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September 2013

Cocktail Conversation: Anthony Tommasini

NY Philharmonic Opening Gala Cocktail PartyPhoto credit: Chris Lee, New York Philharmonic

On Wednesday, I was invited to a cocktail party for music journalists on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel prior to that evening's New York Philharmonic season-opening gala. I was speaking with one of Lincoln Center's staffers by the bar when we were approached by Anthony Tommasini, longtime classical music critic of The New York Times. I've seen Tony at all sorts of musical happenings over the past six years, but have never felt comfortable approaching him, given his status as arguably the most influential music critic in New York, if not America. I mean, what would he care what some blogger thinks?

Imagine my surprise, then, when Tony turned out to be completely warm and engaging, enthusiastically holding court on a wide range of topics for more than twenty minutes. Despite his past life as a music professor, Tony is no reserved academic: he speaks with genuine passion for the beat he's covered since 1996. And, while I don't always see eye to eye with him, our chat was a reminder of just how fortunate we are to have his clear, knowledgeable voice. (For the record: Tony drank Coke, while yours truly swilled Chardonnay.)

Below are some highlights:

On Covering the Fall Openings: I've been up until 3:30 a.m. the past two nights, between the Met's opening on Monday and Levine's return in Così fan Tutte last night. I asked my editor to let me send in my story for this tomorrow, since this isn't really as . . . newsworthy.

On the Met's Opening Night Protests: Obviously, this is a deeply personal issue for me (Ed: Tony married his longtime partner, Ben McCommon, last year). But, as I wrote earlier this week, it isn't the Met's place to step in and make a statement here. If they took a stand on this, the next thing you know you'll have people wanting to protest Syria, or the Palestinians, or whatever cause they want to promote. The Met actually has a long history of avoiding political protest: during the first and second World Wars, the Met continued to perform German opera, even as it was boycotted by most other companies around the world.

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Hobson versus Brahms at DiMenna Center

by Angela Sutton

Hobson-DiMenna-Center-Brahms

Pianist Ian Hobson continued his two-month examination of Brahms at the DiMenna Center on Thursday night before an audience of avid connoisseurs, with the pianist showing a fine sense of musical structure—both sequential (in developing relationships between consecutive sections) and simultaneous (in his weighting of concurrent lines) throughout. When Hobson exhibited an equal care for the piano's sensual qualities, the results were magical, although this sense of finesse was not always present.

The Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann, Op. 9, opened the program—a work that dramatically recasts Schumann's melody in a wide array of textures, rather than simply using the older technique of rhythmic development. Hobson expertly unpeeled the variations' layers, with extremely moving results, particularly in the fluttering central ninth and tenth variations. His elegant treatment of the Finale, with its sudden turn to just a few scraps of harmony, powerfully brought forward Op. 9's sense of submerged melancholy—the composer's response to his early mentor Schumann's contemporaneous commitment to an asylum.

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New York Philharmonic Opens 2013 Season with Yo-Yo Ma

ny philharmonic opening gala

Among all the performing arts, none are better able to impart a sense of occasion than symphony orchestras. Each New Year's Day, the entire world marks the new year by watching the Vienna Philharmonic play The Blue Danube and other waltzes. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Leonard Bernstein recruited orchestra players from both sides of the Iron Curtain for an epic performance of Beethoven's Ninth. And when North Korea wanted to demonstrate their diplomatic and cultural bona fides to the west, they invited the New York Philharmonic to perform in Pyongyang. 

So it was with great anticipation that I took my seat in Avery Fisher Hall last night for the opening night concert of the NY Phil's 172nd season. The stage was covered in velvet drapes, lit up in varying shades of violet. The crowd was mostly dressed in black tie while Alan Gilbert and the orchestra wore white tie and tails. Television cameras throughout the hall recorded the concert for Live from Lincoln Center (which, sadly, wasn't broadcast live, but strangely taped to air on New Year's Eve). Even the Empire State Building was lit up in the Phil's colors. 

To level set: this wasn't the concert to go to if you were looking to have your buttons pushed, or be challenged in new and exciting ways. Bookended by a pair Ravel's Spanish-flavored warhorses for orchestra (Alborado del graciosos and Bolero), the program was meant to be crowd pleasing, and largely succeeded. They continued the Spanish theme with three tangos from Astor Piazzola's La serie del Angel, played here by superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma, in new arrangements by Octavio Brunetti. 

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