My monthly newsletter … Pacific Overtures. May, 2018.
Reviews of Pacific Symphony’s Carnegie Hall performance
Here are links to the reviews of Pacific Symphony’s debut at Carnegie Hall on April 21 in a program of music by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass. I will add reviews if as they come in. The New York Times
Books on classical music: Some essentials (3)
Two novels … “The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes. Barnes, the author of such remarkable books as “Flaubert’s Parrot” and “Arthur and George,” has based this novel on ostensibly non-fictional material. In an author’s note at the end, he
Remembering ‘The Passion of Ramakrishna’
During my career as a music critic, I had the pleasure of reviewing two performances of “The Passion of Ramakrishna” by Philip Glass, which Pacific Symphony revives this week and takes to Carnegie Hall on April 21. The first time
Review: Walton Symphonies Nos. 1-2, Kirill Karabits and the Bournemouth Symphony
How is it that the two symphonies of the British composer William Walton, from 1935 and 1960, have escaped my attention until now? Oh, certainly, the fault is mostly mine; I could have always listened to a recording of them.
Review: Dover Quartet plays ‘Voices of Defiance,’ music of Ullmann, Laks and Shostakovich
By TIMOTHY MANGAN Reading the liner notes to the Dover Quartet’s “Voices of Defiance” before I listened to it was probably a mistake. They gave me the impression that the recording would be tough, unpleasant going. The three pieces were
Review: Louisville Orchestra, Teddy Abrams: ‘All In’
By TIMOTHY MANGAN Teddy Abrams is the 30-year-old music director of the venerable Louisville Orchestra and he’s at least a quadruple threat: Conductor, composer, clarinetist and pianist. The young man, a protege of Michael Tilson Thomas, is stirring things up
Sunday book review: ‘Toscanini: Musician of Conscience’
Review: A Life of Toscanini, Maestro with Passion and Principles. The New York Times Book Review, June 27, 2017.