Spoleto 2011
A Chat with Cellist Alisa Weilerstein
OVER THE PAST EIGHT FESTIVALS, the Spoleto chamber music series’ distinguished cellist, Alisa Weilerstein, has emerged as an artist that I’ve described as a true “Spoleto darling.” That came as a result of both the superb technical qualities and the emotionally overwhelming nature of her playing—as well as the public’s inevitable reaction to it.... Read »
Nuttall Concludes Chamber Series with Finesse
HARD TO BELIEVE, isn’t it, that on Sunday afternoon Director of Chamber Music Geoff Nuttall strode onto the Dock Street Theatre stage for the last time of this 35th season of Spoleto USA. Getting down to business first, Nuttall offered the full house an apt description of Niccolo Paganini, whose famed “Moses Phantasy” Variations... Read »
Final Dance at Noon by Annex Dance Company
THE FINAL DANCE AT NOON—before Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto slip through our fingers—was performed by Charleston’s newest modern dance company, Annex Dance Company, in a concert entitled Encounter which used 9 dancers and a collection of music as well as spoken poetry in a well balanced and intriguing hour-long work. The theme of the... Read »
Artistic Collaborations
THE WORD DANCE THEATRE’s original production of Preludes: Duncan, Sand & Chopin is based on the love affair between one of the leading French Romantic female writers and the French composer, Frederic Chopin. The other part of the story is how Chopin’s 24 Preludes were interpreted by Isadora Duncan, the mother of modern dance... Read »
Ivey’s Dance at Noon
OVER THE PAST MANY YEARS, whenever I see the Robert Ivey Ballet Theatre perform, I am always struck by the vibrant young dancers with commitment in their eyes and love for their art form apparent in their energy-fueled dancing. At the end of the Dance at Noon concert performed on Friday at the Footlight... Read »
Manzo Amazes on Double-Bass
WHILE WE DO NOT get a whole lot of music at the Bank of America Chamber Music Series that host Geoff Nuttall describes as “wild and crazy,” those were in fact his first words at Chamber X Friday afternoon for the second performance that day of a program beginning with Louise Farrenc’s Piano Quintet... Read »
A Pure, Shining Talent
THE QUIRKY HUMOR of host, violinist, and director for Chamber Music Geoff Nuttall adds immeasurably to the enjoyment of the audiences at the twice-daily series of presentations at the Dock Street Theatre. In the stellar musicians’ third foray into Mozart, Handel, and Russian composer Anton Arensky Thursday afternoon, he had lots to say, but... Read »
Oliver Reels in “East 10th Street” Audience
SINCE ITS INCEPTION, but especially over the past several years, Spoleto USA has brought us a series of one-man shows ranging from artsy, hilarious, intriguing, even breathtaking, to downright dreadful. Performer and writer Edgar Oliver’s “East 10th Street: Self Portrait with Empty House” falls squarely into the first category. A New York City resident since... Read »
Curtis Commands Intermezzo
Conductor Harry Curtis THE FOURTH AND FINAL Intermezzo of Spoleto Festival USA featured members of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra under the sure-fire baton of English conductor Harry Curtis. The concert had perfect programming: George Frederic Handel’s Water Music Suite No. 2 in D Major, HWV 349, Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat “Dumbarton Oaks,” and... Read »
Stunning Saariaho at ‘Music in Time’ Finale
I MUST ADMIT that—among Spoleto’s three regular series—my heart belongs to Geoff Nuttall’s supremely popular Chamber Series. But where my imagination and sense of musical adventure are concerned, John Kennedy’s ever-stimulating Music in Time (MIT) series definitely reigns supreme. And that’s a judgment that was strongly reinforced at Thursday’s fourth and final MIT program... Read »
