Mazmanishvili

DANIEL MEYER leads concerts with Eugene Symphony, Staatsoper Stuttgart

March 2011.

After leading Dudana Mazmanishvili with the Asheville Symphony, Maestro DANIEL MEYER crossed the US to lead the Eugene Symphony in a special co-production with Cirque de la Symphonie, in a program of Dvorak's Carnival Overture, selections from Bizet's Carmen, Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre and John Williams' Across the Stars.

In March, Meyer leads his other home orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic, in a program of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, with soloists from the Pittsburgh Opera's Resident Artist roster.

And, on the horizon, Daniel Meyer leads the Staatsorchester Stuttgart, at the invitation of Manfred Honeck, in the Ravel Mother Goose Suite, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1 with Thomas Zehetmair.

Read More about Daniel Meyer

ANTHONY MARWOOD with St. Louis, Boston symphony orchestras

March 2011.

The exceptional ANTHONY MARWOOD returns to North America this month, joining David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony for Steve Mackey's Beautiful Passing - a 2008 work for violin and orchestra.

And next month Marwood steps up as leader, soloist and chamber musician with Le Violon du Roy, joining them for Mendelssohn's Octet and the Orlando Jopling arrangement of Schumann's Cello Concerto, for violin and orchestra.

He then makes his Boston Symphony debut, playing the Thomas Àdes violin concerto, Concentric Paths, a work written for and premiered by Marwood and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in 2005. The composer leads the program, as he did with Marwood and the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this season, where they also presented the U.S. premiere in 2006.

Marwood wraps March as a soloist/leader of the Boston-based chamber orchestra, A Far Cry, in Jordan Hall, performing and leading the Schumann/Jopling Concerto.

Marwood and Àdes and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe recorded their acclaimed collaboration on this work, for EMI Classics: “All the performances are superb, and Anthony Marwood performs astounding feats with the difficult solo writing in the concerto." The Boston Globe on the EMI Album, June 6, 2010

And an upcoming album will feature Marwood and Steven Mackey in Mackey's Four Iconoclastic Episodes, a double concerto for electric guitar and violin, with the Irish Chamber Orchestra -- which with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, commissioned the work for Mackey and Marwood in 2009.

Read More about Anthony Marwood

CHRISTOPH von DOHNÁNYI in Cleveland, New York, Boston

March 2011.

CHRISTOPH von DOHNANYI began 2011 at his former home base, leading concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra.

"On his third appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra since stepping down as music director in 2002, the credit for a splendid evening at Severance Hall belongs to Dohnányi entirely." CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, Jan. 7, 2011

Dohnányi then headed to New York for two weeks of concerts with the Philharmonic:

"In the lucid and refined performance Mr. Dohnányi drew from the Philharmonic, the symphony came through as a stirring and original work...The orchestra under Mr. Dohnányi, who has few equals in Brahms, played superbly." THE NEW YORK TIMES, Jan. 17, 2011

Then Dohnányi joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra:

"The Boston Symphony Orchestra had never performed Ligeti's Double Concerto until last night in Symphony Hall, but the orchestra was in good hands. This week's guest conductor is Christoph von Dohnányi, who led the piece's 1972 world premiere in Berlin and worked with the composer closely. This, incidentally, is the best kind of guest conductor programming: a visiting maestro bringing repertoire in which he has something truly distinctive to contribute...Dohnányi led a performance of great textural sensitivity." THE BOSTON GLOBE, January 28, 2011

Not a bad way to start off a year!

Maestro Dohnányi returns to North America this summer, leading concerts at Ravinia and Tanglewood.

Read More about Christoph von Dohnányi

PAUL JACOBS first organist to win a solo Grammy

February 2011.

PAUL JACOBS made history on Sunday night when he was awarded the GRAMMY for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) -- it was the first time that a disc of solo organ music has won a Grammy.

"Part of my mission and passion is to build a bridge from the pipe organ to the broader world of music, and it is most encouraging to see this met with such an honor," says Jacobs. "This is not only a good day for me but for the art of organ playing at large." - Feb 15, 2011 PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Released on September 28, 2010, Jacobs' recording of Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement is in keeping with his advocacy of the composer's works for organ; he has presented 9-hour long marathon performances of Messiaen's organ compositions in cities the United States.  Click here for more on Maessiaen and Paul.

