Author Archive | Jed Distler

The Metropolitan Museum of Art – American Wing; New York, February 14, 2020—The famous quilt collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American Wing is an apt metaphor for Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’s 1947 opera The Mother of Us All. The quilts are the handiwork of women, often collectively stitched-together patchworks, made up of […]

92nd Street “Y”, New York, NY; December 1 , 2018—Peter Serkin’s Mozart interpretations have always stood out for their intimacy, transparency, and classical reserve. These characteristics certainly revealed themselves in the opening half of Serkin’s 92nd Street “Y” recital, along with a pronounced freedom and intensification of detail. Unlike pianists who play the B minor […]

La Scala, Milan, June 22, 2018—Herbert Blomstedt, who turns 91 in July, has been guest conducting Mahler’s Ninth Symphony these past months with various orchestras. On Friday evening he led the first of three performances with the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra. The orchestra’s busy opera schedule apparently did not allow for more than minimum rehearsal […]

Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY; January 29, 2014–Terry Riley turns 80 in June 2015, and already the tributes are starting to roll in. On January 29th Berkeley-based pianist Sarah Cahill offered a Piano Party for Terry Riley at 80, honoring the minimalist pioneer with a program of newly commissioned works to celebrate the occasion. […]

Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY; December 16, 2014–For several years the period-performance aesthetic has dominated the New York Philharmonic’s annual Handel Messiah performances as conducted by such early music specialists as Nicholas McGegan, Ton Koopman, and currently Gary Thor Wedow, who opened the orchestra’s 2014 Messiah run Tuesday night. He presided over an orchestra […]

Alice Tully Hall, New York, NY; December 15, 2014–Robert Schumann’s three piano sonatas encompassed the second program in Carlo Grante’s three-part “Masters of High Romanticism” series at Alice Tully Hall. Although these works claim a solid foothold in the repertoire, they are less immediately accessible than, say, Carnaval or Kinderszenen. Schumann’s creativity ran rampant, and […]

Wigmore Hall, London, UK, November 16, 2014–As part of her first prize award in the annual Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate piano competition, Jenna Sung gave her London recital debut at Wigmore Hall November 16 to  a full and appreciative house. I first heard Sung during the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and her artistry has […]