La Risonanza @ LoC

Charles T. Downey, La Risonanza shines in U.S. debut concert at Library of Congress
Washington Post, December 1, 2012


Le Cantate Per Il Marchese Ruspoli (Le Cantate Italiani di Handel, vol. 2), E. Galli, R. Invernizzi, La Risonanza (2007)
George Frideric Handel wrote a lot more than a certain piece played to death in the month of December. During his stay in Rome, from 1707 to 1710, he

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Classical Music Agenda (December 2012)

December is the busiest month for most musicians, what with all the Nutcrackers, Messiahs, and Christmas concerts. I used to list all of them in our calendar, but it just did not seem worth it this year, so I have listed only the ones of some interest to me. As for what makes the cut for the Top 10 concerts we most want to hear this month, the leading contenders for the coveted Ionarts Best

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Operatic Double Bill: Soporific Donizetti Redeemed by Strasnoy

In an attempt to be kind and not repeat the sins of the programmers of the operatic double bill of Donizetti and Oscar Strasnoy at Munich’s Prince Regent's Theatre, I’ll try to summarize the boring and daft Donizetti one-act farce I Pazzi per progetto (Fools by Design) into as few words as possible, instead of droning on for nearly 90 minutes, as Donizetti did.

Not even the superior singing of

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'love fail'

Marie de France writing the Lais
David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion, which won the composer the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, is a significant work that still haunts me. For the most part, Lang's other compositions have failed to move me in the same way as that one piece, but the hope for an experience like listening to Match Girl made the performance of Lang's new vocal work, love fail, on

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Rubenstein Family Organ Inauguration

The National Symphony Orchestra inaugurated the new concert organ in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with a free concert on Tuesday night. Once the queue of nearly three thousand people, snaking around the Kennedy Center and awaiting free tickets to the most unique event in town, found their seats, the evening began with a delightful fast-motion video of the organ's installation. Although only 89

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Classical Music in CRISIS Magazine

Latest column by my colleague, mentor, and friend Robert R. Reilly in the (truly) catholic CRISIS Magazine.

Mary in the City of Angels
Los Angeles today might not be the first place that comes to mind when seeking out hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, a recent concert on Sunday, November 18, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, featuring Monteverdi’s Vespers (Vespro della Beata Vergine)

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Briefly Noted: Le Bœuf sur le Toit

Le Bœuf sur le Toit: Swinging Paris, A. Tharaud (et al.)
(released on October 22, 2012)
Virgin 5099960255228 | 67'
We mentioned Alexander Tharaud’s new CD, Le Bœuf sur le Toit: Swinging Paris, when he was giving a dramatic series of concerts across France featuring its music. Incredibly, this was shortly before he came to Washington on a brief recital tour: we hope that the French Embassy will

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A Confusion of Languages: Widmann's Babylon

It was as if the circus had come to town: an elitist circus, granted, but still. The tent was pitched inside the National Theater and the ringmasters of La Fura dels Baus hard at work. The spectaculum at hand? Babylon, the new opera by Jörg Widmann.

Jörg Widmann does many things right, foremost among them the rediscovery of sensuality in contemporary opera. High hopes for a contemporary

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Birthdays and Portraits

This past Friday was the 17th birthday of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. They grow so fast! As with everything, time has flown by. I remember delivering the building's architectural model to then-Governor Donald Schafer’s office in Annapolis, with museum founder/director Rebecca Hoffberger, to lobby his support.

AVAM has had its growing pains, and as anyone who has visited

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Gift Ideas for Cyber Monday

Here at Ionarts Central December is Advent -- and not Christmas -- until the evening of December 24. One does need to think about presents at this time of year, however, and for that culture-loving person in your life, here are some gift ideas, a few discs and films I most enjoyed over the past year. A gentle reminder: if you buy something we recommend by clicking on the Amazon link provided, a

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Notes from Istanbul: Brahms, Dead on Arrival

At the heart of a recent press-junket to İstanbul lied the Borusan İstanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s a very young orchestra, sort of a bit older version of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, except 95% Turkish (a few Romanians sprinkled in; with a clear female majority) which is the result of actively appreciated circumstance. After all, the Borusan Foundation intends to further classical

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In Brief: Giving Thanks Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)




Watch clarinetist Martin Fröst with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, under the baton of Giovanni Antonini, founder of the Il Giardino Armonico, with music by Kraus,

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Briefly Noted: Drama Queens

Drama Queens (Handel, Hasse, Monteverdi, et al.), J. DiDonato, Il Complesso Barocco, A. Curtis
(released on November 6, 2012)
Virgin 5099960265425 | 67'54"
We are longtime fans of mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, especially for her contributions to the series of Handel opera recordings from the historically informed performance ensemble Il Complesso Barocco and conductor Alan Curtis. Sadly, the

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À mon chevet: Lennox Berkeley

À mon chevet is a series of posts featuring a quote from whatever book is on my nightstand at the moment.


