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La Scena Online is the digital magazine of La Scene Musicale.Contents: News, Concert reviews, CD reviews, Interviews, Obituaries, etc; Editor: Wah Keung Chan; Assistant Editor: Andreanne Venne
ISSN: 1206-9973

Four Competitors Reach Seniors Section Finals at Menuhin Competition Austin 2014

By Paul E. Robinson on 28 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Strings

by Paul E. RobinsonSenior Finalists in Menuhin Competition Austin 2014(Left to right): In Mo Yang (18, Korean); Stephen Kim (18, American); Stephen Waarts (17, American/Dutch); Christine Seohyun Lim (19, American/Korean)The excitement is mounting as the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014 heads towards the finish line. In the senior division (16-21 years old) nine young violinists competed yesterday in the semi-finals; each one performed brilliantly, but by late in the evening only four remained in the hunt for prizes.In these semi-finals each performer was required to take the first violinist’s chair in the Miró Quartet and lead several movements of a Haydn quartet. Then followed…

A Monumental Verdi Requiem from Jaap van Zweden and the Dallas Symphony!

By Paul E. Robinson on 27 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral

by Paul E. RobinsonVerdi: Messa da RequiemHui He, sopranoMarianne Cornetti, mezzo-sopranoGiorgio Berrugi, tenorAin Anger, bassDallas Symphony Chorus and Orchestra/Jaap van ZwedenMeyerson Symphony CenterDallas, TexasSunday, February 23, 2014It wasn’t the first time that Jaap van Zweden had conducted Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Dallas, it hopefully won’t be the last, and it was memorable in all the right ways. The climaxes were stupendous, the quiet moments were ethereal, and the entire work held together as a deeply-felt lament for the dead.Giuseppe VerdiThe Verdi Requiem is a theatrical piece in the sense that Verdi was primarily an opera composer. He didn’t write…

Menuhin Competition Austin 2014: Jury Members Dazzle in Performance!

By Paul E. Robinson on 26 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Piano, Violin

by Paul E. Robinson Mozart: Sonata for Piano and Violin in G major K. 301Kreisler: La Gitane/Londonderry Air/Tambourin ChinoisJoji Hattori, violin/Gordon Back, pianoPiazzola: Historie du Tango and Café Joji Hattori, violin/Adam Holzman, guitarGang Chen: Sunshine in TasikuerganSaint-Saëns: Sonata for Violin and Piano Op. 75Lu Siqing, violin/Anton Nel, pianoBates Recital Hall/Butler School of MusicUniversity of TexasAustin, TexasMonday, February 24, 2014One of the many benefits of having a major music competition in town is the opportunity to hear performances by some of the jury members. In the case of the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014, these included Joji Hattori and Lu Siqing, surely two…

Video of the Day – Menuhin Competition Austin 2014

By Paul E. Robinson on 24 February 2014 Video of the day, Violin

For the first time ever the Menuhin Violin Competition is being held this year in the United States. The current competition began last Friday in Austin, Texas and continues until Sunday, March 2. Forty-two young violinists from all over the world are competing for prizes and a chance to appear with the Cleveland Orchestra in the closing gala concert. I’ll be blogging from the competition every few days. The first blog about the opening concert has already been posted on the LSM website.Yehudi Menuhin (1916- 1999 ) was one of the great violinists of his time. At the age of eleven he…

Menuhin Competition Austin 2014 Opens with UT Symphony Concert

By Paul E. Robinson on 23 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Violin

by Paul E. RobinsonBerlioz: Roman Carnival OvertureMendelssohn: Concerto for Piano and Violin in d minorIlya Gringolts, violin/Anton Nel, pianoWaxman: Carmen FantasyKevin Zhu, violinSchwantner: Someday MemoriesDutilleux: Sur le même accordOlivier Charlier, violinStravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)The University of Texas (UT) Symphony OrchestraGerhardt Zimmermann, conductorLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TexasFriday, February 21, 2014I guess it’s fate that a mere conductor in a violin competition should have his name left off the program; sad to say, that was indeed the case for Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann at the Opening Concert of the Menuhin Competition Austin 2014. But it wasn’t quite as bad as all…

Video of the Day – Sid Caesar (1922-2014): In Memoriam

By Paul E. Robinson on 14 February 2014 Classical, Video of the day

Like so many kids growing up in North America in the 1950s, my life was hugely enriched by Sid Caesar’s comedy on television. He was a genius at what he did, and in my book there is greater gift than being able to make people laugh. Sid Caesar had a remarkable gift for sketch comedy, the kind of thing we celebrate today on “Saturday Night Live.” While we are at it, let’s not forget the contribution to this genre made by so many Canadian comic actors on SCTV. Caesar had a Chaplinesque talent for physical comedy. He had a rubber face,…

Bay/ASO and Jonathan Biss: Under the Influence

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Orchestral, Piano, Romantic, Violin

by Paul E. RobinsonVaughan Williams: The Lark AscendingSchumann: Piano Concerto in a minor Op. 54Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major Op. 73Jessica Mathaes, violinJonathan Biss, pianoAustin Symphony Orchestra/Peter BayLong Center for the Performing ArtsAustin, TXFebruary 8, 2014I have been spending a lot of time lately with Jonathan Biss – not the man himself, but his website. Mr. Biss is a 33-year-old American pianist of great distinction who also writes well about music. Biss has been particularly eloquent on the subjects of Beethoven and Schumann. He is recording all the Beethoven sonatas and has written a book (Beethoven’s Shadow) about…

Uniworld River Cruise: Unexpected “European Jewels”

By Paul E. Robinson on 12 February 2014 Concert Reviews, Opera, Orchestral, Romantic

by Paul E. RobinsonCLASSICAL TRAVELSRiver Cruise along the Main, the Rhine and the DanubeAugust 2013This past August, Marita and I thoroughly enjoyed the “European Jewels” Uniworld River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. We were not expecting a concentration of musical events on this excursion; rather, we thought it would give us a view of Europe from a new perspective (i.e., docking within walking distance of towns and cities) – and it did, but to our delight, there was glorious music on this cruise as well, often in unexpected places. Up until about 20 years ago, this particular river cruise would not…

Video of the Day – Maria Schneider Wins Grammy

By Paul E. Robinson on 8 February 2014 Mainstream Jazz, Video of the day

She is known mainly as a jazz composer and bandleader but she walked away with the Grammy in the category “Best Contemporary Classical Composition.” Her name is Maria Schneider and she hails from Minnesota. And she is not to be confused with the actress of the same name who was Marlon Brando’s love interest in “Last Tango in Paris.”Is Maria Schneider a “classical” composer? Perhaps the genre titles don’t mean much. There is good music and there is bad music. Maria Schneider has spent most of her life in jazz and in jazz ensembles but she composes music that is…

Video of the Day – Bamberg Symphony New Year’s Concerts – On Two Continents!

By Paul E. Robinson on 2 February 2014 Orchestral, Video of the day

It is a sign of the times that symphony orchestras are seeking new audiences as never before – and finding them. Each year the great Cleveland Orchestra plays fewer concerts at home in Cleveland and more in places such as Miami, Vienna and Lucerne. In early March it will take part in the Menuhin Competition in Austin, Texas. The Philadelphia Orchestra is developing a residency in Beijing, and the New York Philharmonic a permanent presence in Shanghai.What these new patterns have in common is a need for the orchestras involved to serve more people and balance their budgets. But it is significant…

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