James Levine’s wand still works its magic

By Edward Sava-Segal, 22 March 2016

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Reviewed at Carnegie Hall: Weill, New York City on 20 March 2016

Schoenberg, Serenade, Op.24

Mozart, Serenade no. 10 in B flat major for Winds, “Gran Partita”, K361 (K370a)

MET Chamber Ensemble

James Levine, Conductor

Brandon Cedel, Bass-baritone

From the sublime to gobbling turkeys!

Rebecca Lentjes, 8th March

James Levine led the MET Chamber Ensemble through a remarkable performance of Carter's The American Sublime, whose scattered yet distinct clouds of sound evoked the warmth, irony, and philosophical musings of the texts.

***11

Metropolitan Opera pays tribute to Hvorostovsky

Ako Imamura, 24th November

The Met Opera's concert performance of Verdi's Requiem was an emotional tribute to Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

***11

What the conductor tells me: impeccably controlled Mahler

Hugo Shirley, 31st October

James Levine brings masterful control to Mahler with the Staatskapelle in the Philharmonie.

****1

Flute still mesmerizing at The Met

Edward Sava-Segal, 10th October

The musical experience was dominated by the imagery making spectators feel, at least at times, overwhelmed.

****1

A Rosenkavalier for the radio

Robert Levine, 17th April

There are several things wrong with the new Robert Carsen directed Der Rosenkavalier that just opened at the Met, but the singing is not among them.

***11

Orchestra shines in uneven Idomeneo at the Met

Ako Imamura, 6th March

Mozart's Idomeneo proved to be a challenge for some of the soloists initially but the superb orchestra under James Levine brought about a successful opening evening at the Met.

***11

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.