Susan Hall
Bio:
Recent Articles:
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Russian National Orchestra at Carnegie Hall Front Page
Stefan Jackiw Captivates in Prokofiev
By: - Mar 03rd, 2016Pianists approach simple, lyrical music with a delicate touch, and the prize-winning Russian pianist, Mikhail Pletnev, now a conductor, approached his orchestra in just this spirit. Borodin’s short tone poem, In the Steppes of Central Asia, was lush and yet simple, bringing forth lovely melodies, among them ‘Stranger in Paradise,” which we know well from Kismet.
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NY Theatre Ballet's Legends and Visionaries Front Page
Steven Melendez Shines as Dancer and Choreographer
By: - Feb 29th, 2016Chamber Ballet charms as New York Theatre Ballet performs classic works and the very latest choreography. The strong and stylish presentation of the dancers is a pleasure to watch.
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Trevor Nunn Directs Pericles at Polonsky Front Page
Storytelling Reaches New Heights at Theatre for a New Audience
By: - Feb 27th, 2016Pericles marked a turning point in Shakespeare's career. Director Trevor Nunn has anchored the many strands of the play in a giant orb, in the storyteller Gower and in the music of the Pigpen Theatre. The many strands of a play, difficult to weave into one satisfying piece, are brought together brilliantly in the Polonsky Shakespeare Center of the Theatre for a New Audience.
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Denver Playwright Summit Part II Front Page
Measuring Degrees of Change
By: - Feb 24th, 2016A Greenland research project measuring climate change, perhaps caused by Shakespeare's death, and the passage of time when beloved possessions no longer work. These are all the subjects of wonderful plays in development in Denver. After years of work, Theresa Rebeck got her play The Nest ready for its well-received premier.
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Forest Whitaker Charms in O'Neill's Hughie Front Page
The Life-Sustaining Power of Performance as Mourning Becomes Morning
By: - Feb 23rd, 2016Erie Smith in Eugene O'Neill's Hughie is often played for the dark side of a fleabag world of dawls and bangtails. Chuckles erupt as a funny story is woven yet submerged. Forest Whitaker in his Broadway debut creates an incredible lightness of being in the dark night of an off-Broadway flop house.
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Denver Playwriting Summit Part I Front Page
Readings, Full Productions, Playwrights at Work
By: - Feb 22nd, 2016Readings, full productions, theatre has been key to Denver since Henry Lowenstein arrived to work for the Bonfilses. For the past 11 years Denver has put on a playwriting summit, celebrating theatre and bringing forward talent waiting to hit the main stage.
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The Cleveland Orchestra Graces Carnegie Hall Front Page
Mitsuko Uchida Plays and Leads
By: - Feb 15th, 2016Mitsuko Uchida plays and conducts Mozart with the Cleveland Symphony. Will she continue in a new career as a conductor? In Munich, the Bayerische State Opera is often conducted by Oksana Lyniv. Gemma New is at the New Jersey Symphony, and Mirga Gražinyt-Tyla is the new music director of the Birmingham Symphony. Women are coming to the podium.
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What's New at the Metropolitan Opera Front Page
Sondra Radvanovky Crowned Queen of Opera
By: - Feb 08th, 2016It seems just yesterday that Placido Domingo marched into General Manager Peter Gelb’s office and told him that he must keep the great soprano Sondra Radvanovsky on the Metropolitan Opera roster. Gelb could not say no. And so we have this season Donizetti’s Queens with Radvanovsky singing Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Elizabeth.
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A Very Hungry Caterpillar on Broadway Front Page
Berkshire's Eric Carle's Stories and Art Live
By: - Feb 07th, 2016Puppets in the collage-inspired work of Eric Carle engage in story-telling on Broadway. Three actors tell four of Carle's stories in the magical tones of familiar classics, the audience is incanting phrases like, "but he was still hungry." The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Art and its literacy programs in Amherst benefit from this production of Jonathan Rockefeller's charming puppetry.
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Orpheus at Carnegie Hall Front Page
Pianist Buniatishvili Makes Mozart an Erotic Experience
By: - Jan 31st, 2016Orpheus’ performers clearly come to an agreement before they come onto stage, leaderless. This form gives the music a chance to implode and explode in the hands of gifted individuals coming together.
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Irish Repertory Theatre Presents The Burial at Thebes Front Page
Seamus Heaney's Poetry a Triumph
By: - Jan 28th, 2016Charlotte Moore has directed The Burial at Thebes to make it not only timely, but even more important, present. Each character is etched individually and then brought together with loved ones and adversaries, incidental characters and crucial ones. The chorus has disappeared, its lines and messages now humanized in individuals. This tale is about people and the gods are hardly considered.
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Jaap Van Zweden New Music Director of the NY Phil Front Page
An Electrifying Conductor Arrives
By: - Jan 27th, 2016On January 27, 2016, New York Philharmonic Chairman Oscar S. Schafer and President Matthew VanBesien announced that conductor Jaap van Zweden will become the Orchestra’s next Music Director, beginning in 2018–19. It will be the orchestra’s 177th season. Mr. van Zweden will serve as Music Director Designate in the 2017–18 season.
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Stephanie Blythe: Sing America! Front Page
Carnegie Hall Hosts Amateur Singers Braving a Blizzard
By: - Jan 24th, 2016The human voice is an instrument we all carry. Fewer than five percent of people are tone deaf and some experts consider the condition correctable. We all can experience the joy of singing together. Live singing is like nothing else under the sun. Stephanie Blythe makes the case with joy and conviction at a Carnegie Hall concert.
