An outstanding New York debut for Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna

By Edward Sava-Segal, 24 November 2019

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“stood and swayed... like a flock of monks at their matins prayers”

Reviewed at The Shed, New York City on 21 November 2019

Verdi, Messa da Requiem

Zarina Abaeva, Soprano

Clémentine Margaine, Mezzo-soprano

René Barbera, Tenor

Evgeny Stavinsky, Bass

musicAeterna Choir

musicAeterna

Teodor Currentzis, Conductor

A hole in the heart: Salzburg Festival’s new Don Giovanni

Hugo Shirley, 4th August

The pairing of controversial director and bad-boy conductor brings some thrills but the Salzburg Festival's new Don Giovanni proves disappointingly uninvolving.

***11

An online Beethovenathon: all nine symphonies across Europe in one day

Alexander Hall, 6th June

An all-day Beethoven experience European style with both highs and lows: much diversity revealed and exploited but of variable quality.

***11

An evangelical happening in Aix

Mark Valencia, 14th April

The musicians of MusicAeterna were impassioned, engaged and energised into a single force in this performance of Verdi's Requiem at the Aix Easter Festival.

****1

Cool brilliance: Currentzis conducts Mahler at the Philharmonie

Hugo Shirley, 5th December

Theodor Currentzis and his musicAeterna bring blistering detail and revelatory playing to Wunderhorn-period Mahler, but it ultimately proves short on warmth.

****1

Electrifying Beethoven from Currentzis and musicAeterna

Mark Pullinger, 28th July

The Greek conductor and his hand-picked Russian orchestra offer high-voltage Beethoven that crackles.

*****

A beautiful but infuriating Clemenza in Amsterdam

Nicolas Nguyen, 7th May

The transfer of last year's Clemenza di Tito from Salzburg delights and irritates in equal measure.

***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.

An outstanding New York debut: Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna in Verdi’s Requiem