Showing posts with label zachary woolfe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zachary woolfe. Show all posts

Thursday, August 18, 2011

NY Times' Zachary Woolfe: "What is Charisma?"

Dmitri Hvorostovsky
In yesterday's New York Times, Zachary Woolfe asked the question "What is charisma? A gift from the musical gods." He mentions many of the great sopranos of recent times, including Maria Callas, Renata Scotto, Natalie Dessay and Catherine Malfitano. The one barihunk who is mentioned is the indisputably charismatic Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Read the article and post a comment letting us know who else in the world of opera you find charismatic.

Russian composer Igor Krutoy and Dmitri Hvorostovsky collaborated on the video "Toi et Moi":



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Friday, July 1, 2011

NY Times Praises "Two Boys"

Jonathan McGovern
Zachary Woolfe has written a review for the New York Times about "Two Boys," which we recently featured. It's nice to see a reviewer not write a "Broadway review" and actually talk about the music and not just the production values and direction. Woolfe's review is important, as the opera is slated to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2013-14 season. Here is a highlight:
Without using electronic instruments, Mr. Muhly has created a world immersed in technology; his sound palette is Britten, not “Tron.” There are softly chiming gongs and ethereal winds, lyrical and sinuous strings and sympathetic, Romantic orchestral surges. The second act starts with an eerie, suspended calm punctured by string flourishes that develop into something almost folksy. There are foreboding minor-key arpeggios throughout, but Mr. Muhly ventures far beyond stock Minimalism. He even creates a new setting for part of the Anglican service; the sound of church music, dense yet floating, permeates the opera.

Indeed, the choral writing is the work’s most successful element.

You can read Zachary Woolfe's entire review in the NY Times HERE.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com