Linda Holt writes about classical music for broadstreetreview.com and newyorkclassicalreview.com, with a special interest in the life and works of Beethoven. She has a doctorate in arts-and-letters from Drew University (U.S.), studied music theory and history at Rider University, and teaches humanities courses. She is president of the Princeton Research Forum ( princetonresearchforum.org ) and member of the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society and American Beethoven Society. As L.L. Holt, she is the author of two acclaimed novels based on Beethoven’s early years: Invictus (Harvard Square Editions, 2019) and The Black Spaniard (Unsolicited Press, 2016).
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a high-energy program of works by Coleman, Liszt and Dvořák, but there are moments of reflection too, not least Trifonov's Ukrainian encore.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted a never-better Philadelphia Orchestra in a program that also included a benchmark performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.
On the surface, this Verbier Festival program looked mild (Brahms and Beethoven), but in performance, it had the effect of dropping a lit match into a crate full of fireworks.
With his wonderful instinct for finding just the right tempo, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the scaled down but high spirited Philadelphia Orchestra in Elgar’s Serenade.