featuring violinist Paul Huang (黃俊文) It’s been a little while since I’d seen the TSO. I wasn’t able to attend the all-Sibelius concert with Okko Kamu, unfortunately, but Varga was back in town tonight. Not for long, though. As the … Continue reading TSO’s Pre-Tour Concert
performed by the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra under Lan Shui, with: Emma Bell, soprano 左涵瀛 (Hanying Tso), soprano 黃莉錦 (Li-Chin Huang), soprano Charlotte Hellekant, alto 陳珮琪 (Pei-Chi Chen), alto Barry Banks, tenor 巫白玉璽 (Wu Bai-Yu-Hsi), baritone … Continue reading Mahler’s Eighth in Taipei
featuring Kirill Gerstein Welcome back, everyone! I met a certain fellow concertgoer (and at least occasional reader) formally for the first time this evening while we stood in line to meet Gerstein and Maestro Varga. The gentleman, who I see … Continue reading TSO’s Season Opening Concert
The TSO continues their presentation of Carl Orff’s operatic works, which began with last year’s performance of Die Kluge in their old stomping grounds the Zhong Shan Hall. That was the primary reason I didn’t go… But tonight we got Der Mond, a … Continue reading TSO’s Der Mond
I feel like we’ve been waiting for ages for this concert. And what a concert it was. Fazıl Say seems to be everywhere lately, literally and figuratively. He’s performing all over Europe, having recently played Beethoven’s Emperor concerto somewhere in Turkey, I … Continue reading TSO & Fazıl Say
featuring Rudolf Buchbinder and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra The short version of the story is that I had high expectations for this event, and I was still blown away. Magnificently wonderful. About three months ago, I was able to hear all … Continue reading Buchbinder plays Beethoven
featuring cellist Pablo Ferrández and conductor Robert Trevino It’s been quite some time since I’ve paid the Taipei Symphony a visit, in fact more than four months. They spent a little time traveling down south for some concerts, and had one or two … Continue reading TSO’s Don Quixote
It could hardly have been a more music-filled weekend, and it ended on a note of hope, of triumph, of absolute triumph and sublime beauty. In case you missed it, I also attended concerts on Friday and Saturday, the former … Continue reading TSO’s Beethoven 9
Featuring Pinchas Zuckerman and the Taipei Symphony under Gilbert Varga Some things never change. Strangely like the initials of some concerts. This evening was originally to be Frank Peter Zimmerman playing a Bartok concerto, and for various secretive reasons he was unable to … Continue reading TSO’s Violinsimo
As described in passing in a recent article on musical programming, I’ve had a pretty good run of hearing the Beethoven symphonies performed live by some wonderful orchestras. That perhaps isn’t a surprise. Beethoven’s symphony cycle is one of the … Continue reading TSO’s Mahler 7
Who doesn’t love chamber music? I’m not much for midweek concerts, because they usually involve first running home to care quickly for a dog, then rushing to a concert, then rushing home to get ready for work the next day, … Continue reading TSO’s Playful Music Adventure
This concert didn’t have a swanky title. But (either because of these upcoming TSO concerts or not, I can’t recall) I’ve recently been a bit more curious about Enescu, Martinu, and others. One of the defining characteristics, I feel, of … Continue reading TSO’s Berezovsky & Varga
Something political. I went to a concert last night with the recently elected president of Taiwan. Or we happened to be in the same building. I got to the concert hall (中山堂, not the National Concert Hall) later than I … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s Dadaocheng at Dawn
He may be small, but he’s got something. my fellow concertgoer for the evening, watching the guitarist in a pre-concert lecture Sometimes (more often than not), I go to a concert because I see something on the program I like … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s ‘Light and Shadow from South America’
Already more than a year ago, I brought some friends to attend this concert, at which the adagio of Mahler’s fifth symphony was played, followed by the entirety of his fourth symphony. In short, the strings in the adagio were … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s Lieder of Mahler
Who doesn’t love a good premiere? It’s historical. I must say Maestro Lindberg is an outstandingly enthusiastic person, and I bought my ticket for this concert many months ago when they were on sale. The Taipei Symphony has been consistently … Continue reading TSO: Christian Lindberg’s Symphonic Postcard
with Håkan Hardenberger The takeaway from this concert: Håkan Hardenberger is a classy, really nice dude who makes beautiful sounds on the trumpet. Like a Swedish George Clooney. As with every Taipei Symphony performance Maestro Varga leads, this one is … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s Trumpet Calls on the Wasteland
Fugue for Thought 