The historic win comes on the heels of the release of Jacobs's third album, a recording of Copland's Organ Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Click here for information about the disc (with the Brant/Ives Concord Symphony) and here for a listening clip of the Copland.

Upcoming hightlights include:

• Phoenix Symphony this weekend for works by Jongen and Widor
• Pacific Symphony for a program exploring Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 (Jacobs will play selections from an organ transcription of the work and Bach's St. Anne Fugue; the PSO will play the full work)
• a recital for Spivey Hall

Read More about Paul Jacobs

JUILLIARD QUARTET presented Lifetime Achievement Award

February 2011. On February 12, 2011 Juilliard String Quartet members past and present, including new first violinist Joseph Lin, Ronald Copes, Samuel Rhodes, Joel Krosnick, founding first violinist Robert Mann, Earl Carlyss, and Joel Smirnoff, as well as family members of Raphael Hillyer, Robert Koff, and Isidore Cohen came together during a special ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The JSQ, which has won four Grammys throughout its recording career, is the first classical ensemble to receive this honor.

NARAS President/CEO Neil Portnow said "These influential performers and brilliant innovators have been of great inspiration to our culture and industry. Their legendary work has left a lasting impression and will continue to influence generations to come."

Pianist Emanuel Ax offered tribute: "This award is a fitting climax to the decades of dedication and love that the Juilliard Quartet has always brought to their work -- on stage, in the recording studio and in the classroom. I hope and believe that tere are mhany more years of the same to come, and I hope to be one of the many fans who will look forward to every new effort of the Juilliard Quartet." Click here to read more.

The JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET, with its new first violinist, Joseph Lin, performs today, February 17, 2011 at the Kennedy Center, along with the current Juilliard School graduate-quartet-in-residence, the AFIARA STRING QUARTET.

Read More about Juilliard String Quartet

ZUILL BAILEY records Dvorak with Indianapolis Symphony, Brahms with Awadagin Pratt (and more)

February 2011.

DVORAK CELLO CONCERTO with Jün Markl of THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR, Feb. 5, 2011:

"On Friday night, with recording microphones set up to yield a Telarc CD from three performances with the ISO, Zuill Bailey offered a passionate yet dignified interpretation of the 1896 work. His playing was consistently well-focused to emphasize the intimacy of the solo role. The lyrical writing prominent in all three movements was sustained with deep feeling, and its virtuoso contrasts -- the rapid figuration, delicately patterned string-crossings, treacherous sliding double stops and crystalline trills -- shone without sounding effortful." Click for the full review.

Listen to a 2008 Minnesota Public Radio interview with Zuill about the Dvorak Concerto.

But before the Dvorak Concerto is released, on March 29 Telarc releases ZUILL BAILEY's recording of BRAHMS, Works for Piano and Cello, with longtime friend and duo partner, Awadagin Pratt.

With the Sonatas in E Minor and F Major, and a selection of song transcriptions, the Brahms album promises to be another success in Zuill's extraordinary discography, which includes:

2010's BACH CELLO SUITES “From the first notes, this disc commands attention above most others currently available and might be headed for classic status thanks to the combination of vision, temperament, and technique that comes together to great effect." -THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, Feb. 14, 2010

and

2009's BEETHOVEN SONATAS FOR CELLO AND PIANO with pianist Simone Dinnerstein: “A bolder, more satisfying account of Beethoven‘s five sonatas for cello and piano is hard to imagine" - THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, Aug. 29, 2009

Read More about Zuill Bailey

ALFRED BRENDEL new chapters for a Renaissance man

February 2011.

from THE TELEGRAPH, 26 Dec 2010:
"For a man who officially retired from performing two years ago and is approaching his 80th birthday, Alfred Brendel has a remarkably packed schedule. When I meet him, he has just returned from giving a lecture series in Munich, and the next day is due to talk on "Character in Music in Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas" at the Wigmore Hall. He's also about to bring out a collected edition of his poems (in German and English) and next month will be giving masterclasses in Paris.

With all this hectic activity, Brendel has hardly had time to miss the concert platform, and certainly gives no sign of it.

"Well, it seemed the right time. Ideally I would like to have just quietly stopped without telling anyone, so I could avoid all those farewell parties, with the tears I did not shed!"  He laughs, clearly relishing the memory of disobeying a social convention..."I mapped out exactly what I would do when I retired. For a long time I had a literary life -- not a hobby, a second life," he says, eyeing me to be sure I've grasped the distinction, "and it was nice to pursue lecturing and writing in a more focused way."

Click here to read the full interview with Ivan Hewett.

* * *

This season, Decca releases a new album, Alfred Brendel: a Birthday Tribute, and Phaidon releases of a major collection of Brendel's poetry, "Playing the Human Game".
Click here for a video of an afternoon tea with the Maestro with collaborator (on the English versions) Richard Stokes.

In October Brendel received GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE's Lifetime Achievement Award.

ALFRED BRENDEL continues his life as a performer with poetry readings and lectures in Munich, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Rome, et al., and returns to North America for lecture appearances in the period October 14 - November 5, 2011.

Lectures include:

• DOES ALL MUSIC HAVE TO BE ENTIRELY SERIOUS?
• ON CHARACTER IN MUSIC
• LIGHT AND SHADE OF INTERPRETATION

All lectures are illustrated with musical examples, with the Maestro at the keyboard.

"You know, even though I have stopped playing, my musicality is still developing," he says. "I notice it when I teach that the clarity of speed of my musical vision has actually improved. If I could play Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy today with the physical condition of 30 years ago that would be ideal, as I have a much clearer idea what to do with it now."

Read More about Alfred Brendel

ANNE AKIKO MEYERS in recital at the Rubin Museum of Art

January 2011.

On January 30, violinist ANNE AKIKO MEYERS appears in recital for New York City's Rubin Museum of Art's "Resonating Light" series.  She recently spoke with BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE about the program:

'Samsara' is the title of your recital programme. What does it mean?

The whole series at the Rubin Museum is titled 'Resonating Light'. Tim McHenry, curator of the museum and producer of this series, came up with the title 'Samsara' after I told him what music I'd chosen. 'Samsara' means 'continuous flow of life', and the programme goes from birth to death to afterlife.

How did you choose the music? 

The Rubin Museum was such an interesting situation as Tim asked me to come by and view all the collections, and then base my recital theme on that. That was really a first to be asked to programme like that. I chose a wide selection of diverse composers, but it starts and ends with Bach. It's meant to be symbolic of life itself, and the general mood and character I wanted to convey.

So how does the programme develop?

The Bach Air on the G string represents the first breath of air we take into our bodies. Piazzolla's Milonga del Angel is steamy, sexually desirous music; I wanted to show building passion, which leads to finding love in Kreisler's Liebesfreud. His Liebeslied represents the love that you lose. Lost love makes the love you find that much sweeter; we all experience that bittersweet feeling. Then Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel is the mid-life crisis! You look into a mirror and take stock of where your life is, it's a time you need to be quiet and meditate to find yourself.

Can you tell us about the two contemporary pieces in the second half?

Somei Satoh's Birds in Warped Time II is so fascinating because he thinks the rests are more important than the notes. The rests symbolise death, and the notes life. So it's a very ethereal reflective work, and you hear the birds going off into the distance. Jakob Ciupinski's piece The Wreck of the Umbria for Solo Violin/Electronics is an eerie reminder of how life was on that boat. It was destroyed in World War II, and this piece represents faded life and the afterlife. Ciupinski is an adventurous young composer and a deep sea diver himself. Then the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria is the encore.

Click here to read the full interview.

And click here for more information on the January 30 Rubin Museum recital.

Read More about Anne Akiko Meyers

ADAM GOLKA joins Colbert Artists

January 2011.

This season Colbert Artists Management is pleased to welcome pianist ADAM GOLKA to the roster.

