Arts Desk

June 11, 2018. If you attended The Philadelphia Orchestra’s performances of Bernstein’s Mass three years ago you get another chance to hear (and own) this magnum opus. It's captured on Mass—The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a new release from Deutsche Grammophon.

TEL AVIV. Israelis aren’t known for ovations at orchestra concerts. Rhythmic clapping is usually as close as audiences come, and the Philadelphia Orchestra received that plus an extremely rare standing ovation at Charles Bronfman Auditorium following Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 on Monday, June 4th.

June 4, 2018. It’s been quite a few years since a noteworthy jazz release included narration and movements to tell a historical story. The last one I can remember was Irvin Mayfield’s 2004 album Strange Fruit. Now, pianist and composer, and Temple University professor, Elio Villafranca has stepped up to the plate and released Cinque—the culmination of years of composing and traveling. 

June 4, 2018. Here’s an unusual pairing: Piano works by Philip Glass and J.S. Bach, played by pianist Simone Dinnerstein, with performances by the Boston-based string orchestra, A Far Cry.  Dinnerstein’s new release Circles is a circuit of virtuosity.

HAIFA, Israel. As the unofficial cease-fire between Israel and Hamas showed signs of unraveling Sunday, the Philadelphia Orchestra played the first of three concerts on the Israel leg of its 2018 tour, in Haifa, a sunny mountainside city of nearly 300,000, the population a mix of Arabs and Jews.