Opera Review: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Handel's Atalanta bows at Caramoor. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Nicholas McGegan at its center.
Photo by Suzanne Karp.

When an arts festival goes through a major change of direction, there are always bumps and bruises. At Caramoor, which has operated on the Rosen estate in Katona New York for seventy-three years, those bruises are starting to show. There is a new artistic administrator on the campus: Kathy Schuman, formerly of Carnegie Hall. Gathering places and social areas are being renovated. And the festival's crown jewel, its opera series, has undergone the most rigorous change of all.

Concert Review: She Wore Blue Velvet

Susan Graham returns to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The utterly compelling Susan Graham.
Photo by Benjamin Eolavega, provided by IMG Artists.

The Orchestra of St. Luke's remains one of New York's most versatile ensembles, equally at home in the stately language of the high Baroque and the more astringent, experimental sounds of the 20th century. A Thursday night concert under the baton of period performance specialist Nicholas McGegan put that versatility to the test. The performance featured the artistry of mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, framed with a pair of symphonies by the first great master of that form: Franz Josef Haydn.