Rachel Barton Pine brought both her daring approach to programming and dynamic artistic personality to a demanding program of solo violin music last night at Bargemusic.
Peter Hofmann, 1944-2010
Tenor Peter Hofmann started his musical career as a rock singer, and switched to opera, showing enough talent to be one of Bayreuth’s busiest heldentenors during the late 1970s and 1980s and make 29 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera. He even looked like both Siegfried and the frontman in a heavy metal hair band. When his voice began to show some strain in the late 1980s, he left opera and became the German-speaking world’s definitive Phantom of the Opera, bringing gravitas, electricity, and a strongly expressive voice to the title character in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s cheesy musical. Margalit Fox has a detailed obituary at nytimes.com.
Grisey Kid Stuff
My review of the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble’s terrific Saturday evening concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was posted to Classical Source yesterday, but I wanted to add a few personal observations here.
Turmoil in Detroit Having Nothing to Do with the Auto Industry
Go read the Guardian‘s Ed Pilkington on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s continuing strike.
American piano company CEO pleads guilty to smuggling ivory into US
Pascal Vieillard, CEO of Atlanta-based A-440 Pianos Inc., has entered a guilty plea after having been charged with violating the Lacey Act by smuggling elephant ivory, an internationally protected commodity, into the US. The ivory was concealed in (not so carefully) hidden compartments inside furniture and supply crates. Atlanta Business Chronicle has the details.
What Ne(x)t
Just back from a brief but thoroughly enjoyable concert by Ne(x)tworks, a new music ensemble that deserves more attention.
Terfel/Martineau @ Carnegie Hall
My review of their terrific recital at Carnegie Hall can be found at Classical Source.
Shining a Little Sunlight in the Berkshires
Just a few miles south of the town in which I grew up, and a little north of Tanglewood and Berkshire County’s summer “Theater District,” the largest solar power plant in New England is going online not far from where General Electric used to be the region’s powerhouse employer. You can read about the project (via AP) at what I still lovingly call the Berkshire Bird (with more local perspective from last week here).
Midori / Gilbert / NYPhil @ Carnegie
The program: Beethoven and Adams. My review is up at Classical Source.
Henryk Górecki, 1933-2010
I first became familiar with his music via the Erato LP cited in Allan Kozinn’s NY Times obit.