Concert Review: The Follies of Youth

The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Beatrice Rana onstage at Carnegie Hall with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in the background.
Photo by Paul Vincent. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra returned to Carnegie Hall on Friday night for the last of their appearances this season. For this program, Mr. Nézet-Séguin chose a pair of mostly forgotten and badly neglected early works by prominent Russian composers Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff. These Russian rarities flanked the more familiar Third Piano Concerto by Serge Prokofiev with soloist Beatrice Rana.

Concert Review: He's Happiest On the Bench

Mikhail Pletnev returns with the Russian National Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Mikhail Pletnev (at piano) with members of the Russian National Orchestra in 2017.
Photo courtesy the Russian National Orchestra © 2017.

When you're a world-class composer, conductor, arranger and concert pianist who is also the founder and artistic director of an important international orchestra, you can pretty much sit wherever you want. That's the home truth from Wednesday night's appearance at Lincoln Center by the Russian National Orchestra. For this concert, Mikhail Pletnev, who founded the orchestra in Moscow in 1990, chose the role of soloist, letting conductor Kirill Karabits make his New York podium debut.

Concert Review: Rising in the East (but not too early)

A morning matinée at the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A man and a water tower: David Robertson returned to New York this week.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2018 The New York Philharmonic.

One could not help but notice, walking into David Geffen Hall on Friday afternoon, that there were some empty seats. These were more noticeable because they had little envelopes taped to them, presumably gifts for subscribers coming to the first Friday morning program of the 2018 season. However, as this concert started with new music, the conservative types who make the biggest Philharmonic contributions were (as is their wont) late to arrive.  Here, conductor David Robertson opened with a performance of another major work by contemporary composer Louis Andriessen, the Dutch composer whose receipt of the 2016 Kravis Prize for new music has led to an in-depth Philharmonic exploration of his catalogue.

Concert Review: All Within Her Hands

Kariné Poghosyan plays damned difficult stuff at Zankel Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Kariné Poghosyan in concert at Zankel Hall. Photo by Jonathan Levin. 

The season is winding down but there are still some extraordinary artists to be heard (and covered) in the pages of Superconductor. On Thursday night, it was the New York-based Armenian-born pianist Kariné Poghosyan, playing her first recital at Zankel Hall, the subterranean concert venue that sits underneath Carnegie Hall.

Concert Review: The Toast of Two Cities

The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Photo © 2018 The Philadelphia Orchestra.

There is no question that the Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is the big man on the New York classical music scene at the moment. The music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra was in town with his troops on Tuesday night, for his first Carnegie Hall appearance since being appointed the music director of the Metropolitan Opera.

Concert Review: A Full Feast of Rare Birds

Gianandrea Noseda leads the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Because photos of conductors get boring, here's a set design for The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh from 1929.

The New York Philharmonic has returned from their mid-November residency at the University of Michigan, just in time to offer their listeners a slate of concerts as the city races toward the holiday season. The first of these programs opened Wednesday night as Gianandrea Noseda led a program of infrequently performed works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saëns and Rachmmaninoff, making a good argument for more programs like this in the future.

Concert Review: Earth-Shattering Kabooms

Paavo Järvi conducts the New York Philharmonic.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Paavo Järvii led the New York Philharmonic this week.
Photo © Harrison  Parrott.

The New York Philharmonic is (finally) back from a galaxy far, far away. This week marked the orchestra’s second traditional program of the season, with guest conductor Paavo Järvi leading works by composer-in-residence Esa-Pekka Salonen alongside music by Rachmaninoff and Sibelius. For Mr. Järvi, son of a famed Estonian conductor and a maestro in his own right (currently with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo) this was a concert that played squarely to his strengths.

Opera Review: A Tale of Two Opera Companies

The resuscitated City Opera offers a verismo double bill.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

That's show biz: Canio (Francesco Anile) menaces his unfaithful Nedda (Jessica Rose Cambio)
in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Photo by Sarah Shatz © 2016 New York City Opera

Those who have followed the New York City Opera through its recent cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation know that the man at the helm of this new version of New York's "other" opera company is Michael Capasso. For many years, Mr. Capasso helmed Dicapo Opera, a boutique company on the Upper East Side that provided a welcome alternative to New Yorkers not wanting to make the pilgrimage to Lincoln Center. His company folded in 2013, around the same time that City Opera did, and it makes a kind of sense that he is the head of that larger company's revival effort.

Concert Review: "And it was bye-bye New Jersey..."

Jacques Lacombe ends his tenure with the NJSO.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

It can be argued that the six year tenure of conductor Jacques Lacombe has been a general success for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. On Sunday afternoon at NJPAC, Mr. Lacombe ended his term as music director with a stylish concert that played to his passions and strengths: new music, Romantic repertory and French music the early 20th century, here represented by a pair of pieces by Maurice Ravel.

Concert Review: And So His Watch is Winding Down

James Levine, Evgeny Kissin and the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

James Levine in 2013, ensconced in his special motorized wheelchair on the stage of
Carnegie Hall. The Met's music director will step down this year after 40 years of service.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

The concerts played at Carnegie Hall by the Metropolitan Opera's pit orchestra (billed for these occasions by the marketing department of that august institution as "The MET Orchestra") are the brainchild of music director James Levine. Lately though, they've seemed more like a burden, more weight added to the workload of a conductor whose career is drawing to its twilight. Mr. Levine is still a vital musical force, but he is retiring because of physical issues that have threatened and impaired his performances. (This was his first concert in the newly created post of Music Director Emeritus.)

