FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE RATT-MAN: DON’T EXPECT AN OSCAR
Carnegie Hall, New York, March 19, 2002 Simon Rattle must be one of the most frustrating conductors ever to wield a stick. Having risen to
Tosca Storms the Bastille: Massive Casualties Reported
Bastille Opera (Paris): January 25, 2002–Victorien Sardou, the French playwright who wrote the original Tosca, would probably be amused that his work has achieved immortality
The Met’s Fantastic New Frau
Metropolitan Opera House, New York: January 1, 2002–After the 1919 premiere of Die Frau Ohne Schatten (The Woman Without A Shadow), Strauss expressed his dissatisfaction
Gergiev and Toradze: 1; Prokofiev: 0
Carnegie Hall: December 15, 2001–Valerie Gergiev ought to be a master at Prokofiev’s music, as his numerous successful recordings of the composer’s operas and ballets
Juilliard and Mahler “Resurrection” Triumph
Carnegie Hall: December 10, 2001–The Juilliard Orchestra and Choral Union under the direction of Jahja Ling presented an absolutely first-class performance of Gustav Mahler’s epic
Christoph Wolff: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician
W.W. Norton and Co. (599 pages; Hardcover) Harvard professor and eminent Bach scholar Christoph Wolff’s new book Bach: The Learned Musician belongs in the library