WINNER of the 2008 GILMORE YOUNG ARTIST AWARD

"In Golka's hands, the work was stunning, a revelation of the composer's soul..." - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Recent and upcoming orchestras include:
Atlanta Symphony • BBC Scottish Symphony • Dallas Symphony
Fort Worth Symphony • Houston Symphony • Indianapolis Symphony
Milwaukee Symphony • Phoenix Symphony • San Diego Symphony
Syracuse Symphony • Warsaw Philharmonic

performing works by: Beethoven • Chopin • Grieg • Liszt • Prokofiev • Rachmaninoff • Ravel • Tchaikovsky and others

"This was a performance not to dazzle, but to draw you into a world of intimate beauties." - DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Read More about Adam Golka

YOLANDA KONDONASSIS plays an NPR Tiny Desk

January 2011.

"Among today's concert harpists, Yolanda Kondonassis stands head and shoulders above the rest. What distinguishes her is her phenomenal technical prowess and radiant musicality..." - THE DESERET MORNING NEWS

After a Dumbarton Oaks concert this season , harpist YOLANDA KONDONASSIS stopped by NPR's offices in Washington, D.C. to play a Tiny Desk concert (yes, that's producer Bob Boilen's desk she's playing behind...)

Click here for video, or click here to listen to audio-only.*audio-only may load more quickly than the video...

The Dumbarton Oaks concert was a collaboration with her colleagues from the 2009 Grammy-nominated disc, Air: flutist Joshua Smith and violist Cynthia Phelps, playing works by Toru Takemitsu, Debussy, Arnold Bax and others. Hear a performance/conversation with American Public Media's Fred Child about "Air" here.

And for a wonderful season program from Yolanda and those same exemplary collaborators, click here to hear "A Harpist's Christmas", featuring some lesser-known Christmas carols and songs, also hosted by Fred Child.

Yolanda's upcoming dates include Debussy's Danse sacrée et profane and Ginastera's Harp Concerto with the Lansing and Baton Rouge symphony orchestras. Recent orchestral dates include the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto at Bravo! Vail Valley, with Eugenia Zuckerman, Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony; the Erie Philharmonic, and Spokane and Kalamazoo symphony orchestras, among others.

AND, click here to check out more information and repertoire selections on Yolanda's newly redesigned website!

Read More about Yolanda Kondonassis

Joseph Lin joins the Juilliard String Quartet

December 2010. Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi announced on October 22, 2010 that 32-year-old violinist Joseph Lin, an alumnus of Harvard and The Juilliard School Pre-College, will join the Juilliard String Quartet as first violinist beginning in 2011. He also becomes a member of the Juilliard violin faculty beginning with the fall 2011 semester. Mr. Lin currently is on leave from his position as a professor at Cornell, spending time in Asia to study Chinese music. He returns to the US to complete the spring semester at Cornell before joining the other members of the Juilliard Quartet — violinist Ronald Copes (Quartet member since 1997), violist Samuel Rhodes (1969), and cellist Joel Krosnick (1974) — as a full-time member. Mr. Lin follows violinist Nick Eanet who has resigned from the Quartet because of health issues.

In announcing Mr. Lin’s appointment, President Polisi stated, “The Juilliard community is delighted to continue the great tradition of the Juilliard String Quartet through the appointment of Joseph Lin. Joe brings extraordinary artistry, intellect, and a vision to his new post. We all welcome him as a member of the ensemble and of our faculty.”

To read the full press release announcing Joseph Lin’s appointment, click here.

Read More about Juilliard String Quartet

PAUL JACOBS & An Extraordinary Autumn

December 2010.

