Concert Review: They Might Not Be Giants

Yo-Yo Ma tilts windmills with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Stop that you'll only encourage him: Yo-Yo Ma (with cello) and Andris Nelsons (on podium) and
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Stu Rosner for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra played its third and final Carnegie Hall concert on Friday night. This venerable orchestra has found its passion and spark again under the baton of music director Andris Nelsons. As an ensemble, it is moving forward in a bold and forthright manner. And yet, some of its past tendencies appeared in this concert, resulting in a curios evening of variable quality.

Concert Review: Trip Through Her Wires

Isabelle Faust plays a doubleheader at Mostly Mozart.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Isabelle Faust and her Stradivarius, the "Sleeping Beauty."
Photo by Marco Borggreve  © 2010 harmonia mundi.

The violinist Isabelle Faust and her Stradivarius were at the center of two performances on Saturday night at the Mostly Mozart festival. The first featured the German violinist as soloist in Mozart's Turkish Concerto. The second, an intimate gathering at the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse featured two of Bach's solo works for the violin: the Sonata No. 2 and Partita No. 3.