Fred Hersch isn’t a meditation guru. He’s a composer and jazz pianist.  But he does know something about that elusive goal of living in the moment. “If you think too far ahead you drop the ball. This is why tennis and jazz are very similar,” he says, in the documentary “The Lives of Fred Hersch.”  He continues, “you have to play what is in front of you and what appears, and react to it.” On Friday night he’ll...

“Tippett, openly gay at a time when homosexuality had not yet been decriminalized in England, understood what it was to stand apart from conventional society.” That’s a choice line from Steve Smith’s story for the Times, “Darkly Spiritual Challenge to Injustice,” about Tippett’s most famous work and it’s themes of justice and social change.  The piece will be performed in concert...

Close Encounters with Music, the chamber series in the Berkshires, is in the midst of its 20th anniversary season and has six more concerts between now and the early summer. The line-up of programs is typically thoughtful and varied with a healthy sampling of mainstream classics from the Romantic era performed by the ensemble members, plus a guest appearance by the fine young Dedaelus Quartet on May 19. There are also several...

Celebrations of the John Cage centennial begin in earnest at Juilliard with the annual Focus! festival dedicated to his music.  The six concerts, running January 27-February 3, are almost all-Cage.  The only exception is the January 30 event titled “Launching the Percussion Revolution” which includes Henry Cowell‘s Ostinato Pianissimo (1934) and Lou Harrison‘s Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra...

For the past two holiday seasons, fans of Broadway musicals have had special treats under the Christmas tree – the collected lyrics of Stephen Sondheim, issued in matching volumes during the past two autumns.  “Finishing A Hat” (volume 1) and “Look, I Made A Hat” (volume 2) are coffee table-size books that include not just the lyrics for legendary shows like “West Side Story,” “A Little Night Music” and...

A movement from David Del Tredici‘s four-movement piano work “Gotham Glory” (2004) performed by the composer. Today at South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, Mass. DDT’s String Quartet No. 2 has its debut with the Orion String Quartet. And here’s the composer’s notes on “Gotham Glory”: Having lived and loved in New York for more than 40 years, I thought it time to celebrate...

It’s amazing how Leon Botstein and Bard College’s SummerScape series keep coming up with “overlooked masterpieces” from the operatic repertoire.  At least that’s what the scholarly support materials tell us they are. The reality of what’s heard and seen on stage is often another matter. This year’s entry is “Die Liebe der Danae.” Richard Strauss’ second to last opera, it was completed in 1940 but only...

It was good to actually hear the Philadelphia Orchestra, rather than hear about the Philadelphia Orchestra. When it filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, the venerable institution became a sad symbol for the fragile state of the economy and the arts in general. Only the near demise of the New York City Opera — once an annual visitor to Saratoga — has been bigger news. Meanwhile the orchestra keeps playing and...

Most pianists who perform with singers don’t like to be thought of as playing second fiddle, so to speak.  That’s why there’s a growing trend to do away with the term “accompanist,” with its tag-along connotations, and instead call the folks at the keyboard “collaborators.” “That just drives me crazy,” says Craig Rutenberg. “It sounds like something you did when you were French and you worked with the...

Nico Muhly and Craig Lucas’ “Two Boys,” supposedly the first cyber age grand opera, debuted at the English National Opera on June 24. The reviews are mixed, but 29 year-old Nico continues to cast his spell, as the normally curmudgeonly Norman Lebrecth (“Who Killed Classical Music?”) raves that it’s the future of the art form. Below are some excepts and links to reviews plus trailers on...