Barber of Seville makes the cut in Austin
While hearing rarely-performed operas is always a treat, watching a famous opera is akin to comfort food. Austin Opera is serving up heaps of comfort food this week with two…
The Wreckers: Opera in Houston
A very rarely-performed English opera from 1906, The Wreckers is making a real splash now At Houston Grand Opera. I use the word ‘splash’ as a pun, as the opera…
A Surprising Violin Concerto
The latest outing by our Austin Symphony Orchestra featured the violinist Elisabeth Kufferath. It was an inspired choice to celebrate the music of Albert Dietrich (1829-1908), a little-known German composer…
Judy Garland at 100
June 10 this year marked the 100th birthday of Judy Garland, who died in 1969. The singer attained iconic status with the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, and for…
Tchaikovsky and Ravel at Austin Symphony
The Austin Symphony Orchestra opened its 112th season with a superlative programme this past weekend. Acclaimed pianist Benedetto Lupo gave the audience a marvellously nuanced interpretation of Ravel’s Piano Concerto…
Chamber Music in Stockholm
I attended the Grande Finale of the Classical Chamber Music Festival in Stockholm on July 30. In attendance was a friend who drove from Tierp (some 80 miles north of…
World Premiere by Quinn Mason
The Draylen Mason Composer-in-Residence program honors the memory of Draylen Mason, a promising young Austin musician killed in 2018 by the Austin package bomber. The first and current holder of…
American Landscapes
The concluding Masterworks concert by our local treasure, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, featured works that musically depict the landscapes of America. Guest soloist John Novacek was key to making this…
Tchaikovsky’s Problematic Concerto
The latest concert by Austin Symphony Orchestra featured pianist Olga Kern performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concert No. 1. It was first performed in 1874, by the composer himself. In attendance was…
The Chocolate Factory
There has always been a misconception that fairy tales were written for children. As this musical production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory proves, that is not the case.…