Tag Archives: Tchaikovsky
Schubert and Tchaikovsky in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd August 2018Schubert was not touched by God; he was embraced by Him as was no other composer. This recital by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival started with his youthful string trio, the only one he wrote. This work is obviously not in the same class as his late chamber music masterpieces like the final three…
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LA Phil Plays Yi, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th December 2017Passing through LA I noticed that the local band was playing on my only free afternoon – Sunday December 10. It’s appropriate that the concert hall in La La Land is named after the creator and voice of Mickey Mouse. There were three numbers on the program. The 8 minute opener was Antiphony by the…
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Lensky’s Aria
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th November 2015The only reason that impresarios can convince leading tenors to take the part of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is the second act aria ‘Kuda, Kuda’, hereafter referred to as Lensky’s aria. Even then tenors dislike playing a character who dies in the second act. This was why Richard Tucker dropped the role after 1957-58….
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Iolanta and Bluebeard in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th February 2015The Met sent an unusual duo around the world this afternoon – Tchaikovsky’s last opera Iolanta and Bartok’s only opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle; the Met omitted Duke from the title. This run of the Tchaikovsky was the first time the opera was done by the Met. The reason was Anna Netrebko in the title role,…
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Music and Mother Nature in Aspen
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 21st July 2014The July 20 performance in Aspen’s Benedict Music Tent began at 4 PM, so did the show produced by Mother Nature. Both ended at 6 PM. The music tent is so constructed that a heavy rain may all but obliterate the sound of a symphony orchestra; add thunder to the equation and music is hors…
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Eugene Onegin in HD Plus a Bit on Language
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th January 2014Tchaikovsky’s most popular and best opera, Eugene Onegin (Евгений Онегин), opened this season at the Met. It was telecast on Oct 5, 2013. But I didn’t get around to it until today. This new production had a troubled delivery. Deborah Warner was in charge of it, but had to pull out a month before opening night…
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