New York City celebrates the New Year with jazz

By Jacob Slattery, 03 January 2015

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Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, New York City on 31 December 2014

Gershwin, Cuban Overture

Gershwin, Catfish Row: Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess

Works by Gershwin

Bramwell Tovey, Conductor

Dianne Reeves, Vocals

Norm Lewis, Bass-baritone

Viennese Night at the BBC Proms: a dose of gentle escapism

David Karlin, 1st September

Robert Murray is the standout performer in a night of waltzes and numbers from operetta.

***11

Carpenter and Tovey with the Boston Symphony

Kevin Wells, 13th January

If “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes” were a musician, she might well have composed something like Terry Riley’s 2014 concerto for organ and orchestra, At The Royal Majestic.

****1

A witty, characterful Candide in Vancouver

Kevin W Ng, 8th June

Alek Shrader, Judith Forst, and Tracy Dahl dazzle and amuse in Vancouver Symphony's presentation of Bernstein's operetta.

****1

Romans and Britons: Ehnes and Vancouver Symphony dazzle in a colourful programme

Kevin W Ng, 14th June

Violinist James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on breathtaking form in an immense, virtuosic programme of Elgar, Respighi, Britten and Berlioz.

*****

Bramwell Tovey leads Cleveland Orchestra première of Barber Cello Concerto at Blossom

Timothy Robson, 4th August

A summer season concert at the Blossom Music Center would not be the normal place for The Cleveland Orchestra to give first performances, but through a coincidental oddity of programming, there were two orchestra premières: Samuel Barber’s 1945 Cello Concerto, Op.

***11

Johannes Moser and Bramwell Tovey play Elgar at the Hollywood Bowl

Ted Ayala, 16th July

Bramwell Tovey, the principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Hollywood Bowl concerts, is no stranger to the venue, though his ability to give a freshly minted polish to everything he conducts makes his appearances seem all too infrequent.His musicianship is subtle, but the results can be eye-opening – and they’re always deeply satisfying.

****1

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Jacob Slattery

Jacob is a musician and raconteur based out of New York City. As a writer, he operates an online arts and culture blog with the goal of providing momentum for community-based arts projects in NYC. As an oboist, Jacob has performed internationally with orchestras from Vienna to Seoul. Born and raised in the lake-ridden, gopher empire of Minnesota, Jacob received a dual-degree in Music Performance and Marketing from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. His blog can be found here.

Forget the waltzes, New York City celebrates the New Year with jazz