Concert Review: Who's for Trifle?

A light program at the Philharmonic with Jeffrey Kahane.
by Paul J. Pelkonen 

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein guested (briefly) with the New York Philharmonic this week.
Photo by Harald Hoffmann, © 2018 Decca Classics.

New Yorkers (and I am one by birth) are a hardy bunch. Not even the purported bomb cyclone and sub-freezing windchill could keep them away from this week's concerts at the New York Philharmonic, the first of the new year on the stage of David Geffen HallHowever, given the short length and relative light weight of this program, it may be a matter of some debate if the concert was worth braving the elements.

Concert Review: Against the Gathering Darkness

Jeffrey Kahane returns to the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The pianist Jeffrey Kahane returned to the New York Philharmonic this week.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2014 The New York Philharmonic.

In the years between the two World Wars, the last, dying gasps of tonal music and the rise in popularity of American jazz created a climate where composers engaged in fearless and sometimes furious experimentation. It was as if they knew disaster was coming, and that it was time to get all their good ideas down on paper before the world plunged back into darkness.

This week, the New York Philharmonic offered a carefully curated program of lesser-known major orchestral works from Maurice Ravel, Kurt Weill and George Gershwin. The program, conducted by Jeffery Kahane (who also served as piano soloist) searched for common ground between these three composers, offering listeners Ravel's flashy post-Impressionist virtuosity, Weill's  post-Mahlerian sturm und drang view of Wiemar Germany, and the jazzy sounds of Gershwin's New York.