Monthly Archives: September 2013

Inspired by Mozart Lang Lang inspires the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s 92 Season Gala reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

September 21, 2013. Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto. The Toronto Symphony’s 92nd season’s Gala featured three works connected to operas, and who better to bring out the singing quality and dramatic story-telling of a piano score than pianist Lang Lang. Visibly … Continue reading

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Alicia Weilerstein Enriches the Opening of Oundjian’s 10th Season with the TSO: a review by Stanley Fefferman

September 18. Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto. Peter Oundjian chose to open his 10th season as Musical Director of the Toronto Symphony with a work he characterized as “ebullient,” and, truth be told, under Maestro Oundjian’s baton, it bubbled like a … Continue reading

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Isabelle Faust Breathes New Life into Bartok’s Violin Concertos: a CD review by Stanley Fefferman

Isabelle Faust / Daniel Harding/ Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Béla Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2. Harmonia Mundi. “One’s work shows more exactly than a biography the noteworthy events and driving passions of a life.” Béla Bartok. The noteworthy … Continue reading

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Stravinsky’s Complete Music for Piano & Orchestra reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Stravinsky: Complete music for piano & orchestra. Steven Osborne (Pianist), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra(Conductor), Ilan Volkov (Artist, Conductor). HYPERION. Arnold Newman’s iconic black and white photograph of Igor Stravinsky seated at a grand piano shows Stravinsky and the piano forming the shape … Continue reading

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Ahmad Jamal’s SATURDAY NIGHT reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Ahmad Jamal. SATURDAY MORNING. La Buissonne Studio Sessions. Jazz Village. It has been about a year since the release of Blue Moon, Amad Jamal’s tribute to classic American cinema and Broadway featuring the bassist Reginald Veal, drummer Herlin Riley and … Continue reading

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Visions

Visions:Complete Books of Rhapsodies and Fantasias. Constantine Caravassilis/Christina Petrowska-Quilico. Centrediscs. This solo piano music is a meditative, mimimilist, melange of Middle- Eastern/Mediterranean folk-song and dance motifs, composed partly in regional modes with flavours of traditional Greek and Turkish instruments coming … Continue reading

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Angela Hewitt’s Marvelous Mozart Concerto Marathon–Part 2 reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Mozart: Piano Concertos No. 17 K 453, No. 27 K595. Angela Hewitt,piano; Hannu Lintu, conductor; Orchestra da Camera di Mantova. Hyperion. The long ensemble introduction to the G major, K. 453 has a plangent, leisurely, chamber-music quality that continues in … Continue reading

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Rachmaninov & Shostakovich Sonatas by Elschenbroich & Grynyuk : A CD review by Stanley Fefferman

Rachmaninov and Shostakovich sonatas. Leonard Elschenbroich, cello & Alexei Grynyuk, piano.  ONYX 4116. Distributed by Harmonia Mundi. What an interesting contrast of works! Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata in G minor of 1901, was written when the composer was 28 and had another … Continue reading

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