No Tenors Allowed: Thomas Hampson and Luca Pisaroni at Jordan Hall

By Kevin Wells, 03 February 2019

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“establishing a dynamic of playful one-upmanship”

Reviewed at New England Conservatory: Jordan Hall, Boston on 1 February 2019

Thomas Hampson, Baritone

Luca Pisaroni, Bass-baritone

Kevin Murphy, Piano

Elina Garanča's NYC recital debut is calm, cool and collected

Zerbinetta, 6th April

Elina Garanča can always be counted on for a coolly polished performance. Her silvery mezzo is beautiful, even throughout her range, and impeccably on pitch. She is musically tasteful, and her sound has grown in recent years. But something often seems to be missing. While she’s too accomplished to call bland, her performances rarely show evidence of a beating heart.

***11

Andris Nelsons and the BSO arrive in New York, with baggage in tow

Cameron Kelsall, 9th April

In his first New York appearance since the termination of his contract as BSO Music Director, Nelsons courts public sympathy and makes some thrilling music.

***11

Pomp meets ping-pong: Nixon in China lands again in Paris

David Karlin, 14th March

Excellent vocal acting from Thomas Hampson, Renée Fleming, Xiaomeng Zhang and a magnificent orchestral performance conducted by Kent Nagano can't make Valentina Carrasco's production fully grip.

***11

Klaus Mäkelä captivates in vibrant and varied Cleveland program

Sam Jacobson, 13th April

Klaus Mäkelä returns to Cleveland with a recent piece by Jimmy López Bellido, prefacing a pair of English works that feature Sol Gabetta, Thomas Hampson and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

****1

Yuja Wang irresistible at the Proms with Mäkelä and the BBCSO

Chris Garlick, 4th August

Wang's playing of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is a highlight of Prom 27; Mäkelä misses the bull’s eye on Belshazzar's Feast.

****1

A Haydn rarity: L’anima del filosofo at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival

Laura Servidei, 27th May

The festival presents an illuminist take on the myth of Orpheus in a convincing concert performance of a rarely performed opera by Haydn.

****1

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Kevin Wells

Kevin Wells was bitten by the opera bug at 10, having heard a 1936 recording of Jussi Björling singing “Che gelida manina”. He has never been the same since. A student of voice, performance practice, the history of singing and opera, he holds advanced degrees in Italian and has lived and worked in Italy off and on since the 70s. La Scala became a second home as the Met had been during college daze. Now in his native Boston, he works as translator, tutor, and language coach, haunts Symphony Hall, and would haunt the Opera House had it not been demolished in 1958!