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Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues Front Page
Master Class at the Weill Recital Hall
By: - Jan 23rd, 2016Marilyn Horne is a wonderful, detailed teacher and it is a privilege to be in her presence. Clearly the singers in her master class were able to incorporate her apt suggestions. Is revelation the reason audiences respond to a great master class? With Horne, the answer is yes.
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Welser-Möst Conducts Cleveland Orchestra Front Page
Pain and Joy at Carnegie Hall
By: - Jan 18th, 2016The Cleveland Orchestra shone in the new and the recent as they gave bells and chimes to Ophelia's descent to madness and drummed up Shostakovich's fury at Stalin's regime.
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Poppea is Crowned in Germany Front Page
Delightful Opera as Monteverdi is Staged
By: - Jan 15th, 2016How do smaller houses solve budget issues? Imaginatively in Pforzheim. The curtain which at first appears to be a rich taffeta, drawn back with ropes, decorated with ribbons and bows is painted on a moveable backdrop. Regal is presented with non-imperial efficiency. The costumes, when they are worn, are delightful. Arnalta looks a bit like a nun in stark black in white, in contrast to the brilliant orange feathers of Ottavia. When she ascends with her mistress at the opera’s end, she strips and dresses as the lady-in-waiting of the Empress. This strip is a fun and amusing touch.
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Die Fledermaus at the Bavarian State Opera Front Page
Frothy, Beautiful Strauss in High Spirits
By: - Jan 11th, 2016Opera is so engaging when it is done with perfect casting, conducting, and singing. The opera in Munich is sold out every night. No audience problems when the productions are first-rate. It is hard to believe that Strauss resisted opera until his wife and a Viennese theatre director conspired to set some of his music as songs. Strauss himself was bowled over. Fledermaus is his third operetta. Fledermaus tempts the listener with sweet melody, bouncy rhythms, and thrilling scoring. The music hints at the mistaken identity, gala ball, and humorous plot twists that are to come.
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Mother Courage Produced in Germany Front Page
Brecht's Epic Timely as Ever
By: - Jan 05th, 2016In this powerful current production of the play at the State Theatre in Pforzheim, Germany, the artists have taken the liberty of adding lines to Brecht’s. It makes the play more of the moment. It also illustrates how Brecht, often called an epic playwright, is also a playwright for all time. The Volkswagen emissions scandal is hurled at us. Mrs. Merkel’s constant assurance that “We can manage,” is suggested at moments when it is clear not no one on stage or in the audience can. When Mother’s Courage’s daughter is raped, she says, “All you have to do to get raped is go to Cologne.” Less than a week ago, a very large group of young male immigrants attacked and raped women in Cologne, Germany.
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The Golden Bride by National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Front Page
Museum of Jewish Heritage Hosts Opera
By: - Dec 27th, 2015Inspired immigrants, excited by their new land and still carrying a touch of the old with them, created works for the Second Avenue Theatre early in the 20th century. The joy of the forms they created lives on today, in the original works and the work they inspired in the Broadway musical theatre.
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A Christmas Journey Near Carnegie Hall Front Page
Holidays at the Rosens
By: - Dec 24th, 2015Joe Rosen celebrated the season with a holiday concert that took us around the world of music, in time, and place and style. Aram Katchaturian’s Trio was a highlight of the concert. The virtuosity of each instrumentalists was on display. The moods of the movements drastically changed, marking gypsy tones and mournful joy.
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Evgeny Kissin at Carnegie Hall Front Page
Daring Interpretations of Music and Poetry
By: - Dec 17th, 2015Evgeny Kissin dares us to share his adventurous take on life, music and poetry. At Carnegie Hall in an evening of Jewish music and poetry, he was full of passion and mournful joy.
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New York Philharmonic Entices the Young Front Page
Prokovief, Rafael Mostel and Richard Strauss
By: - Dec 14th, 2015You would never know that symphony orchestras had problems reaching a younger audience. Geffen Hall in New York was packed with young people eager to listen and offer their opinions on characters, stories and their expression in music. Theodore Wiprud, the NY Phil's Vice President for Education, was master of ceremonies. Peter, the Wolf, Babar and Celeste and the impish Till Eulenspiegel were a delight.
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Dangerous Liaisons at Manhattan School of Music Front Page
Fresh, Impeccable Opera of Classic Story
By: - Dec 10th, 2015Why has Dangerous Liaisons been translated onto the stage and into three movies, including films by Milos Forman and Roger Vadim? Because it's the stuff of which great art can be made. Playing the game of life (and money) is something Wall Street understands well. We can benefit from watching it spin out. But there are no metaphors in the luurious period costumes. The opera by Conrad Susa with text by Philip Littell is an enticing guide.
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Diana Damrau at Carnegie Hall Front Page
A Range of Dramatic Power and Grace
By: - Dec 06th, 2015Diana Damrau attends every detail of her performance. A gifted programmer, she started small and moving, with a Schubert song and ended vamping Dvorak.
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Norma by Bellini Ignites LA Opera Front Page
Angela Meade and Jamie Barton, Luxury Casting
By: - Dec 01st, 2015Bellini died young, but like Mozart and Schubert, will never be forgotten. Norma is the all-time great Bellini opera. In the age of Lena Dunham, it comes as a shock that women in antiquity could choose friendship over boyfriends. Even the Roman consul is shocked when one of his lovers upends him. For great singing, rush to the LA Opera's Norma.
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