New York Concert Reviews - Classical Music Reviews in New York City

Alan Gilbert & The New York Philharmonic
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Last Issue - Vol. 17 No. 1
Includes Classical Concert
Reviews of the following:

Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
Ensemble du Monde
Cornerstone Chorale and Brass
Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
Mendelssohn's 200th Gala
Proteus Ensemble/Hai-Ting Chinn
La Follia Barocca
Ilya Kazantsev, piano
Ilya Yakushev, piano
Mai Kagaya, piano
Theo Lebow, tenor
Alexander Beridze, piano
Minsoo Sohn, piano
Stanislav Khristenko, piano
Orrett Rhoden, piano
Spencer Myer, piano
Thomas Schultz, piano
Mareda Gaither-Graves, soprano
Warren George Wilson, piano
Rira Lim, piano
Aglaia Koras, piano
Orlay Alonso, piano
Yoko Suzuki, piano
Michail Lifits, piano
Xiayin Wang, piano

Cello-Piano Duos Prove Popular This Winter
By Edith Eisler

After being kept apart for some time by their solo careers, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax reunited this winter to celebrate the 200th birthdays of Schumann and Chopin, and it was wonderful to see them back together again on January 29th, 2010. Ma once described their life-long partnership as “fraternal,” adding that any lengthy separation from his brother-in-music made him feel deprived. Their fans have certainly missed them: they filled Carnegie Hall to capacity, including stage seats, and gave them a rousing welcome. It was immediately clear that they are still soul-mates, thinking, feeling and breathing as one, responding instantly to each other’s moods, whims and wishes, seamlessly taking over lines and phrases.

Yo-Yo Ma

The concert featured the two composers’ complete works for cello and piano: Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style, the Adagio and Allegro (originally for horn), and Fantasy Pieces (originally for clarinet); Chopin’s Polonaise Brilliante and the Cello Sonata. The Duo also presented the New York premiere of Peter Lieberson’s Remembering Schumann, tonal and lyrical variations on simple, song-like themes. The playing was superb, ardently romantic, and full of character, vitality, humor, poetry, and noble expressiveness. Ma’s tone, as always, was warm, dark and beautiful, and Ax could not have been a more careful, supportive partner. Nevertheless, the acoustics were problematic. Schumann’s pieces are all subdued and introspective; they cry out for a small, intimate space, and were almost lost in the big hall at Carnegie. The cello, whose low register was especially vulnerable, was heard to best advantage in the more vigorous Fantasy Pieces. Chopin’s chamber music naturally favors the piano. The Polonaise’s “brilliance” is confined to the piano part: he wrote it for one of his students and her amateur-cellist father, whose modest skills required modest demands. It is usually performed with cellist Emanuel Feuermann’s virtuosic “emendations.” In the Sonata, written many years later, the instruments are more equal, and Ma made the most of his singing melodies, soared into the high register and gave rhythmic punch to the dance-like sections.

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NEW YORK CONCERT REVIEW IS NOW
EXCLUSIVELY AN ONLINE PUBLICATION!

In an effort to please our readers, artists, managers, and public relations representatives, we have become an online magazine. We are joining many newspapers and magazines that are moving to the web, and now--at no expense--people can instantly read New York Concert Review from anywhere in the world. When the last printed edition of NYCR was posted on the web, the overwhelming majority of you favored the online version; everyone was pleased with the timing of the posts--they are posted much sooner now: on the 1st and 15th of the month, and you've enjoyed longer reviews with color photos of the artists. In addition, more articles on noteworthy topics and events in classical music will be offered. So dear readers, it's already the second decade of the 21st century, and it's time to become an integral part of this new digital era.

- Howard Aibel, Founding Publisher

Joshua Bell

Bell has the opposite type of energy as Ax, and audiences seem to appreciate his spontaneity and virtuosity in the same way people respect Ax’s artistry—not that Bell isn’t a deep artist or that Ax isn’t a virtuoso in his own right, but you understand. On February 24th, 2010, the full-house Carnegie crowd was ecstatic after Saint-Saens’ excitingly virtuosic Violin Sonata No.1 at the end of the first half, and rose up collectively with a standing ovation. Bell’s pianist, the equally electric Jeremy Denk, who constantly looks at Bell with playful or determined attention, was fantastic in the Saint-Saens and reminded us that this work is more a duo than a violin sonata. Although their recital-ending performance of Ravel’s Violin and Piano Sonata--(Ravel appropriately titles this work)--was exceptionally bluesy and brilliant, people did not get aroused as much as they did after the Saint-Saens. Something about those 20th century harmonies, I guess. But Bell knows what audiences like, and he managed to sneak in a lengthy showpiece encore by Kreisler (the Slavonic Fantasy) on a formal sonata program that also included Bach and Schumann. Feeling more satisfied, the audience rose to its feet with more conviction. So even here, Bell-- who seems to be increasingly more famous for showpieces and crossover material than he is for serious classical--can’t get too formal on his recital program. But based on the full house and audience reception, thousands will flock to see him if there’s a threat of bad weather, or if there’s a threat of him being too classical. What they end up with is vintage Josh Bell no matter what.

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