http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/articles.sec-30-1-classical-music-dance.html Concert programming can be mysterious business. On paper last weekend’s Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert appeared to be a hodgepodge mix of American music. In practice it turned out to be an emotional rollercoaster with satisfying, accumulative effect. Aaron Copland’s El Salón México paints a wonderfully colorful picture of a Mexico City dance hall visited by the composer. My guess is that there was limited...]]> When listening to classical music, acoustics and where you sit in the hall are almost as important as the performance itself. At the Sunday afternoon Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert I was seated in row J on the main floor, about eight or nine rows closer than my regular seats. That doesn’t seem like much, but the difference was enormous. Further back in the hall the sound...]]> When commissioned by the eminent conductor Walter Damrosch for a new orchestral work for his New York Philharmonic, little did composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) know that he would produce one of the most endearing...]]> Shortly after 1800, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) told a friend he would soon “pursue a new path” in music. Heretofore his output—though quite distinctly his own—was clearly indebted to the Haydn-Mozart tradition. As great as Beethoven’s early works...]]> The Danceworks Performance Company’s enjoyable new show “Lights, DPC…Action!,” playing through March 7 at Danceworks Studio Theatre, is such a work of love...]]> About 10 years ago I wrote that Nicholas McGegan should narrate a PBS series on classical music. His witty remarks...]]> A year and a half since its acquisition, the new Steinway piano at Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has quickly become a welcome friend. I was again reminded of the instrument’s quality of sound and touch in John Lill’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s...]]> When you see that Nicholas McGegan is the guest conductor of a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert, you can expect that the Baroque-through...]]> As is often the case with Present Music, the well-attended concert on Saturday night at Turner Hall Ballroom was a mixed bag, roaming from contemporary chamber works to...]]> Distinguished opera composer Dominick Argento once said to me, “The characters in The Marriage of Figaro are so rich, in both text and music, that I know them better than I know my own family.” There are plenty of reasons to see the new production of Mozart’s opera (sung in English) at Skylight Opera Theatre. Bill Theisen’s direction keeps the characters clear and the complex story moving forward...]]> Out of necessity and limited resources true creation can emerge. Witness the case of a young Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) who had but two violinists, a violist and cellist at hand to fulfill the desire of a royal patron for new music. Haydn essentially became the founder of the string quartet—one of the fundamental genres of Classical Music...]]> As a creative artist, Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) was perhaps the most accomplished of the late-19th-century Russian nationalist composers; his remarkable gifts were evident in nearly every work he wrote. Alas, there aren’t very many, for composing was always merely his part-time job. Indeed, it often took years for works to be finished...]]> The effect of location on a composer’s works cannot often be overstated. Witness the output of late-Renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1553-1612), who succeeded his uncle (and fellow composer) Andrea Gabrieli as music director of Venice’s St. Mark Cathedral in 1586. Therein, he purposely...]]> The dark, cold winter has always been a good time for listening to substantial music, such as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert heard last Saturday night. Johannes Moser...]]> The works on the upcoming Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert all stem from the tumultuous 20th century, descending back in time as the program progresses. In 1991, Scottish composer James MacMillan (b. 1959) composed his...]]>