Pathos and power: Eric Owens recital in Berkeley

By Jeffery S. McMillan, 13 February 2013

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Reviewed at UC Berkeley: Hertz Hall, Berkeley on 10 February 2013

Wolf, 3 Michelangelo Lieder

Schumann, Myrthen: Aus den hebräischen Gesängen, Op.25 no.15

Schumann, Muttertraum, Op.40 no.2

Schumann, Romanzen und Balladen, Vol. 1, Op.45: 1. Der Schatzgräber

Schumann, Melancolie, Op.74 no.6

Schubert, Prometheus (Goethe), D.674

Schubert, Fahrt zum Hades (Mayrhofer), D.526

Schubert, Gruppe aus dem Tartarus (Schiller), D.583

Debussy, Beau soir

Debussy, Fleur des blés

Debussy, Romance

Ravel, Don Quichotte à Dulcinée

Wagner, Les deux grenadiers, WWV 60

Eric Owens, Bass

Warren Jones, Piano

Stephanie Blythe and Warren Jones delight at Carnegie Hall

David Browning, 15th May

With a witty and adventurous program and dazzling performances of each song, Stephanie Blythe and Warren Jones did not disappoint.

*****

Welser-Möst begins his Ring farewell with a rousing Rheingold

George Jahn, 21st June

Sven-Erich Bechtolf's staging of Wagner's Ring returns with Franz Welser-Möst at the helm for the final time, having recently announced his retirement of the cycle from his repertoire.

****1

And the winner is: Terence Blanchard’s Champion comes to the Met

Robert Levine, 18th April

The compelling story of boxer Emile Griffith's struggles with guilt and sexuality are not ideally rendered in James Robinson's new production.

***11

Mozart sings and Schoenberg sputters at the Philadelphia Orchestra

Cameron Kelsall, 21st October

In her first appearance with the orchestra this season, Nathalie Stutzmann offers overly tentative readings of Verklärte Nacht and Siegfried Idyll, alongside perfunctory excerpts from Don Giovanni.

**111

Visuals and voices mar Philadelphia Orchestra's Missa solemnis

Cameron Kelsall, 10th April

An admirable but disjointed performance of Beethoven's sacred choral work did not benefit from an extratextual art installation.

**111

Musical excellence mired by stale production in the Met's Don Carlos

Ako Imamura, 28th February

The Metropolitan Opera performs the original French version of Don Carlos for the first time with a distinguished ensemble of soloists, but the static production offers no new insights into the depth of Verdi's masterpiece.

****1

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Jeffery S. McMillan

Jeffery holds an MA in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University and spent ten years as an archivist for the Metropolitan Opera, where he helped develop the MetOpera Database. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about opera and jazz for publications including Opera News and Musical America.