Since the first of September, organist PAUL JACOBS has traveled through an extraordinary range of performances and collaborations:

COPLAND ORGAN SYMPHONY with Michael Tilson Thomas & the San Francisco Symphony SEPTEMBER 3, Davies Hall, pre-tour performance • SEPTEMBER 11, Lucerne Festival • SEPTEMBER 22, 23, 25, 26, Davies Hall subscription week & recording

"With organist Paul Jacobs as the nimble soloist and the orchestra at its robust and delicate best, this disc promises to be a keeper." - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, Sept. 24, 2010

COPLAND ORGAN SYMPHONY & Pre-Concert Recitals with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Chicago Symphony: NOVEMBER 4, 5, 6, Symphony Hall subscription week

"Tilson Thomas led an exuberant performance that merged the formidable organ part -- brilliantly played by Paul Jacobs, in his CSO debut -- with the orchestra's clattery percussion and jabbing brass." - CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Nov. 5, 2010

BACH CLAVIER-ÜBUNG for Lincoln Center's acclaimed WHITE LIGHT FESTIVAL, & first performance on the restored Alice Tully Hall Kuhn Organ: NOVEMBER 16 (lecture/demonstrations Oct 26, Nov 9) * watch video of Paul speaking about the composition and the festival here *

"The show was chiefly Mr. Jacobs's, and he rose magnificently to the occasion." - THE NEW YORK TIMES, Nov. 17, 2010

JANACEK GLAGOLITIC MASS with Pierre Boulez and Chicago Symphony: DECEMBER 2, 3, 4, Symphony Hall subscription week with the CSO Emeritus Conductor

"Paul Jacobs, back just weeks after his CSO debut in Copland's Organ Symphony, brought full-tilt virtuosity to the solo organ fireworks in the penultimate Varhany section." - CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW, Dec. 3, 2010

Oh yes, and did we mention the Grammy nomination? SEPTEMBER 28: Naxos releases Paul's recording of the Messiaen Livre du Saint Sacrement • DECEMBER 1: The disc is nominated for Best Solo Intrumental Performance (without orchestra).

Click here for Paul's personal thoughts on Messiaen, and this specific recording.

ON THE HORIZON:

San Francisco Symphony Recital • Phoenix Symphony • Pacific Symphony • Spivey Hall • Seattle Symphony Recital • and more...

Read More about Paul Jacobs

WENDY NIELSEN is TOSCA VITELLIA VANESSA

November 2010.

Soprano WENDY NIELSEN wins raves this week as she sings the first in a series of great dramatic roles:

"Nielsen was outstanding as Tosca -- a great actress, putting her entire being into the demanding role of the opera singer title character. With her lovely, refined soprano, she lent her full vibrato and flexible style to the plot, moving fluidly from jealous lover to desperate murderess. In Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta, she showed a diaphanous lightness to her voice, barely alighting on each note before flitting to the next.

Rich phrasing and fervent zeal highlighted her Visse d'arte, vissi d'amore, as she sang, collapsed on the floor, disconsolate and despairing, beseeching God for deserting her despite her lifelong piety and humanity. Nielsen is the consummate opera star, with a reliable, mature voice that is completely satisfying. Powerful beyond belief, her dramatic cries of pain reached right into the audience's hearts." - WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, November 22, 2010

TOSCA: Nov. 20, 23, 26, 2010 Manitoba Opera

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO: Feb. 5, 8, 10, 12, 2011 Vancouver Opera

VANESSA: April 28, 30, 3, 5, 7, 2011 Pacific Opera Victoria

"One of Canada's finest dramatic sopranos..." - THE CALGARY HERALD on Nielsen's Ariadne with the Calgary Opera in 2009.

Read More about Wendy Nielsen

This season Colbert Artists offers a warm welcome to violinist ANTHONY MARWOOD

October 2010.

"Is there nothing Anthony Marwood cannot do? He plays the violin, acts, dances, and can do all at once. He directs the Irish Chamber Orchestra, plays with the Florestan Piano Trio, commissions composers, jointly runs his own festival and has a network of worldwide collaborators. To cap it all, this consummate artist is blessed with boundless energy, intellectual curiosity and creative wizardry." - BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Recital tour: April 13-22, 2012 with Aleksandar Madzar, piano

BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 6, in A Major, Op.30, No.1 "Kreuzer"
RAVEL: Sonata in G Major
~~~~~
SCHUMANN: Three Romances , Op.94
BARTOK: Sonata, No.1, Sz 75

OR

BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 6, in A Major, Op.30, No.1 "Kreuzer"
RAVEL: Sonata in G Major
~~~~~~~
SCHUMANN: Sonata No.1 in A Minor, Op.105
SCHUBERT: Fantasy in C Major for violin and piano, Op.159, D934

Click here for audio selections from Marwood's Schumann Sonatas recording on Hyperion, and here for selections from Marwood's recent recording of Stravinsky's complete works for violin and piano, with frequent collaborator, Thomas Adès.

