by Paul E. Robinson

Last week, at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, Peter Bay and the Austin Symphony presented an all-Russian program: Rachmaninov’s “Vocalise,” followed by the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3, and closing with the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, this Russian composer’s most popular symphony.

As always, Maestro Bay had prepared well and interpreted [...]

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by Paul E. Robinson

The Dallas Opera has a long and illustrious history. It was founded in 1957 and its first presentations featured the legendary Maria Callas in a Zeffirelli production of “La Traviata,” as well as in “Medea,” and “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Other big stars followed, including Montserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland [...]

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by Paul E. Robinson

There are plenty of recordings of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 Op. 60 (”Leningrad”), but one rarely gets a chance to hear it in concert. The same could be said, only more so, for Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto Op. 15. To have them both offered on the same program is a [...]

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