According to Christoph Wolff, eminent Bach scholar who gave the pre-concert lecture before tonight’s St. Matthew Passion performance, Bach composed this musical sermon of the Passion Gospel with the intent of “touching our hearts in ways words without music cannot”— he wanted to rouse our emotions. Even though I have personally performed this work on… Read More “… he wanted to touch our hearts”
As we knew from past Festivals, the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival was going to be nothing short of extraordinary — in the wide variety and extremely high level of the performances, the huge number of international performers, and total number of concerts. Even the music festivals that we go to in Europe don’t compare… Read More Nothing short of phenomenal
Last night’s chamber opera doublebill, La Descente d’Orphé aux Enfers and La couronne de Fleurs by Marc-Antoine Charpentier was breathtaking in its beauty and elegance. The small orchestra, directed by Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, was seated on stage, surrounded by a giant garland of flowers on the stage floor (The Crown of Flowers) The… Read More Charpentier Chamber Opera
“I wouldn’t do this for anyone except Kristian Bezuidenhout,” Carl said last night, when it was announced that our favorite performer on the fortepiano would be playing the late-night concert beginning at 11 pm. Paul O’Dette, the Boston Early Music Festival Co-Artistic Director, announced at the beginning of the concert that he was sitting at… Read More Another great artist
Last night we heard a concert of John Dowland songs, all by the great Dame Emma Kirkby, and it will go down in the annals of concerts we will never forget. This was our third time to hear her in person — the first time was in England, at the Stour Festival in Wye, where… Read More A great artist
Last night’s concert at Jordan Hall had some of the most extraordinary music-making we have ever heard. The hype was that Mozart’s actual violin and viola were used in the performance, but the artists who made music on them were especially expressive and sensitive, making for a magical evening. They included Amandine Beyer, violin; Milos… Read More Extraordinary music-making
In a couple of days, we’ll be heading for Boston where we will be attending the Boston Early Music Festival (BEMF), which for us is the Boston Marathon! This is the premier festival for early music junkies (like ourselves), which The Times of London calls “the world’s leading festival of early music.” The New York Times… Read More The Boston Marathon
We have been so fortunate to be at the Boston Early Music Festival — it is presented in odd-numbered years and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to hear the best of the best in early music. I dare say that at this particular festival every single concert is over the top… Read More Sharing BEMF with the world
This morning we made plans to join alto Meg Bragle for breakfast and came upon a SEA of people wearing black and gold jerseys at the T-stop. The Boston Bruins ice hockey team won the Stanley Cup last Wednesday and the city was going to celebrate with a big parade downtown today. It was a… Read More A great day for Boston
This morning we got up early to attend a keyboard mini-festival and what was interesting was that artists we have heard previously are playing different instruments. We began with a harpsichord concert by Peter Sykes whom I have heard as an organist. What was so unusual about this concert is that he used an iPad… Read More Another six concerts