ASO: Karina Canellakis with Itamar Zorman

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Robbie

I don’t think it would be hyperbolic to say that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s performance conducted by Karina Canellakis was the best performance of the Leonore Overture No. 3 that I’ve ever heard live in concert. It was vibrant, vivacious, exciting, dramatic, and a lot more fun to listen to than most of the performances that I’ve heard. It felt very fresh and the orchestra was very together, creating a sharp and clear sound that really brought the piece to life.
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ASO: Robert Spano with David Coucheron

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Robbie

I debated whether or not to go to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s concert last night. I’m still in the mourning period for my mother and, according to tradition, I’m supposed to avoid listening to music. However, doing so was starting to make me feel like a prisoner to my grief and, besides, there are a few other rules that I have set aside due to practical concerns. The concert was very good so I’m glad that I did go.
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ASO: Donald Runnicles with Christina Smith

Posted on June 2, 2019 by Robbie

I really liked Saturday’s concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It began and ended with some decent Beethoven: the Leonore Overture No. 3 and his Symphony no. 6. I kind of got the feeling that Runnicles put a bit more thought into the latter than the former but I enjoyed both. I was in a bit of a weird mood, though, so my mind went to some rather strange and dark places in the sixth…a bit less pastoral than Beethoven’s music generally elicits.
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ASO: Robert Spano with Daniel Hope, David Finckel, and Wu Han

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Robbie

Last night’s Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert was particularly festive. The concerto for the evening was Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and the triplets for this performance were Daniel Hope, the associate artistic director of the Savannah Music Festival, along with David Finckel and Wu Han, who are the founding artistic directors of Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival. Robert Spano, the music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, conducted. Even the concertmaster, David Coucheron, is the Artistic Director of the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival. This program will be performed again tonight at the Savannah Music Festival. With that much festivity on one stage, there really should have been a lot more sequins.
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ASO: Matthias Pintscher with Nicola Benedetti

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Robbie

Yesterday was one of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s pre-concert chamber recitals. They had originally programmed Beethoven’s Septet in Eb major but, sadly, Associate Concertmaster Justin Bruns was unable to play because of an injury. Instead, we were treated to David Cucheron and William Ransom playing the Kreutzer Sonata. It was a good performance of the piece and, honestly, I think I may have enjoyed it more than I might have enjoyed the septet. They were scheduled to play it again today at the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta’s Cooke Noontime Concert series at the Carlos Museum and if it was half as good as last night then the audience had quite a treat.
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ASO: Robert Spano with Robert McDuffie

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Robbie

As I was walking along Peachtree toward the Woodruff Arts Center for last night’s concert by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, I passed a Subaru with an Alabama vanity plate that said “EROICA.” I love the idea that somewhere there is a Beethoven’s Third-Head that travels around visiting concert halls where they play Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3. Hopefully they enjoyed the concert last night: there was some good stuff in it.
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ASO: Robert Spano and Stephen Mulligan with Jennifer Johnson Cano and Jorge Federico Osorio

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Robbie

Although I attended the Saturday concert, I went to the chamber music performance that preceded the Thursday concert. I had to make a huge effort to leave work on time and then, to avoid feeling rushed, I stopped at a Moe’s near the Woodruff Arts Center to have an early and decidedly unsatisfying supper. If I’m completely honest, I’m not sure that it was worth the trouble. Each of the three pieces had at least one performer without whom the works would have sounded a lot better and I wasn’t that fond of the first two pieces on the program.
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