Word: conductors
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After Hodgkinson's applause-accompanied exit from the stage and the discreet lowering of the lid of his piano, conductor James Yannatos took his place in front and led the orchestra into--surprise--Dallapiccola's Variations for Orchestra, a reiteration of the themes that had just resounded from the piano. If the atonal phrases had been disjointed in the piano score, they were fully severed and disconcertingly tossed together in the full orchestral rendition. Rhythms and chords seem to collide haphazardly; though the multi-instrumental texture of the piece gave greater depth to Dallapiccola's notes than the solo piano...
This year's performance runs through December 14 at Boston's Shubert Theatre, and will feature Dominique Labelle, David Walker, Ray Bauwens and Eric Owens, though the December 6 performance was held in Symphony Hall and featured counter-tenor Steven Rickards insteaof David Walker. Associate Conductor John Finney leads H&H's marvelous chorus and period orchestra. Despite the press of weekend afternoons during the holiday season, Sunday's matinee performance was packed, with not an empty seat visible. The audience was richly rewarded for their time and responded with a thunderous, almost raucous standing ovation after the final "Amen...
After the communal carol "O Come, All Ye Faithful," associate conductor Constance DeFotis led the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum in the "Hymn to St. Cecilia" by Benjamin Britten. This piece takes its lyrics from a W.H. Auden poem of the same title; and like the poem, the music contains surprises and irregularities, yet maintains a lyric quality. True to the refrain, "Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions/ To all musicians, appear and inspire:/ Translated Daughter, come down and startle/ Composing mortals with immortal fire," it seemed that St. Cecilia had indeed come down to bless this performance, for the Collegium Musicum...
Even before the curtain went up, the Boston Conservatory's "Die Fledermaus," at the Emerson Majestic, offered a visual treat. Because of the lighting in the orchestra pit, conductor Ronald Feldman's shadow covered the entire right wall of the theater. As the overture progressed, one sensed with delight the contrast between the unintentionally sinister apparition and the music's light waltzes...
...would like to have a parallel career as pianist and conductor, and I love to teach...