The Scen3

A review by Marc Shulgold Heartfelt words of gratitude from the stage, warm waves of applause from a sizable audience – and, as usual, first-rate musicianship from first note to last. Those were the memories for those exiting the fourth and final concert in this year’s 41st Boulder Bach Festival, Sunday afternoon in First Congregational […]

A review by Marc Shulgold Oh, sure – J.S. Bach was there, represented by three marvelous chamber works. And there was music by his famous old friend Telemann. But so too were deserving pieces by four not-so-familiar names. As much as we revere Johann Sebastian, it’s a safe guess that he would have welcomed sharing […]

A review by Kelly Dean Hansen, Ph.D For much of its history, including the first years under music director Zachary Carrettin, the Boulder Bach Festival was a compressed event, with three or four concerts packed into a single week.  Carrettin, now in his ninth year with the BBF, expanded the festival’s calendar to make it […]

A review by Marc Shulgold The concert’s title alliteratively promised “Magnificent Magnificats,” and indeed, the Baroque ensemble Seicento delivered. To celebrate a decade of music-making, the group, led by artistic director Amanda Balestrieri, offered an intriguing triple-header of upbeat choral works, each built on the same joyful Latin text. Heard Sunday afternoon in Boulder’s First […]

Johann Sebastian Bach:  the music and the name are timeless, like a Gibraltar of great music.  Beethoven has myriad admirers, as does Mozart.  However, both masters studied JS Bach’s works, as have countless others since Bach’s time.  The man set such an unsurpassed standard of excellence that one hardly needs to specify which of many […]

Given the theme ‘Music of Springtime:’ many ensembles would choose Vivaldi.  Not the Colorado Chamber Players! Given the additional presence of ‘Wild Things,’ is there perhaps also The Rite of Spring?  Not in a chamber music concert, though the CCP did invite bassoonist Josh Baker to remind listeners of that infamous ballet’s opening theme.  In […]

Preview article by Betsy Schwarm   The viola d’amore may be the white tiger of the fine music world: remarkably beautiful, but startlingly rare. Even those who are well familiar with the standard variety may have never seen and heard one in person – let alone two of them at once. That one of those […]

A review by Marc Shulgold  A list of Greatest Hits from the Baroque would be incomplete without Vivaldi’s tuneful “Four Seasons” and Bach’s brilliant “Brandenburg” Concertos. It’s not unusual to see the Italian composer’s quartet of violin concertos served up on a concert program. But an evening devoted to all of Bach’s glorious “Brandenburgs” is […]

A preview by Marc Shulgold  Maybe Frank Nowell’s Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado should work out an arrangement of the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere.” That tune pretty much describes where the group will perform during its 12th season, which kicks off on October 13-15, 2017. A quick glance at the line-up reveals 16 concerts […]

A preview by Barbara Hamilton A 33-year old man emerged from the shadows, paper in hand. His hands shaking, he nailed the manuscript with 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. Martin Luther’s revolutionary acts of insubordination and protest against the Catholic Church had just begun. All over the world, choral groups are […]