Classical Music
Hadelich returns to Utah Symphony with memorable Brahms – Jan 11, 2025
Augustin Hadelich performed Brahms’ Violin Concerto with conductor Elim Chan and the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Suxiao Yang
Augustin Hadelich is back on stage in Abravanel Hall this weekend after a three-year absence, playing Brahms’ magnificent Violin Concerto.
One of the composer’s most melodic orchestral works, the concerto teems with lyrical beauty. Even the occasional bursts of romantic passion in the outer movements are tempered with an innocuous melodicism that allow the soloist to explore the … Read More
Adkins’ freshly spun Vivaldi sparks Utah Symphony’s “Seasons” program – Dec 14, 2024
Jessica Rivero Altarriba conducted the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
The Utah Symphony has two large works on the program this week celebrating the seasons: Glazunov’s 1899 ballet score and Vivaldi’s endearing set of four violin concertos.
The concerts this weekend mark the first time that Glazunov’s The Seasons has been performed in its entirety. And the Utah Symphony’s recently appointed assistant conductor, Jessica Rivero Altarriba, gave a fine account Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
Altarriba captured the romantic spirit and underscored … Read More
Gabel brings a lively seafaring program to Utah Symphony – Dec 08, 2024
Fabien Gabel conducted the Utah Symphony Saturday night at Abravanel Hall.
Fabien Gabel returned to the Abravanel Hall stage this weekend to conduct the Utah Symphony in a program, titled “The Tempest,” an evening of sea-inspired orchestral works. Also joining the program was pianist Changyong Shin in Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2. Shin was the gold medalist in the 2018 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition.
Saturday evening opened with Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, which … Read More
Graf, Utah Symphony showcase the brilliance, variety of Ravel’s arrangements – Nov 16, 2024
Hans Graf conducted the Utah Symphony in a program of Ravel orchestrations Friday night.
Austrian conductor Hans Graf returned to Abravanel Hall Friday night to lead the Utah Symphony in a program that could aptly be called “Ravel Two Ways.” The first half features some of Ravel’s piano works that he later orchestrated, while the second half is devoted to Ravel’s familiar arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Mussorgsky’s Pictures is an audience favorite here and appears frequently on Utah Symphony … Read More
Early Brahms, late Schoenberg provide the highlights with Robertson, Utah Symphony – Nov 02, 2024
Conductor David Robertson and pianist Orli Shaham collaborated with the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Christian Steiner
This weekend, David Robertson, the Utah Symphony’s creative partner, makes his first of two Masterworks series appearances in a program of Schoenberg, Mozart and Brahms. Joining Robertson on the Abravanel Hall stage in Mozart’s captivating Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major is his wife, Orli Shaham.
At Friday’s performance the concerto started out promisingly. Robertson coaxed crisp, clean playing from the … Read More
Goosby delivers warm advocacy for Price in Utah Symphony’s American program – Oct 26, 2024
Randall Goosby performed music of Florence Price in the Utah Symphony’s concert of American music Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Kaupo Kikkas
This weekend’s Utah Symphony program puts the spotlight on 20th-century American composers. The concert features works by Samuel Barber, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, as well as the Utah premieres of two works by Florence Price.
Price, who died in 1953, has seen a remarkable revival of her music ever since a large collection of her manuscripts were … Read More
Utah Opera opens season with a delightfully demented “Sweeney Todd” – Oct 14, 2024
Audrey Babcock as Mrs. Lovett and Michael Mayes in the title role of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at Utah Opera. Photo: Dana Sohm
Just in time for Halloween, Utah Opera has opened its season with a chilling, thrilling production of Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s morbidly witty tale of cannibalism, depravity and revenge.
Sweeney Todd is the story of a barber who returns to Victorian London seeking revenge on the corrupt judge who wrongfully sent him to a penal colony for 15 years, … Read More
Utah Symphony wraps season with a fizzing Latin concerto and an American classic – May 25, 2024
Anna Akiko Meyers performed Arturo Márquez’s Fandango with Giancarlo Guerrero and the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Dina Douglass
This weekend the Utah Symphony closes out its Masterworks series for the season with a program that features music by two well-known Americans and a work by Mexico’s preeminent contemporary composer.
Receiving its Utah Symphony premiere is Fandango by Arturo Márquez. The work is a three-movement violin concerto written in 2021 for Anne Akiko Meyers, who is also this weekend’s … Read More
With Abravanel Hall’s future in question, Lazarova leads a high-voltage Utah Symphony concert – May 18, 2024
Delyana Lazarova conducted the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
The Utah Symphony returned to Abravanel Hall Friday night for the first concerts since the public learned of an existential threat to the hall, and the orchestra could hardly have planned its homecoming any better.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson announced Tuesday that she prefers to keep the hall “in its present form” after an earlier statement indicated it might be demolished and rebuilt as part of … Read More
Utah Opera’s maiden production of Massenet’s “Thaïs” beguiles eyes and ears – May 05, 2024
Nicole Heaston stars in the title role of Massenet’s Thaïs at Utah Opera. Photo: Dana Sohm
Jules Massenet’s Thaïs has finally made it to the Capitol Theatre’s stage. The French composer’s three-act opera had its Utah Opera premiere Saturday. The production closes out the company’s season in a powerful staging featuring a strong cast, with soprano Nicole Heaston outstanding in the title role.
The opera’s basic plot has been used in various iterations in countless other operas, but Thaïs adds a new layer. The monk Athanaël makes it … Read More