The Wagner Project: Parsifal

In Wagner's last stage work, "time becomes space."
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Baritone Ryan McKinny as Amfortas in the new Bayreuth production of Parsifal
which opened just this week. Photo by Enrico Nawath © 2016 Bayreuther Festspiele.

Parsifal is Wagner's last opera, the sum tota of everything he tried to achieve in his tumultuous career. It chronicles the journey of its title character from innocent fool to wise ruler of the kingdom of the Holy Grail. It's also a close, and at times unsettling examination of religious belief, Christian imagery and the power of faith. Maddeningly slow at first hearing, it sonic beauties are veiled even deliberately enigmatic--but more rewarding with each listen.

Concert Review: Taming the Savage Beast

A scuffle mars Thursday's Mostly Mozart concert.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Louis Langrée led Thursday's Mostly Mozart concert at Alice Tully Hall.
Photo © 2014 Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Normally, a review of a performance like last night's concert at Alice Tully Hall featuring the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra with guest pianist Leif Ove Andsnes would confine itself to the music that was played onstage. However, an incident in the house before the concert must be mentioned first. It happened during the introductory lecture by festival music director Louis Langrée. An ugly, violent moment, it may serve as a launch point to discuss the importance and necessity of the music of Mozart and Bach, civilized art that can tame the restless hearts of New Yorkers trapped in an extended wave of humidity and heat.

Obituary: Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016)

The composer of eight symphonies and fourteen concertos was 87.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara at his piano.
Photo by Outi Pyhäranta. 

Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara died yesterday. The grand master of Finnish music was 87. His eight symphonies and enormous output of opera, songs and orchestral works broke bold new ground in the 20th and 21st centuries, and his legacy to younger composers can be heard throughout the world's concert halls.

Concert Review: The Royal Tasting Table

Mozart opera served tapas-style in The Illuminated Heart.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Burning down the house: Christine Goerke (center) sings Elettra in The Illuminated Heart
as Louis Langrée conducts. Photo © Richard Termine for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

For an arts organization trying to interest new listeners in opera, the hardest thing to do is to convert skeptics to the power and beauty of this 500-year-old art form. Presumably, that was the intent behind The Illuminated Heart, a glitzy 75-minute arrangement of Mozart arias and ensembles that kicked off the 50th anniversary celebration of Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center. Exactly the length of an old-fashioned CD, this program reminded one of those Mozart compilations that flooded record shops in 1985 following Amadeus' eight Oscar wins.