Concert Review: Exit Under Fireworks

Alan Gilbert leads the Concerts in the Parks.
by Paul J. Pelkonenppelkonen@gmail.com

And he's out. Alan Gilbert gave his last Central Park concert as music director
on Wednesday night. Photo by Chris Lee © 2017 New York Philharmonic.

Alan Gilbert gave his final New York concerts as music director of the New York Philharmonic this week, leading the annual Concerts in the Parks series in four boroughs. Wednesday's concert on the Great Lawn of Central Park was blessed with magnificent weather: clear skies and 80 degrees. Perfect.

Opera Review: Just Right for a Street Fight

Carnegie Hall's Somewhere Project mounts West Side Story.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Jets (with Manny Stark, center, as Riff) land at the Knockdown Center in West Side Story.
Photo © 2016 by Richard Termine, courtesy Carnegie Hall Public Relations Department.

The music of Leonard Bernstein is the heartbeat of New York City. That was the thesis behind the Weill Music Institute's Somewhere Project, a prodigious initiative to celebrate art, song and music education as well as commemorate the current and 125th season of Carnegie Hall. The project reached a climax of sorts this weekend with the mounting of two performances of West Side Story at the Knockdown Center, a former glass factory on the leading edge of Maspeth, Queens.

The Superconductor Interview: Sarah Chang

The violinist on Bernstein, love stories and playing in New Jersey.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Sarah Chang and friend. Photo © Sony Classical.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has made January a good time to be in the Garden State. For January is when the orchestra holds its two week annual orchestral festival, concentrating its concert programming around a single thematic idea or solo artist This year, Shakespeare is the focus of the festival, and the soloist is internationally known virtuoso violinist and New Jersey native Sarah Chang.

Concert Review: The Original Gangsters

The New York Philharmonic rumbles with West Side Story.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

In residence: Yefim Bronfman (at the piano) and Alan Gilbert (with baton)
kicked off the 2013-14 New York Philharmonic subscription series on Thursday night.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2013 The New York Philharmonic.

The New York Philharmonic has had a lot of openings in recent weeks--from the pre-season Film Week concerts to Wednesday night's gala evening with guest artist Yo-Yo Ma. On Thursday night, New York City's oldest orchestra (this is their 172nd season) presented it first subscription concert of the 2013-14 season. Alan Gilbert conducted.