And click here for more information about Marwood's full season, with recital and orchestral dates around the world.

"Few musicians serve their metaphorical master as convincingly as British violinist Anthony Marwood. His every endeavour seems to stem from a debt to art, a debt to music. There is nothing that gets in the way of the ultimate goal - the realisation of perfection and honesty in his craft." - SUNDAY TRIBUNE

 

Read More about Anthony Marwood

afiara touring in 2011/12

October 2010.

This season Colbert Artists Management is very pleased to welcome the AFIARA STRING QUARTET to its roster.

Currently graduate-quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School, and fresh from top prizes at the 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition, appearances at the Midwest Arts Alliance and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the AFIARA STRING QUARTET balances a lively interest in new works and educational outreach with deep insight into core classical repertoire.

S A M P L E P R O G R A M S:

Haydn String Quartet Op. 76, No.5
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 13
Beethoven String Quartet Op. 59, No. 1

Mozart String Quartet K. 465, "Dissonance"
Brett Abigana String Quartet No. 2
Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 2, Op. 13

Aleksandra Vrebalov "Pannonia Boundless"
Bartok String Quartet No. 3
Berg Lyric Suite

• Graduate resident string quartet, THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL, 2009-present
• Morrison Fellowship Quartet-in-Residence, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, ICA 2007-2009
• Served on faculty of INDIANA UNIVERSITY SUMMER STRING ACADEMY
• Visiting-Quartet-in-Residence at Glenn Gould School at ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

"A terrifically unified, versatile, idiomatic, and moving ensemble." - SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE

Click here for a video of the Afiara's recent trip to Brazil, and here for video of the Afiara playing Mendelssohn's Quartet Op. 44, No. 1.

Read More about Afiara String Quartet

PAUL JACOBS releases Messiaen disc, plays Copland with San Francisco Symphony

September 2010.

Organist PAUL JACOBS began the month joining Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for a pre-season performance of the Copland Organ Symphony. They then headed to Switzerland for the Lucerne Festival, where they wowed the crowds with with the Copland, before coming back to San Francisco for the official season-opening subscription week and a live recording set for release in early 2011:

"Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony marked their return from a brief European tour on Wednesday night by turning on the microphones and delivering a tremendous rendition of Copland's Organ Symphony in Davies Symphony Hall...With organist Paul Jacobs as the nimble soloist and the orchestra at its robust and delicate best, this disc promises to be a keeper."- JOSHUA KOSMAN, San Francisco Chronicle, Sept, 24, 2010

And in November, Paul Jacobs gives the hotly anticipated inaugural performance of the reinstated Kuhn organ at Alice Tully Hall, as part of Lincoln Center's "White Light Festival". He plays J.S.Bach's rarely-performed Clavier-Übung III - an extraordinary exploration of European sacred music, encompassing motets, complex fugues and aspects of the Lutheran mass - and interspersed with the Clarion Choir's a capella performances of Bach chorales. This work truly embodies "music's transcendent capacity to illuminate our larger interior universe" (White Light Festival brochure).

Jacobs offers other illuminations this month with the September 28 release of his latest recording, Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement for Naxos.  Jacobs also reunites with Tilson Thomas in November, this time at the Chicago Symphony, for both the Copland Organ Symphony and a short solo recital and Q&A, preceding each of the orchestral performances.

Read More about Paul Jacobs

AFIARA STRING QUARTET wins top prizes at Banff, plays in Brazil

September 2010.

This season we warmly welcome the AFIARA STRING QUARTET to the Colbert Artists Roster.

Afiara String Quartet joined Colbert this summer, and kicked things off with wins at the Banff International String Quartet Competition - 2nd place overall, and the Szekley Prize for best fourth-round Beethoven or Schubert performance. While at the festival, the Afiaras spoke with the CBC about the unique demands and pleasures of high-level competion, click here to listen.

