Inquirer Music Critic - David Patrick Stearns http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns RSS Feed for Inq Col David Patrick Stearns en-us Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT A galvanizing cellist with the orchestra http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091107_A_galvanizing_cellist_with_the_orchestra.html Notes don't ring so much as they tend to be wrung from Dvorak's Cello Concerto: It's the grandest piece of its kind and solo cellists can't help loving it to their (and sometimes the audience's) distraction. Glamour, plus wisdom http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091108_Glamour__plus_wisdom.html The ultra-operatic opera director Tito Capobianco is back in Philadelphia - but does anybody recognize him without Joan Sutherland in tow? Or without his spirited wife, Gigi, telling him his work could be better? Or without his eloquent, oft-repeated Freudian slips? ("We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.") Contemporary gems at New Music, Choral Arts http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091103_Contemporary_gems_at_New_Music__Choral_Arts.html New-music concerts have been arriving in clumps with conflicting time slots, and maybe no feat of schedule coordination will remedy that. Bach Choir concert to remember http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091102_Bach_Choir_concert_to_remember.html BETHLEHEM, Pa. – "The noise of the world is far away." So went the introduction to British soprano Emma Kirkby, one of the most beloved, important singers in the early-music world, by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem's music director Greg Funfgeld. A range of vocal strength http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091102_A_range_of_vocal_strength.html The better informed the listeners were at Lyric Fest's concert on Friday, the more incredulous they were likely to be. Passages of amazingly sure insight http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091030_Passages_of_amazingly_sure_insight.html For decades, the Juilliard Quartet represented New York City-style chamber-music-making: streamlined and pared down to essentials, with searing intelligence and no obligation to tradition. Pianist Denk shows originality http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091030_Pianist_Denk_shows_originality.html No pianist invites debate like Jeremy Denk. And in the genteel-to-a-fault classical music world, his playing is a much-needed stimulant to audiences who too often hear "me too" interpretations. But his path isn't easy for anybody. Selections from Scandinavia http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091029_Selections_from_Scandinavia.html Some conservative music circles would have you believe credible concert programs can't be built around Scandinavian or English music. Not true, but even if it were, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia's Scandinavian Perspectives program represented chances worth taking. 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 1' by Tempesta http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091027__Brandenburg_Concerto_No__1__by_Tempesta.html The more that Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are rescued from big-orchestra performances, the more singular they seem. Their lack of standardized instrumentation, brilliant use of form, explosions of individual virtuosity and the unlikely alliances among instruments make them orchestral concertos with a never-before-and-never-again quality. Kavakos showcases a rare talent http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20091026_Kavakos_showcases_a_rare_talent.html Though Leonidas Kavakos is as established as a concerto soloist can be in classical music terrains, he is so often identified as "the Greek violinist" that it might as well be part of his name. Greek classical musicians aren't encountered that frequently, for whatever reason. But at his Friday Kimmel Center recital, Kavakos showed what such a nationality can mean.