Classical Music
Fischer, Utah Symphony scale Bruckner’s vast Fifth Symphony – Mar 25, 2023
Thierry Fischer conducted the Utah Symphony in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Marco Borggreve
Due to its intricate structure, masterful use of counterpoint, and reverent, mystical mood, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 is often compared to a cathedral.
Friday night, the vast work made its Utah Symphony debut as the only piece on a concert that became a monument to Maestro Thierry Fischer’s 12 years as the orchestra’s music director. The performance showcased the orchestra’s artistic growth during Fischer’s … Read More
Utah Opera paints a grim world in Verdi’s powerful “Rigoletto” – Mar 15, 2023
Scott Hendricks in the title role and Jasmine Habersham as his daughter Gilda in Utah Opera’s production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. Photo: Dana Sohm.
As the fatalistic strains of Verdi’s Prelude to Rigoletto wafted out of the orchestra pit, a spotlight shone on the hunched, tortured title character on a bare, dark stage. A few seconds later, an upstage spotlight shone on the opera’s villain, the Duke of Mantua, ordering his henchman to stab a third man, who crumpled as the blade enters his torso.
The … Read More
Youth on display in a dazzling Utah Symphony program – Mar 04, 2023
Randall Goosby performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Jiří Rožeň conducting the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
Two young guests joined the Utah Symphony to bring vigor and pizzazz to a chilly Friday evening.
Violinist Randall Goosby, 26, dazzled with seemingly effortless excellence, while conductor Jiří Rožeň, 31, led the orchestra with seemingly endless enthusiasm.
The chic simplicity of Goosby’s crisp white shirt and black trousers matched the matter-of-fact elegance of his playing in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The … Read More
Fischer returns with varied lineup, from Haydn to Janáček – Feb 04, 2023
Thierry Fischer conducted the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Marco Borggreve
Thierry Fischer returned to the helm of the Utah Symphony Friday night for the first time this year to conduct a concert that bore the distinct hallmarks of his 13 seasons as music director.
The program featured a Haydn symphony, which has become a staple of Fischer’s tenure. And like so many of Fischer’s programs, Friday’s concert juxtaposed several contrasting pieces in a pointed way, following the Haydn with … Read More
Utah Symphony, Fawzi Haimor impress in first collaboration – Jan 28, 2023
Fawzi Haimor conducted the Utah Symphony Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo courtesy of Fawzi Haimor
Guest conductor Fawzi Haimor began his Utah Symphony debut on Friday night at Abravanel Hall with Feuertrunken (“Fire drunk”), a 2017 work described by its composer, Joshua Cerdinia, as “a loud meditation (if one can meditate loudly) on joy.”
This was an apt summary of the whole program, which also featured Stravinsky’s triumphal The Firebird Suite and Orff’s sensual secular oratorio Carmina Burana. While … Read More
Utah Opera’s “Daughter of the Regiment” wins hearts, minds and laughs – Jan 16, 2023
Matthew Burns as Sergeant Sulpice and Madison Leonard as Marie in Utah Opera’s presentation of Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment.” Photo courtesy of Utah Opera
With its engaging and musically stunning production of Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Utah Opera is establishing itself as a consummate producer of Bel Canto operas, particularly those in a comic vein.
Literally translated as “beautiful singing,” Bel Canto is a style of opera from the early 1800s marked by simple, tuneful arias that … Read More
Strings are the thing with Utah Symphony’s suburban program – Jan 13, 2023
Benjamin Manis conduced the Utah Symphony strings Thursday night at the Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center in Taylorsville. Photo: Ian Mower/Utah Symphony
The Utah Symphony took a downsized, all-strings program to the suburbs on Thursday night. The occasion marked the orchestra’s first performance at the Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center, a 20-minute drive from its home base of Abravanel Hall. (The Taylorsville complex is the newest arts facility owned and operated by Salt Lake County.)
On the program were short suites by Florence Price, … Read More
Utah Symphony’s heart is in the highlands with Scottish-flavored program – Jan 07, 2023
Douglas Boyd conducted the Utah Symphony in music of Elgar, Bruch and Helen Grime Friday night at Abravanel Hall. Photo: Ian Mower
The Utah Symphony’s first concert of 2023 had a Scottish accent, as Glasgow-born conductor Douglas Boyd led the orchestra in Scottish composer Helen Grime’s Near Midnight and Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy (with another Glaswegian, principal harpist Louise Vickerman, in a prominent supporting role to concertmaster Madeline Adkins).
After reading a few lines from Week-night Service, the D. H. Lawrence poem from which Grime … Read More
Robertson hones new partnership with Utah Symphony in Russian-American program – Dec 10, 2022
David Robertson conducted the Utah Symphony in music of Adams, Prokofiev and Shostakovich Friday night at Abravanel Hall.
David Robertson returned Friday night to Salt Lake City to conduct the Utah Symphony for the third time in as many years.
After his well-received debut in October 2020—and his triumphant return engagement in December 2021—there was speculation that Robertson would be named music director, succeeding Thierry Fischer.
That speculation ended this week, when the orchestra announced that Robertson will be the Utah … Read More
Cellist Hornung upstages Beethoven’s Fifth with dark Shostakovich – Dec 05, 2022
Maximilian Hornung was the soloist in Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Utah Symphony Saturday night at Abravanel Hall.
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony had top billing at the Utah Symphony this weekend. But, as rousing as the orchestra’s performance of that symphonic favorite was on Saturday night, arguably the best thing about it was that it got thousands of people through the doors of Abravanel Hall to hear Maximilian Hornung’s stunning performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1.
It was clear … Read More
