Author Archives: Alan Rich

Rhapsodic Hungarians Seldom had the Brahms First Symphony sounded more turgid, more irrelevant, than at the end of last week’s Philharmonic concert. Preceding that hapless work, visiting conductor Iván Fischer – master programmer, he – had set the air aglow … Continue reading →

THE LEVEL FIELD Christian Zacharias’ midseason visits to the Philharmonic have a cleansing effect: the right music at the right time. His luggage is filled with 18th-century music: Mozart and Haydn and their pals, symphonies and concertos. He furloughs the … Continue reading →

Photo by Craig SchwartzGURGLE Tan Dun flows endlessly on. The week that brought his Water Passion After St. Matthew to Disney Hall through the admirable efforts of Grant Gershon’s Master Chorale was also adorned by recent releases on Deutsche Grammophon … Continue reading →

WHOLLY MONSTROUS AND MAD Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (known to his friends as Max) lives on, at least in this country, but barely. His several symphonies, massive works that once enjoyed the attention of Simon Rattle, seem to have disappeared … Continue reading →

CONVERSATIONS Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony is so seldom played that every new hearing becomes a trove of rediscovered delights; so was it with the Philharmonic last week. The orchestra, just back from its weeklong conquest of Cologne (read the reviews if … Continue reading →

BANG BANG On comparing the body count before and after intermission at last Thursday’s concert, it was clear that the latest visit by the reigning superpianist Lang Lang, rather than the interesting orchestral offerings by the China Philharmonic Orchestra, had … Continue reading →

Photo by Josef AstorBIT BY BIT Thirty-three short pieces made up the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s program at Disney Hall last week: 29 orchestral bits by Rameau and Handel, and four Handel arias. I would not have spared a single one. … Continue reading →

A MANY-FINGERED THING Emanuel Ax (who likes to be called “Manny”) has been in our midst quite a lot this season, to our great pleasure and, I hope, his. At the Disney Hall first-night gala he turned up with five … Continue reading →

ESA-PEKKA IN EXCELSIS If anyone needed further confirmation of the strengths of Esa-Pekka Salonen, and his success in sharing those strengths with the musical life of this city, the events of the past week should answer any lingering questions. Those … Continue reading →

GOLD-SPUTTERED MASTERY The eloquent blurb writers at Naxos, the little record label that could, have been lighting the sky lately with pronouncements on their latest reissued treasure, the first-ever recording (or so they say) of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, newly … Continue reading →