Festival Preview: 2017 Prototype Festival

Femme fatales, infidelity, gross anatomy and yes...opera!
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This conceptual image for Julian Wachner's Rev. 23 promises a hot two weeks
of avant-garde opera at the fifth annual Prototype Festival.
Image © 2017 Prototype Festival.

New York's celebration of avant-garde opera in the dead of winter returns for its fifth season with the eagerly awaited New York premiere of Breaking The Waves as the marquee event. There are six new works being performed, plus one being workshopped. In addition, the Festival offers pop-up concerts, music, dance, multimedia presentations and the odd swanky soirée.

Concert Review: Messiaen-ic Visions

The Philharmonic makes CONTACT! to open Messiaen Week.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Taxi! A still from Esa-Pekka Salonen's commercial for Apple's iPad Air.
Image © 2015 Apple Inc.

This week, the New York Philharmonic begins a week-long celebration of the life and work of Olivier Messiaen, the French composer who combined mysticism and modernism in equal measure to become one of the most important, if occasionally mystifying composers of the 20th century. Billed as Messiaen Week, the series opened Monday night with a CONTACT! concert of chamber music: solos and duets by Messiaen, his pupils and composers that he influenced over a long career.lassical,

Concert Review: He's Bad And He Knows It

Esa-Pekka Salonen makes CONTACT! at National Sawdust.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Your host: composer Esa-Pekka Salonen offered Monday night's CONTACT!
concert with the New York Philharmonic at National Sawdust.
Photo by Mat Hennek © 2015 Deutsche Grammophon/UMG.

The still-new Williamsburg performing arts space National Sawdust was host to members of the New York Philharmonic on Monday night, for the latest installment of CONTACT!, the new music series instituted by current music director Alan Gilbert. This performance was under the auspices of current Philharmonic composer in residence Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer and conductor who recently (and publicly) turned down the post of music director with the venerable orchestra.