The difficulty of assessing the value of contemporary works of art is well known. We can always seem to be either too close or too far away to see them in their true perspective. If we can understand or perhaps even speak their language, we are too close, too grateful for their expression

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Notes from Istanbul: With the Ears of an Ass

During my stay in İstanbul, I had the opportunity to see an opera in the charming little, 600 seat Süreyya Opereti opera house in the Kadıköy district, a quick commuter-ferry ride from the European side of the town. The house has a story of itself; built in the 1920s, it was never actually used for opera before becoming a movie theater in the 30s. Only in 2007, after extensive redevelopment, was

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WNO's Bite-Sized New Operas

(L to R) Yuri Gorodetzki, Julia Mintzer, Soloman Howard, María Eugenia Antúnez, Washington National Opera (photo by Scott Suchman)One of the many benefits of Washington National Opera's merger with the Kennedy Center is that the company can now use the Terrace Theater and other venues for different kinds of productions, ones not likely to fill the Opera House. This summer, WNO created the

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Notes from Istanbul: Saariaho World Premiere

The Borusan Culture & Arts Foundation, the artistic and charitable offshoot of the Borusan Holding Company has a “Music House” on İstanbul’s İstiklal Avenue, the downtown pedestrian zone in the Pera district, custom built to show off its modern art collection, but also the home to contemporary classical music. Artists and ensembles are invited to fill the six storey building with roof top

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Classical Month in Washington (December)

Last month | Next monthClassical Month in Washington is a monthly feature. If there are concerts you would like to see included on our schedule, send your suggestions by e-mail (ionarts at gmail dot com). Happy listening!

December 1, 2012 (Sat)
2 pm
Lukáš Vondrácek, piano
WPAS
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

December 1, 2012 (Sat)
5 pm
21st Century Consort
Music by Brehm, Ives, Rush, Stravinsky

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Briefly Noted: Revenons à Mouton

J. Mouton, Missa Dictes moy toutes voz pensées, Tallis Scholars
(released on October 9, 2012)
Gimell CDGIM 047 | 67'54"
Having just written about the latest installments in the superb complete cycle of Josquin's Masses from the Tallis Scholars, it is icing on the cake to mention this new release. Jean Mouton (c. 1459-1522) is a lesser-known composer championed by the Suspicious Cheese Lords

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In Brief: South Pacific Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)
Here is a rare performance of Charpentier's Medée (1693) from the Opéra de Lille, accompanied by Le Concert d’Astrée under the baton of Emmanuelle Haïm. [France Musique]

Watch the

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Schiff Reconsiders the WTC

Bach, WTC, A. Schiff
(released on September 25, 2012)
ECM 2270-73 | 245'43"


Bach, WTC, A. Schiff (1984-85)
[Vol. 2]
If one is not careful, the experience of reviewing a new recording of The Well-Tempered Clavier (Vol. 1 / Vol. 2) is like going down an endless rabbit hole of countless interpretations. In spite of the outrageous number of recordings already available, pianists and

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Jennifer Koh at Strathmore

Bach and Beyond, Part 1, J. Koh
(released on October 30, 2012)Jennifer Koh gave a commanding solo performance Wednesday night in a program that honored the enduring relevance of J. S. Bach, both as a touchstone for composers after him and as a voice that directly appeals to audiences now. Filling the Strathmore Mansion's cozy music room with an electrifying sound, Koh used two Bach partitas,

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For Your Consideration: 'Flight'

Flight is Robert Zemeckis’s return to live-action filmmaking for the first time since he was Cast Away so many years ago with motion capture movies such as The Polar Express and Beowulf. Yes, those dead-eyed, eerie semblances of recognizable actors painted over digitally with all the warmth and verve of a hologram resurrection. Working now with his actor, Denzel Washington, it may be the case

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Takács and Hamelin

R. Schumann, String Quartet (op. 41/3) / Piano Quintet, Takács Quartet, M.-A. Hamelin (2009)


Schubert, String Quartets 13/14, Takács Quartet (2006)Take the Takács Quartet, one of our favorite string quartets, and Marc-André Hamelin, one of our favorite pianists, and put them together on one free concert at the Library of Congress, and you have our full attention. The concert by that

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Doric Quartet @ Phillips

Charles T. Downey, Britain’s Doric Quartet shows off knife-edged sound at Phillips Collection
Washington Post, November 13, 2012


R. Schumann, String Quartets, op. 41, Doric Quartet (2011)


Schubert, String Quartets, Doric Quartet (2012)
A young string quartet may distinguish itself by its unusual sound, an unconventional choice of repertoire or an attention-catching gimmick. The gimmick

