Mozart lavished his musical imagination on wind instruments as part of the orchestra, but he also wrote some terrific works for the unassuming octet known in the 18th century as the Harmonie ensemble – pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns. (If you add a flute, it’s also the wind section of the classical-era orchestra […]
Classical Music Review
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Classical review: RPO performs ‘La Boheme’
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Ward Stare rose to prominence as Principal Trombone for Lyric Opera of Chicago. Here in the Flower City, he has made a conscious effort to perform operatic works in their entirety. On Thursday, when the RPO performed Giacomo Puccini’s beloved “La Bohème,” the result was unsettled at first, but ultimately […]
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Classical review: Fabien Gabel conducts the RPO
Popular guest conductor Fabien Gabel joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in a return to Kodak Hall on Thursday for a program that truly was a tale of two halves, featuring startlingly contrasting moods. It can be argued that the evening’s first piece, Bernard Herrmann’s suite from the film “Vertigo,” was its best: Gabel’s conducting was […]
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Classical review: SCMR’s ‘Bach to the Future’
In a long-ago “Young People’s Concert” on TV, Leonard Bernstein took as his theme the idea of “Bach Transmogrified.” To his audience of captive tykes, he presented numerous examples of the sturdy old baroque master’s sturdy old music re-arranged not only for symphony orchestras, but also for such then-up-to-date phenomena as a rock band and […]
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Classical review: RPO with James Ehnes
In the classical music world at least, waltzing is a highly accepted way to begin the New Year. Ward Stare must feel the same way: Stare’s opening program of 2017 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra gave plenty of time to two large-scale showpieces that offered sophisticated treatments of the dance in three quarter time. Stare […]
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Classical concert review: RPO season opener
Music Director Ward Stare and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra are embarking on their second full season together, and based on Thursday night’s opening concert, the excitement will continue. The RPO opened with an American rarity, before segueing into two pillars of the concerto and symphonic repertoire, all exceedingly well performed. If you ever wondered if […]
