Glittering showpieces from Gabel and the Milwaukee Symphony

By Phillip Nones, 29 January 2018

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“Schwizgebel and the orchestra conjured up a trancelike atmosphere”

Reviewed at Marcus Center for the Performing Arts: Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee on 27 January 2018

Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat major "Emperor", Op.73

Bernstein, Fancy Free

Schmitt, Rêves, Op.65

Ravel, La Valse (Balanchine)

Louis Schwizgebel, Piano

Fabien Gabel, Conductor

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Opulent Strauss and Ravel open Milwaukee Symphony season

Sam Jacobson, 13th September

Ken-David Masur opens his final season in Milwaukee with Ravel’s one-handed wonder and Strauss’ musical autobiography.

****1

Contrasting moods from the CBSO and Fabien Gabel

Simon Cummings, 25th September

The CBSO’s matinee, conducted by Fabien Gabel, juxtaposes cheerful Mozart and an unpredictable new concerto from Mark Simpson with a polarised account of Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony.

*****

Precision and passion in music from stage and screen at Symphony Hall

Simon Cummings, 23rd May

Fabien Gabel and the CBSO deliver exhilaration and emotion in works by Bernstein and Weill, joined by Colin Currie for Danny Elfman’s generic Percussion Concerto.

****1

Brilliant showpieces from Fabien Gabel, the Labèques and the OSM

Phillip Nones, 8th May

Fabien Gabel showcases his French music bona fides, while Katia and Marielle Labèque offer a trademark Philip Glass concerto with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

****1

Tomasi's restored Trumpet Concerto headlines Indianapolis program

Phillip Nones, 17th March

The rediscovered version of the Tomasi Trumpet Concerto from Håkan Hardenberger, Fabien Gabel and the Indianapolis Symphony shares the limelight with an authoritative Indy premiere of Florent Schmitt's La Tragédie de Salomé.

****1

Impassioned Mahler and exuberant klezmer concerto in Baltimore

Phillip Nones, 12th March

Virtuoso violin fireworks were on brilliant display in Noah Bendix-Balgley's own Klezmer Concerto, while the Baltimore Symphony and conductor Fabien Gabel presented an impassioned, memorably probing Mahler Five.

*****

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Phillip Nones

Phillip Nones studied piano from age six, also playing percussion in educational and civic groups before moving to a rural area of the USA in 1990, where performance opportunities were few. Recently he has started performing again, participating in “side-by-side” orchestra performances and playing percussion in the World Doctors' Orchestra. His personal collection of music includes over 5,000 classical albums in all formats (CDs, LPs, 78s), plus downloads. In his professional life, he heads up a marketing communications firm in the state of Maryland. He blogs about the French composer Florent Schmitt here.

Glittering showpieces from Fabien Gabel and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra