Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on April 21, 2008 | No Comments »
The versatile Seattle Choral Company has more strings to its bow than most realize when attending one of its excellent concert performances in Seattle. For instance, you’ll hear its voices on dozens of promotional film tracks, from King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia to Planet of the Apes. When you go to see [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on April 9, 2008 | No Comments »
In town for a few days conducting a Beethoven residency at the University of Washington, Irish pianist John O’Conor finished up with a terrific performance Tuesday night at Meany Hall of three great Beethoven sonatas, the Pathetique (Op. 13), the Waldstein (Op. 53) and the Moonlight (Op. 27, No. 2), plus Six Bagatelles (Op. 126).
Far [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on April 6, 2008 | No Comments »
The Northwest Sinfonietta finished out its season Friday night with a triumphant performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; all 50 musicians, 54 singers, four soloists and a conductor on the little Town Hall stage together and a big audience, including many children, to hear them.
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on April 1, 2008 | No Comments »
One of Europe’s premier period instrument groups, Il Fondamento Baroque Orchestra from Brussels, appeared at Town Hall Sunday night under the auspices of the Early Music Guild—without its conductor and soloist, and with a different program from the one advertised.
It’s every touring group’s nightmare and every presenter’s hair-tearing experience when a [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 26, 2008 | No Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
On his 2006 visit to Benaroya Hall, Barry Douglas was the featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony in Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, one of the big romantic concertos which have been a strength of his and where he shines. Monday night he was at Benaroya again, this time as conductor/soloist with his [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 20, 2008 | No Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
The main auditorium at Benaroya is too big for a classical guitar concert, but what’s Seattle Symphony to do, when its Guitar Recital Series draws too large a crowd for the little Nordstrom Hall upstairs?
I’ve rarely sat in such a quiet audience as on Monday night in the big hall, where the maybe [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 16, 2008 | No Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
Around Puget Sound at Christmastime, we can hear Handel’s Messiah performed on a dozen different nights by several different organizations. While I wish we heard other great Christmas works as well, like Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ, or Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Messiah heralds Christmas for us and adds greatly to the mood.
However, until recently [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
The latest program offered by the Medieval Women’s Choir this past weekend was of particular interest, one which could only have been mounted by someone who is not only a musician steeped in early performance practices, but a profound scholar of medieval music as well.
At Temple Beth Am, founder and conductor of the [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 10, 2008 | 2 Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
Bach can sound good in any configuration— jazzed up, swung, or straight, on steel band, recorders, electronics, with singers being instruments, or instruments taking the role of singers—but at its most sublime, Bach’s choral music is sung in a reverberant, sacred space.
Thus, Seattle Pro Musica’s performance in St. James Cathedral Saturday night of [...]
Posted in Seattle, WA, Special to the Gathering Note on March 6, 2008 | No Comments »
By: Philippa Kiraly
I can’t think why the UW World Series isn’t packed for every concert, the quality is so high and the experience so rewarding. Only the dance series seems to draw those capacity crowds nowadays. A case in point was the Ritz Chamber Players’ performance Tuesday night, when maybe two-thirds of Meany [...]
