Tunes for the Moon at Vermont's Yellow Barn

By Kurt Gottschalk, 22 July 2019

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“the alien soundscapes were delivered by musicians almost incidental to the cosmos of sound”

Reviewed at YellowBarn, Putney on 20 July 2019

Birtwistle, Crescent Moon over the Irrational

Schoenberg, Pierrot lunaire

Haydn, Il mondo della luna: Ecco qui buonafede nel mondo della luna

Galuppi, Il mondo della luna: A quelle luci amate

Crumb, Makrokosmos (Volume II)

The Beatles, Across the Universe

Lucy Shelton, Soprano

Benjamin Butterfield, Tenor

William Sharp, Baritone

Rosie Gallagher, Flute

Yasmina Spiegelberg, Clarinet

Noël Wan, Harp

Anthony Marwood, Violin

SoYoung Choi, Violin

Maria Lambros, Viola

John Myerscough, Cello

Mélanie Clapiès, Viola

Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Cello

Seth Knopp, Piano

Alice Chenyang Xu, Piano

In rural New England, music from three centuries played with aplomb

Kurt Gottschalk, 19th July

Smalltown Vermont is not to be second-guessed in Yellow Barn's top-rate program of Bach, Fauré, Hans Werner Henze and Kalevi Aho.

****1

A smorgasbord of seasonal English music in Washington DC

Cristina Burack, 22nd December

The early music ensemble peppered its diverse program with the rollicking play A Christmas Messe. While not all arrangements worked well, expertise and emotion made for a pleasurably unique performance.

***11

Opera Lafayette revives an 18th-century comic gem

Zerbinetta, 26th January

Opera Lafayette has uncovered a fascinating work in their revival of Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny’s 1762 comic opera Le roi et le fermier (The King and the Farmer). The Washington, D.C.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Urgent and intense: Innocence opens at the Royal Opera House

Mark Valencia, 17th April

Kaija Saariaho's opera – staged by Simon Stone and the hit of the 2021 Aix-en-Provence Festival – makes its UK debut.

****1

Innocence à Aix-en-Provence : Saariaho cultive le secret

Romain Daroles, 6th July

La nouvelle création de Kaija Saariaho est une grande œuvre musicale mal servie cependant par une mise en scène façon Netflix de Simon Stone.

***11

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Kurt Gottschalk

Kurt Gottschalk is a journalist and author based in New York City. His writings on contemporary and classical music, jazz and improvisation have been published in outlets throughout Europe and America and he has two volumes of short fiction to his name. He produced and hosted the Miniature Minotaurs radio programme on WFMU and currently hosts Afternoon New Music on WKCR.

Tunes for the Moon from Haydn, Schoenberg, Birtwistle and the Beatles at Vermont's Yellow Barn