Inquirer Music Critic - David Patrick Stearns http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns RSS Feed for Inq Col David Patrick Stearns en-us Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT Composer to whom he's akin http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120218_Composer_to_whom_he_s_akin.html Few current pianists have played and recorded as much Rachmaninoff as Nikolai Lugansky. And no orchestra had such an intensive association with pianist/composer Rachmaninoff as the Philadelphia Orchestra. The combination is such that each side welcomes the other almost as if they're cousins. Maybe they are. Presenting young artists in exotic classical formats http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120216_Presenting_young_artists_in_exotic_classical_formats.html Gospel choirs, Balinese gamelan ensembles, and Indonesian dance troupes aren't typical guests at Astral Artists concerts. Nor is Philadelphia Theatre Company lighting designer Terry Smith, or poet Nguyen Quyen. At least the composers to be represented Saturday in Astral's Spiritual Voyages Festival are recognizable, from Heitor Villa-Lobos to Astor Piazzolla. Composer's 'Tonic' goes down easy http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120214_Composer_s__Tonic__goes_down_easy.html The best day of his compositional life seemed just out of reach: On Sunday, Princeton-based composer Steve Mackey won a Grammy Award for his disc Lonely Motel, but it was for best small-ensemble performance; the classical-composition trophy, for which Lon Violist Kim Kashkashian in peak form http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120213_Violist_Kim_Kashkashian_in_peak_form.html The music world is crawling with hot young violists (Maxim Rysanov, Lawrence Power, and David Aaron Carpenter) but they all have a ways to go before they're as interesting as Kim Kashkashian. At age 59, she is playing in peak form, and more than most, exp Nurturing a Prokofiev foundling http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120211_Nurturing_a_Prokofiev_foundling.html PRINCETON - Recovering lost, minor works by major composers can seem a bit pathetic: If the music wasn't worth hanging on to in the first place, how great can the rewards be? Pianist Kuerti taps Beethoven the strange http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120210_Pianist_Kuerti_taps_Beethoven_the_strange.html Somebody needed to program the orphans in Beethoven's output, and pianist Anton Kuerti was the one to do it at his Philadelphia Chamber Music Society recital Wednesday at the Kimmel Center. Opera Company of Phila. on new path with talk of orchestra collaboration http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120209_Opera_Company_of_Phila__on_new_path_with_talk_of_orchestra_collaboration.html Opera Company of Philadelphia is announcing more than new programming this week: In addition to a 2012-2013 season that includes old favorites such as Puccini's La Bohème and the local premiere of Thomas Adès' Powder Her Face, the opera company is taking note of sweeping internal developments that will affect what happens onstage. Grammys? Phooey! He'll take Philly http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120209_Grammys__Phooey__He_ll_take_Philly.html PRINCETON - Though his rock-star charisma and Grammy nominations suggest that composer Steve Mackey should be packing his bags for the West Coast, this Princeton University professor is keeping it local. Players and singers join forces in Camden http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120207_Players_and_singers_join_forces_in_Camden.html Even if Symphony in C's Saturday performance of the Mozart Requiem wasn't everything one could dream of, it was a model in partnerships that makes fantasy possible. Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and a quartet of vocal soloists from the Academy of Vocal Arts joined the orchestra under its music director, Rossen Milanov, assuring professionalism that won't bust the budget. So what wasn't there to love? In Chestnut Hill, Tempesta di Mare plays Jommelli, Caldara - and Vivaldi http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_patrick_stearns/20120207_In_Chestnut_Hill__Tempesta_di_Mare_plays_Jommelli__Caldara_-_and_Vivaldi.html For years, Tempesta di Mare has liberated its programs from the masterpiece mentality that often comes with higher-budget organizations. At Sunday's concert at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, hardly a brand-name composer (excepting Antonio Vivaldi)