 

The Afiaras then played concerts throughout the US; showcasing at the Midwest Arts Conference in Indianapolis; in Medford, CA; in Kalispell, MT; in High Point, NC; and at the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock. They are now in the southern hemisphere as musical ambassadors - participating in the Juilliard School's partnership with Santa Marcelina Cultura (Brazil), leading masterclasses and performing a concert at the Sao Paulo Museum of Art.

 

Upcoming highlights include a return to Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music as the Glenn Gould School's Visiting-Quartet-in-Residence, a New York City performance at Merkin Hall, a studio recording at the Bayerische Rundfunk, dates in Amsterdam and in Denmark, and appearances in D.C. for a Washington Performing Arts Series concert (playing Haydn, Berg and Beethoven) and the Mendelssohn Octet with their mentors, the JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET at the Kennedy Center.

 

And in the midst of this busy month, they stopped by our new office suite with some excellent California pinot noir, and we toasted their Banff success and our future together!

Read More about Afiara String Quartet

JACQUES LACOMBE opens the season with New Jersey Symphony, Montreal Symphony

September 2010.

On September 14, 2010 JACQUES LACOMBE officially became Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony, leading a gala concert featuring operatic works, a world premiere of Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry Suite, Joshua Bell in works by Saint-Saëns and Massenet, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite:

"...Lacombe shines as the NJSO's new leader. He projected authority without ego, getting the best out of the musicians whose brilliant, unified sound and charged performances created a constant sense of anticipation, even in familiar repertory. The music sounded fresh and sharp, with detailed layers of sound clearly and cleanly coming into focus - a kind of auditory version of a "new glasses" feeling."- NJSO Gala Season Opener, The New Jersey Star-Ledger, September 16, 2010

He then led subscription concerts, featuring Copland's Canticle of Freedom and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (with the Westminster Choir), with Colbert Artists JASON GRANT and BRYAN GRIFFIN singing the bass-baritone and tenor solos, respectively. Lacombe also led the season's first subscription concerts for the Montreal Symphony; a program of Carmina Burana, Jacques Hetu's Sur les rives du Saint-Maurice and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe:

"Conducting from memory, former MSO principal guest conductor Jacques Lacombe showed that his easy rapport with the orchestra has not diminished... Lacombe drew Dutoit-like textures from the orchestra and choir, and Timothy Hutchins excelled in the flute solos."- MONTREAL GAZETTE, September 9, 2010

In October, Lacombe leads the Vancouver Opera in the world premiere of John Estacio's Lillian Alling, before returning to NJSO to lead a Russian-themed program, including a piece by New Jersey Roots Project composer Roger Sessions, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, with the luminous DUDANA MAZMANISHVILI.

ANNE AKIKO MEYERS releases "Seasons...dreams" album, plays Mozart with Langrée in St. Louis

September 2010.

Violinist ANNE AKIKO MEYERS began the autumn with the release of her newest album, "Seasons...dreams," out September 28 on eOne Music. The disc release has been the occasion of a cascade of appearances, ranging from a performance at the exclusive Madison Avenue David Webb Jewelry boutique as part of Vogue's Fashion's Night Out, to interviews with San Francisco Classical Voice and WNYC's Soundcheck, to nightclub dates at New York City's (le) Poisson Rouge, Chicago's S.P.A.C.E, and presented by KDFC at Yoshi's in San Francisco.

Meyers then returned to the St. Louis Symphony for the Mozart G Major Concerto, led by Louis Langrée:

"It was a pleasure to hear, a performance notable for its clarity and idiomatic sense of style from all concerned, and appropriately understated. Meyers brought technical accomplishment, a warm persona and a cool interpretive slant to her playing. Her cadenzas were written for her by Wynton Marsalis, and they brought out her strengths as a performer nicely." - SARAH BRYAN MILLER The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 24, 2010

Upcoming dates include the Barber Concerto with James DePriest and the Pasadena Symphony, and for a return to the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker.

Read More about Anne Akiko Meyers