Word: mendelssohn
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...James Richman's performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto in G Minor lacked the necessary technical expertise." On the contrary, this is what it had above all else. Mr. Richman also showed a fine intellectual understanding of the piece; all that I found lacking was a sensitivity to its musical content...
Each contestant was asked to play excerpts from his concerto. Then we all sat and waited for the judges' decision. The way I saw it, two of the pianists could readily have been eliminated. James Richman's performance of the Mendelssohn Concerto in G Minor lacked the necessary technical expertise. The Mendelssohn is one of those piano showpieces with lots of runs and arpeggios and few solid musical ideas. Success depends on virtousity--something which Richman, for all his vigor and musicality, simply did not have...
...full Band. This work of the sixteen-year-old Strauss is a straightforward exercise in the academic, conservatory style of the late nineteenth-century. The opening theme is a cross between the Schumann piano concerto and piano quartet, and the rest is not only warmed-over, but decadent Mendelssohn. It is a delightful work in its way, but to succeed it requires complete control and attention to detail that the ensemble, heads buried in the music, was not prepared to give. The group was often not quite together and tended to play at a consistent mezzo volume. On the whole...
Conrad Susa's music for the several dances, songs, and general background is pleasant enough, though it certainly cannot be accused of subtlety (but, then, neither can Mendelssohn's marvelous score). I do wish he had not had recourse, for the shimmering fairies, to the vibraphone; this is too easy, and I cannot rid myself of the feeling that the instrument is inherently vulgar. Susa's score does not come up to the one Marc Blitzstein wrote for the 1958 production. (It is sadly ironic that Blitzstein and director Jack Landau, who contributed so much to the joyous success...
Conrad Susa's music for the several dances, songs, and general background is pleasant enough, though it certainly cannot be accused of subtlety (but, then, neither can Mendelssohn's marvelous score). I do wish he had not had recourse, for the shimmering fairies, to the vibraphone; this is too easy, and I cannot rid myself of the feeling that the instrument is inherently vulgar. Susa's score does not come up to the one Marc Blitzstein wrote for the 1958 production. (It is sadly ironic that Blitzstein and director Jack Landau, who contributed so much to the joyous success...