Carmel Bach Festival Chamber Concert: Birth of the Italian Baroque

by Heidi Van der Veer
July 25, 2017

Dongsok Shin, Estelí Gomez, Daniel Swenberg, Molly Quin,

Dominic Teresi, Adriane Post, Johanna Novom

The “­Birth of the Italian Baroque” Chamber Concert on Wednesday, July 19, at All Saints Church in Carmel, was an ingenious programming of six Monteverdi vocal pieces interspersed with six Italian early baroque instrumental pieces by other composers. From start to finish, this was a first-rate program. There was something about this concert, above and beyond, that hit all the benchmarks of cohesive musical programming and execution. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Chamber music

Deutsche Marks — German Virtuosity at Menlo

by Dr. Gary Lemco
July 23, 2017

The Saturday July 22 Concert Program III at [email protected], “German Virtuosity,” transported the Italian violin tradition from Cremona northward, as deftly demonstrated in five elegantly performed works at the Menlo-Atherton’s Center for Performing Arts. Works by Rode, Beethoven, Spohr, David, and Mendelssohn graced a felicitous program that took Beethoven’s last sonata as a point of departure for the violin’s emergence into a burgeoning Romantic tradition in which the instrument would soar in expressive range and scale. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Chamber music, Classical Era, Romantic Era

Carmel Bach Festival Family Concert – July 22

by MaryClare Martin
July 23, 2017

The fourth of the continuing series of stories involving the young boy Leonard and his stuffed horse Rasmus came to life Saturday morning at 11:00 at Sunset Center in Carmel. Understanding that Rasmus is pure magic appeals to the youngsters in the audience as well as the adults. This marvelous creation comes from Suzanne Mudge, Tower Music Director and since 2015, Director of Community Engagement at the Carmel Bach Festival. Other adventures have gone round the world to nine countries, underwater, and solving a Carmel mystery celebrating 100 years of the town. Of course, each story line is not only delightfully entertaining, but has accompanying music provided by festival instrumentalists. The “boy” is none other than Paul Goodwin enchanting the audience with his sense of playfulness and shocking orange hair. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Carmel Bach Festival, Youth

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Ends CBF First Week

by Lyn Bronson
July 22, 2017

The first week of Carmel Bach Festival 2017 ended not with a whimper, but with a bang, and quite a big bang at that. With three masterpieces on the program and seemingly a cast of thousands on stage, we were hearing the Carmel Bach Festival at its best.

In the pre-concert lecture David Gordon described the circumstances of the premier of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on May 7, 1824. It was by any standard a near disaster — hastily thrown together, under rehearsed and a bitter experience for Beethoven, not only because of his deafness, but also as a drain on his finances at a time in his life when he was most vulnerable. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Carmel Bach Festival, Choral, Classical Era, Orchestral

“Folk and Barolk” — An Experience of Joy, Beauty and Energy.

by Beverly Dekker-Davidson
July 21, 2017

This was an evening of Irish folk music seamlessly woven in with works by J.S. Bach, Torelli, and ultimately, Vivaldi. We heard lush orchestral performances as well as brilliant individual virtuosity in instrumental and vocal music. Let me state up front that I am a huge fan of violinist Edwin Huizinga and guitarist Coulter. I discovered I was not alone, for Sunset Theater was filled with adoring fans on Thursday night for good reason. As expected, Huizinga and Coulter performed brilliantly together, and they were matched by fine performances from soprano, Molly Quinn. Filling out the ensemble were a group of highly skilled musicians including violinists, Johanna Novom, Adrienne Post, and Joseph Tan; Violists Sarah Darling and Kyle Miller; cellist, Ezra Seltzer, bassist Jordan Frazier, Harpsichordist Dongsok Shin and flutist Rachel Carlson. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: 20th Century, Carmel Music Society, Chamber music