By Pierre Ruhe | Jun 14, 2011
He says: “She ignored me till I got the job in San Francisco!”
She shoots back: “That’s not true! ... But we tried not to talk about it, although it was the elephant in the room. We just thought we’d see where it went. But I was crying all the time.”
Then they speak together, laughing and completing each other’s sentences: “Finally we decided we’d date long distance -- we knew it wasn’t a fling -- it’s four and a half hours by plane and that’s really far -- we started playing a lot of ‘what ifs’.”
The Atlanta Symphony will reach its ...
By Pierre Ruhe | Jun 12, 2011
In our modern à go-go view of Shakespeare, where almost every element of the plays can be extended beyond the specific and treated as a universal, it’s no big deal to turn the magical Prospero, the unhappily exiled Duke of Milan in “The Tempest,” into Prospera, the equally magical and exiled Duchess of Milan.
Yet in Sharon Ott’s production of “The Tempest,” opening Georgia Shakespeare’s 26th season, something essential is lost by the change of sex and little is gained -- beyond the forced notion that Shakespeare’s characters are, indeed, universal.
Still, it’s a fun and often funny show, with a few ...
By Pierre Ruhe | Jun 10, 2011
From New York to Berlin, orchestras increasingly offer semi-staged productions of opera and theatrical works as part of their classical season. In the past few years, the Atlanta Symphony has called its version “theater of a concert” -- a mix of operas and dramatic oratorios, from John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” and Stravinsky’s “The Nightingale” to Haydn’s “The Creation.” Most of these have been satisfying, if problematic, events in the concert hall; a mildly “conceptual” setting became an end in itself and often distracted from the music and story. In trying to reinvent the concert experience, the ASO wasn’t playing to ...
By Pierre Ruhe | Jun 3, 2011
A few months ago, it was touch and go whether the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra would reach its goal of performing 10 new fanfares across the 2010-11 season, commissioned to celebrate Robert Spano’s decade as music director.
This weekend, the penultimate week of the season, Spano and the ASO delivered fanfares No. 9 and 10. They’re among the best of the bunch, deserving of repeat performances. They were part of a complicated program, surrounding another world premiere, James Oliverio’s “Dynasty” Double Timpani Concerto, and Alvin Singleton’s “After Fallen Crumbs.” Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” closed the evening. In all, a dense, disconnected yet curiously ...
By Pierre Ruhe | May 31, 2011
A month before the world premiere of James Oliverio’s “Dynasty” Double Timpani Concerto, Paul and Mark Yancich are in a rehearsal hall at Emory University, facing each other across a sea of copper drums. Elder brother Paul, the principal timpanist of the Cleveland Orchestra, takes the lead. He pinpoints blurry passages and counts off so they drill it one more time. Mark, three years younger, holds the same job with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He nods his approval, then interjects precise remarks that clarify the rhythmic complexities.
The concerto’s opening movement zips along, jaunty and intricate. In the second movement, beyond ...
By Pierre Ruhe | May 24, 2011
The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra has returned to splendid form. Since the abrupt retirement of John Hsu as its energizing conductor, the period-instrument group has seemed to be hanging on, as if in a drought of artistry and ambition. This season marks violinist Julie Andrijeski’s first as artistic director, and judging by the concert Sunday afternoon at Roswell Presbyterian Church, her effects have been immediate.
The bracing program was titled “Musica Transalpina,” a cursory look at composers and musical trends that made the journey from Italy (a hub of art) to England (a capital of commerce). In a note, Andrijeski quoted Johann ...
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