Preview: "Classical music page-turners turn the page into the modern era"

Peter Dobrin in the Philadelphia Inquirer with a piece on page-turning, in which I say that

“Today, page-turning - and it is a role I have performed countless times myself! - is an unwelcome anachronism, putting the pianist constantly on the defensive against potential catastrophe, so that his mind is bent more toward the person to his left than the people to his right.”

Mr. Dobrin also has a thought-provoking interview on this general subject with violinist Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet, and a very funny sidebar on his own recent page-turning adventure.

Review: Two Views of Mendelssohn’s Symphonic Scotland

Another review of my Philadelphia performances of Bartok and Mendelssohn.

“[Ignat Solzhenitsyn’s] qualities of technical precision, impassioned eloquence, and profound stylistic insight were already familiar.

I have always loved the “Scottish” Symphony, but it was Solzhenitsyn’s performance that made me realize more vividly than ever before quite what a towering masterpiece it is.

The revelation Solzhenitsyn provided was a direct product of the risks he took. In contrast to Wagner, Mendelssohn was noted as a conductor for his tendency to set fast tempos. That predilection is reflected in his metronome marks for this symphony, especially in the scherzo. It was Solzhenitsyn’s characteristic distaste for any kind of artistic compromise that dictated the devil-may-care exhilaration he brought to that movement, abetted by Doris Hall-Gulati’s brilliantly feather-light clarinet solos. Comparable passages elsewhere in the work were equally thrilling, while the slow third movement,  though in no sense hurried, was done with a consuming sense of irresistible forward motion.”

— Bernard Jacobson, Seen and Heard International

Review: Chamber Orchestra of Phila. Balances Contemplative Bartok, Flawless Mendelssohn

Philadelphia Inquirer review of Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, which I conducted a few days ago in Philadelphia. 

“You could have guessed that conductor laureate Ignat Solzhenitsyn was behind Sunday’s performance: He’s the kind of serious musician who will take on something this formidable and get the rehearsal time to pull it off. His chamber music appearances here mean he’s never away for long, but Solzhenitsyn emerges as a key part of the Chamber Orchestra’s season, maintaining a classical foundation as music director Dirk Brossé explores populist realms.

The piece can seem rather cerebral. But the first movement served notice that this performance would be an exception. Some conductors begin so softly as to be barely audible. Not here. The movement’s long-built climax, which can seem like a feat of compositional technique, became an existential crisis. Later movements had similarly imaginative strokes.”

— David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer