Mark Gresham | 22 APR 2024 This Saturday is opening night of The Atlanta Opera’s new production of Die Walküre, their second epic installment in Richard Wagner’s magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Ring is a work of extraordinary scale. The four operas of the cycle run a total of about 15 hours over four nights, and producing any one of them is a massive undertaking for any opera company. One of the most significant elements in the herculean task of mounting any part of The Ring is set design. In the case of the Atlanta Opera’s Ring, the set design and projections for Die Walküre have be ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra April 18 & 20, 2024 Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center Atlanta, Georgia – USA Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor; Maria João Pires, piano. Felix MENDELSSOHN: Overture, The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op 58 Robert SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 120 Mark Gresham | 20 APR 2024 Portuguese classical pianist Maria João Pires has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as an interpreter of 18th and 19th-century repertoire. A child prodigy, Pires publicly pe ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Atlanta Chamber Players “Rapido! Take Seven, Finals Concert” April 14, 2024 Walter Hill Auditorium, High Museum of Art Atlanta, GA – USA Atlanta Chamber Players: Elizabeth Pridgen, piano; Helen Hwaya Kim, violin; Catherine Lynn, viola; Brad Ritchie, cello. Ben MORRIS: Hallingdal Freylekhs Nicky SOHN: Home on the Range Alice HONG: Pop! Dan COLEMAN: Vanishing Dances Benedikt BRYDERN: The Cuckoo and Other Mountain Tales Howard Wershil | 18 APR 2024 All composition competitions have rules. Sometimes they cater to a certain age group, sometimes a particular instrumentation, often ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Emanuel Ax April 14, 2024 Spivey Hall Morrow, GA – USA Emanuel Ax, piano. Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No, 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (“Pathétique”) Arnold SCHOENBERG: Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2 Arnold SCHOENBERG: Drei Klavierstücke (1894) Arnold SCHOENBERG: Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (“Appassionata”) Mark Gresham | 17 APR 2024 The year 2024 marks the sesquicentennial of the birth of Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer ..read more

EarRelevant Staff | 16 APR 2024 MORROW, GA— Spivey Hall has unveiled its lineup for the 2024/25 season, featuring a diverse array of concerts set to captivate audiences. The renowned venue, celebrated for its exceptional acoustics and intimate ambiance, will host a series of performances by both established and emerging artists, with nine artists making their debut at Spivey Hall. Highlighted events of Spivey Hall’s 34th Season include a season-opening celebration featuring pianist Daniil Trifonov performing pieces by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Barber. Renowned soprano Renée Fleming will grace t ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Renée Fleming April 3, 2024 Concert Hall, Peace Center Greenville, SC – USA Renée Fleming, soprano; Bradley Moore, piano. Hazel DICKENS: “Pretty bird” Georg Frideric HANDEL: “Care Selve” from Atalanta Nico MUHLY: “Endless Space” Joseph CANTELOUBE: “Bailero” from Songs of the Auvergne Maria SCHNEIDER:”Our Finch Feeder” from Winter Morning Walks BJÖRK: “All is Full of Love” Heitor VILLA-LOBOS: “Epilogo” from Floresta do Amazonas (piano solo) Howard SHORE: “Twilight and Shadow” from Lord of the Rings Kevin PUTS: “Evening” Curtis GREEN: “Red Mountains Sometimes Cry” BACHARACH and ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Randall Goosby & Zhu Wang April 5, 2024 Emerson Hall, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Atlanta, GA – USA Randall Goosby, violins; Zhu Wang, piano. Samuel COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Suite de Piéces, Op. 3 Johannes BRAHMS: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100 (“Thun”) William Grant STILL: Suite for Violin and Piano Florence PRICE: Two Fantasies Richard STRAUSS: Violin Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 18 Patrick Tabeek | 11 APR 2024 This past Friday, the crowd at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts in Atlanta was given the honor of listening to a dazzling performance by violinis ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Klimchak with Bob StagnerView Preview April 6, 2024 Atlanta Contemporary Atlanta, GA – USA “Ear Pollen” Klimchak & Bob Stagner, percussion, electronics, etc. Free improvization Jon Ciliberto | 10 APR 2024 Artists are odd, weird even, and some proudly claim that description. It is surely odd to place a series of seemingly unrelated lines and colors — or sounds — together, in a way that nothing could predict in advance and that nothing can explain in retrospect. Musicians who freely improvise do that, by and large. Local percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Klimchak’s Ea ..read more

PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Fort Worth Opera April 5 & 7, 2024 Bass Performance Hall Ft. Worth, TX – USA Giacomo PUCCINI: La bohème Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor; Chuck Hudson, director. Cast: Elizabeth Caballero (Mimi), Alok Kumar (Rodolfo), Daniel Scofield (Marcello), Meigui Zhang (Musetta), Michael Colman (Schaunard), Kofi Hayford (Colline), Kevin Glavin (Alcindoro/Benoit), Su Hyeon-Park (Mimi – cover). Creative: Jamie Milligan, lighting design; Julian Reed, chorus master; Charlene Lotz, music preparation. Gregory Sullivan Isaacs | 9 APR 2024 Often given up for dead in recent years, the Fort W ..read more

CONCERT REVIEW: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra April 4 & 5, 2024 Atlanta Symphony Hall, Woodruff Arts Center Atlanta, Georgia – USA Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor; David Coucheron, violin; Zhenwei Shi, viola. Johannes BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major for Violin and Viola K. 364 Johannes BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 Patrick Tabeek | 8 APR 2024 Brahms had a particular fascination with manuscripts throughout his life. In 1870, Haydn biographer and librarian C.F. Pohl first showed h ..read more