featuring Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra under Shao-Chia Lü; Carlus Padrissa, stage director, La Fura dels Baus, a co-production of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and many many more people, some listed below. I got too … Continue reading NSO’s Siegfried
featuring lots of people; more details below Wagner’s music is great. Like, great in the same way that saying Mt. Everest is large. I don’t know how the man could stand himself, though, really, or how anyone else could even … Continue reading NSO’s Parsifal
performed by Jessye Norman and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis (cover image by Eberhard Grossgasteiger) Can you believe this is (sort of) the first formal appearance of Richard Wagner on the blog(ner)? It is. I’ve reviewed two of … Continue reading Richard Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder
Featuring: Taiwan’s 國家交響樂團 (NSO) Wotan- Jukka Rasilainen Fricka- Jamie Barton Hunding- Andrea Silvestrelli Sieglinde- Anja Kampe Siegmund- Simon O’Neill Brünnhilde- Jennifer Wilson (and more) Carlus Padrissa, Esteban Muñoz, Roland Olbeter, Chu Uroz, and the crew of La Fura dels Baus … Continue reading NSO’s Die Walküre
Is there any other? with Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra (國家交響樂團) under Maestro Shao-Chia Lü (呂紹嘉), stage director Carlus Padrissa, a co-production of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, with full credits shown below This performance on … Continue reading Wagner’s Das Rheingold
With Sergej Krylov and Roberto Abbado Speechless. Back at 中山堂 for another Taipei Symphony concert. While it’s a pretty venue, it’s not how a concert hall looks but how it sounds that matters, and in the latter regard, the Taipei Symphony more than deserves a … Continue reading Concert review: TSO’s Demons and Miracles
This was a last-minute and somewhat messy plan. I’d seen the program for this concert ages ago and at the time, wasn’t able to attend. Some recent schedule changes meant I was free, but by that time I’d entirely forgotten about it. I ended up buying my ticket only a few weeks ago, kind of late relative to how early I try to get my hands on most tickets. I saw NSO and Eroica, and that was enough. I was at the ticket counter to buy a ticket for another show anyway, and there were still seats. On the ticket … Continue reading NSO: Symphonic Milestone- Eroica
This is not a piece I’m going to spend lots of time analyzing the history of in preparation for a dissertation on the subject. It was just a passing thought I had based on this week’s music piece for Thursday, and I thought I’d talk about it. It’ll make more sense when you know what that piece is, but for now, it’s at least worth talking about in the context of Mahler.While he seemed to have garnered some praise and recognition in his time for his works, most prominently the eighth symphony, he was known during his lifetime far more … Continue reading The composer and conductor: which comes first?
Fugue for Thought 