Classical
April 9th, 2011 Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall Rameau Dardanus suite Mozart Così fan tutte: Una donna a quindici anni Le nozze di Figaro: Giunse alfin il momento…Deh vieni non tardar Così fan tutte: Temerari, sortite…Come scoglio Exsultate Jubilate, K165 Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D, op
Classical
Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco, California Friday April 1st, 2011 Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Opus 23 Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 43 San Francisco Symphony Herbert Blomstedt Conductor Yundi Soloist I had long thought that Tchaikovsky was a pioneer of decadent romanticism.
Classical
Sydney Opera House, Opera Theatre Sydney, Australia Thursday March 24th, 2011 The Barber of Seville Gioachino Rossini Opera Australia Anthony Legge, Conductor Elijah Moshinsky, Director Opera Australia Chorus Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra José Carbó, Baritone: Figaro Dominica Matthews, Mezzo-soprano: Rosina John Longmuir, Tenor: Count Almaviva Jud Arthur, Bass-
Classical
Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Hong Kong Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra Sunday 27th February, 2011 R Strauss Serenade in E flat, Op. 7 R Strauss Metamorphosen Zemlinsky Lyric Symphony, Op. 18 Edo de Waart, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, chose for his contribution to the
Classical
Sydney Opera House, Opera TheatreSydney, AustraliaTuesday February 8th, 2011Carmen Georges BizetOpera AustraliaGuillaume Tourniaire, ConductorFrancesca Zambello, DirectorRinat Shaham, Mezzo-soprano: CarmenRichard Troxell, Tenor: Don JoséNicole Car, Soprano: MicaëlaShane Lowrencev, Baritone: EscamilloOpera Australia ChorusAustralian Opera and Ballet Orchestra In an opera of such popularity as Carmen by Georges Bizet, it wouldn’t
Classical
Royal Festival Hall, London Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Friday 21st January, 2011 Wagner Prelude to Parsifal Mahler Totenfeier Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Liszt Les Préludes Friday's performance by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Royal Festival Hall under Vladimir Jurowski got off
Classical
The delicate works of Mozart can be easily overwhelmed in a concert programme by more dynamic outpourings of composers in subsequent generations. Conductor Susanna Mälkki’s debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra was a poignant reminder of this potential trap, with Mozart’s first violin concerto sandwiched between tours
Classical
The last time I was in the Salle de Wilfred-Pelletier in the Place des Arts, Montréal, I sat underneath the balcony which extends almost halfway into the hall. The acoustics was so restrictive that I found it hard to concentrate on the music being played. Fortunately, on October 3rd,
Music
Singer, songwriter and popular entertainer Anthony Newley was not a musical genius, but with no knowledge of music theory, he left behind a body of works that would put many a formally trained composer to shame. Although I never saw him live in performance, I suspect what set him apart
Classical
The last time I saw Alexander Lazarev he was somewhat like a prancing hyperactive teenager, and nearly botched Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings at the Festival Hall in London. In the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall on June 3rd, he was a changed man. Stepping on to the stage
Classical
By all accounts, Maestro Alexander Lazarev is a hyperactive conductor in a hurry. According to Tennant Artists, from 1987 to 1995 he was “Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bolshoi Theatre, the first person for over thirty years to hold both positions concurrently”. Not only is his repertoire said
Pop and Rock
I’m a late comer to the music of Harry Connick Jr. I had heard his name often, and had been aware that some considered him heir apparent to Frank Sinatra, but I had never bothered to find out what his music was like, until recently. After all, I thought,