Concert Review: Revenge of the Nerds

Andrés Orozco-Estrada debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Talk to the hands: Conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada
made his Cleveland Orchestra debut this week.
Photo by Werner Kmetitsch courtesy the artist's website.

Things are changing at Severance Hall, the staid Egyptian-inspired concert hall that squats, temple-like at the side of the lagoon in eastern Cleveland, Ohio. On Thursday night, the lobby of Severance was decorated with a bright neon and incandescent sign: the word NERDS blazing red and green, inviting concertgoers to take selfies with this work of pop art.

Concert Review: The Mountain of Madness

Daniil Trifonov closes out Rachmaninoff at the Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The young gun: Daniil Trifonov is set to take over the world
...and just joined the board of the New York Philharmonic.
Photo © 2015 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group.

It's been a good month for piano aficionados at the New York Philharmonic, where newly minted board member Daniil Trifonov is wrapping up a three-week overview of the career of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the tall, dour Russian virtuoso whose piano music combines lyricism and technical challenges in a way that makes his four concertos the equivalent of an expedition to conquer the Himalayas.

Concert Review: Underdog Day Afternoon

Week 2 of Rachmaninoff at the Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The jaywalking virtuoso: Daniil Trifonov on his way to work.
Photo © 2015 The New York Philharmonic.

As a composer and touring soloist, Sergei Rachmaninoff was respected for his place as the last of the Russian romantic and loved for his fearsome piano technique. Although he remains one of the most popular composers of the 20th century, some of his vast catalogue remains off the radar of the music-loving public. This week, the New York Philharmonic sought to correct that oversight with the second set of concerts in their ongoing three-week celebration dubbed Rachmaninoff: A Philharmonic Festival.

Concert Review: Magic In His Fingers

Daniil Trifonov opens the Philharmonic's Rachmaninoff festival.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

You gotta say yes to another excess: Daniil Trifonov.
Photo by Dario Acosta for Deutsche Grammophon/UMG 

Although he is just 24, Daniil Trifonov has established himself at the forefront of an impressive crop of pianists, young Steinway jockeys determined to return old-school virtuosity to the concert hall. On Wednesday night, Mr. Trifonov opened a three-week festival stand with the New York Philharmonic. The focus: the music of Russian composer and virtuoso Sergei Rachmaninoff, with three different conductors scheduled to take the podium in David Geffen Hall.

Concert Review: The Prodigal and the Exile

The BSO ends its epic stand at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Prince Alexander (Nikolai Cherkasov) prepares for battle in a scene from Alexander Nevsky.
Photo © 1938 Mosfilm.

Under the baton of new music director Andris Nelsons, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has, this week, treated Carnegie Hall to some of the most exciting performances of this still young concert season. On Thursday night, conductor and players went for the throat with a thrilling one-two program of Prokofiev’s Aleksandr Nevsky and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, a daunting program for any orchestra worth their salt.

Concert Review: Back on Track

The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Parler à la main: Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Image © 2015 Fondation Jasmin Roy from a YouTube video. 

It hasn't been an easy week for the Philadelphia Orchestra. That city is still grieving in the wake of an Amtrak derailment that resulted in seven dead and hundreds of injuries. Despite the travel issues, the ensemble and its irrepressible music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin commuted to Carnegie Hall on Thursday for their final New York concert of the 2015 season. This program featured two works premiered by the orchestra (one old, one new) and pianist Emanuel Ax playing Beethoven.

Concert Review: Once the Hammer Dropped

David Zinman conducts the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

New York Philharmonic Artist in Residence Lisa Batiashvili.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2015 The New York Philharmonic.

It began with the blow of a hammer.

"It," in this case was Thursday night's New York Philharmonic concert at Avery Fisher Hall, the first of three this week. The hammer-blow marked the start of the first work on the program: Iscariot, a 13-minute tone poem by outgoing composer-in-residence Christopher Rouse, a 1989 work that was receiving its first Philharmonic performance. David Zinman was this week's guest conductor, in a program that also featured 20th century compositions by Samuel Barber and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Concert Review: From Russia, With Flash

Daniil Trifonov returns to the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

West Side story: The pianist Daniil Trifonov at play in New York.
Photo by Dario Acosta for Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics

The pianist Daniil Trifonov is just 23, and stands at the leading edge of a young crop of pianists who are making that most staid of instruments exciting again. On Friday, Jan. 2, Mr. Trifonov joined the New York Philharmonic for the orchestra's first concert of 2015, the second of four performances featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff's fearsome Piano Concerto No. 1.

Concert Review: Dance Fever

The Berlin Philharmonic plays Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Berlin Philharmonic music director Sir Simon Rattle.
Photo © 2014 The Berlin Philharmonic.

Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall was the opening gala, with red carpet, superstar violinist (Anne-Sophie Mutter) and a truncated one-act concert before a glittering crowd. Thursday, however was the real opening night, the first repertory concert of the season with the Berlin Philharmonic. This concert featured a reprise of the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, paired with a complete performance of the full 1910 score of Stravinsky's Firebird.

Concert Review: The End is the Beginning

Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Berlin Philharmonic open Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Anne-Sophie Mutter, 2014-15 Carnegie Hall Perspectives Artist
played at opening night. Photo by Harald Hoffmann for Deutsche Grammophon.
© 2014 Universal Classics/UMG

The opening of Carnegie Hall is always a festive occasion, with red carpet laid down under the famous portico on W. 57th St., a black-tie crowd and this year, a gala dinner on the Hall's new grassy roof deck. However, the main attraction this year was that the season was opening with the Berlin Philharmonic, in town for a week of concerts, a residency that will launch not only this year's Carnegie season but Lincoln Center's own White Light Festival next week.