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Lang Lang with the NSO

The Chopin Album, Lang Lang (2012)


Complete Recordings (2000-2009), Lang Lang
Lang Lang's residency with the National Symphony Orchestra has been the week's big news maker. Now that the brash, spiky-haired prodigy is in his 30s, critics are finding that he may have something behind all that virtuosity. I am not sure that I heard anything this week that changes my opinion of him. I have never

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In Brief: Armistice Day Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)
From the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris, harpsichordist Céline Frisch plays the first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. [France Musique]

Hervé Niquet conducts his ensemble, Le

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Momenta Quartet at the Freer

Since its founding in 2004, the Momenta Quartet has voraciously championed new music, averaging one world premiere for every two of its concerts. On Thursday night, the quartet brought that venturesome spirit to the free concert series in the Freer Gallery of Art’s Meyer Auditorium. The program, featuring music inspired by Buddhism, presented four pieces written within the last ten years — two

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Jérôme Ferrari, Prix Goncourt 2012

The big literary news in France in the fall is the Prix Goncourt, which went this year to a young novelist named Jérôme Ferrari, 44. He spoke about his new book, Le sermon sur la chute de Rome (The sermon on the fall of Rome, published by Actes Sud), with François Aubel (Jérôme Ferrari, Goncourt 2012, November 2) for Le Figaro. The story concerns a Corsican family (Ferrari's family is from

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Lang Lang and Christoph

Bartók, Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, M. Perahia, G. Solti, E. Glennie (DVD)


Carnegie Hall Concert, E. Kissin, J. Levine
The partnership of a piano-playing conductor and a great pianist, united in music for piano, four hands, or for two pianos, can produce invigorating results, for the conductor, for the virtuoso, and for the audience. To a list that includes Georg Solti and Murray

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Henze, 86, and Carter, 103

Henze, L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe


Henze, Symphonies
1-6


Carter, Complete Piano Music


Carter, Complete String Quartets


Carter, What Next?


Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 8 (16 Compositions, 2002-2009)


Carter, Cello Concerto

Two giants of modern composition died this week: Hans Werner Henze on October 27, at 86; and Elliott Carter on November 5, at 103. For all of their

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Second Opinion: Beethoven's Operatic Missa Solemnis

"There is, of course, among musicians an underground tradition of critical reserve" about Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, as Theodor Adorno once observed. People may think of it as a glorious monument because of its length and intensity, even if they are not really all that familiar with it. Beethoven worked on this piece for a long time, and perhaps because of all that labor, it sometimes

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Beethoven's More Intimate Side

Charles T. Downey, For a breather, NSO turns to Beethoven’s back catalogue
Washington Post, November 5, 2012

Mozart / Beethoven, Quintets for Piano and Winds, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Klára WürtzBetween the two performances of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” on Thursday and Saturday, music director Christoph Eschenbach gave his singers and most of the National Symphony Orchestra a break on

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In Brief: Open House Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond. (After clicking to an audio or video stream, press the "Play" button to start the broadcast.)

The Opéra de Liège opened its season with a staging of César Franck's Stradella (video embedded at right). Left incomplete, the composer's manuscript was rediscovered in 1984, and

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Cor ad cor loquitur: NSO and the Missa Solemnis

Many thanks to Robert R. Reilly for this review from The Kennedy Center.


On Thursday evening, November 1, Christoph Eschenbach, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and soloists performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis at the Kennedy Center.

The Missa solemnis was written for the installation of Archduke Rudolph of Austria as Archbishop of Olmütz (now

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Joshua Bell @ Strathmore

French Impressions (Franck, Saint-Saëns, Ravel) (2012)
Joshua Bell is a regular on the Washington Performing Arts Society season, a big name that fills a big hall. The American violinist, one of the few classical musicians whom most people would recognize by name -- if not by sight, at least not in a baseball cap at L'Enfant Plaza -- was just here in January, at the Kennedy Center. He was back

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For Your Consideration: 'Brooklyn Castle'

Chess is important here chez Ionarts, a longtime obsession of your moderator and a shared passion with Master Ionarts, with whom I regularly play the matches diagrammed in the last few weekly newspaper columns devoted to the game: Lubomir Kavalek, formerly (much beloved) of the Washington Post and now of the Huffington Post, and Dylan Loeb McClain in the Sunday New York Times. So Brooklyn Castle

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Emmanuelle de Negri with Opera Lafayette

Soprano Emmanuelle de Negri
(photo by Bdallah Lasri)
Hurricane Sandy, among many other far more dastardly things, disordered the Washington concert schedule. On Tuesday night, the planned WPAS recital by András Schiff was canceled: it has now been rescheduled for next April, but Schiff will no longer play the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, replacing it with his next tour programming,

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