By Charles Michener 8/16/04 12:00am

Rich Operatic Discoveries Unearthed Around N.Y. State

The motley landscape of opera is busy with the sound of digging. Diligent operagoers can scarcely keep up with all the finds that clamor for their attention-the unknown gem from a tunesmith who is suddenly revealed to have been more than a poor shadow of Mozart; a onetime flop that, upon belated revival, turns out Read More

By Charles Michener 6/08/98 12:00am

In Search of Symphonic Joy: Rattle Gives It Up, Masur Doesn’t

Why have I-and so many of my musical friends-stopped going regularly to symphony concerts, preferring opera, chamber music, or recitals to what used to be the most commanding of classical attractions? One explanation was offered a number of years ago by Leonard Bernstein, who remarked that the symphony had ceased to dominate orchestral writing because Read More