Eileen Wingard

Of the original four student members at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, only the cellist, 75-year-old András Fejér, remains. But the uncanny melding of their instrumental voices into a unified whole continues to characterize their playing … [Eileen Wingard]

Ax is a no-nonsense player, performing flawlessly, with elegance and grace. There were no histrionics, no dramatic gestures, there was just honest perfection.  And the orchestra, with reduced strings, one timpani, one flute and pairs of oboes, bassoons, trumpets and horns, provided beautiful, nuanced support under Raphael Payare s direction. [Eileen Wingard]

The San Diego Symphony’s opening concert of its subscription series featured Mahler’s Symphony #2, “Resurrection,” an appropriate choice as the orchestra resumes residency in its beautifully refurbished hall, now renamed, the Jacobs Music Center. [Eileen Wingard]

Even more impressive than the newly achieved grandeur of the hall were the improved acoustics of the Jacobs Music Center. We were seated in the very last row of the downstairs, under the balcony overhang, over to the extreme right, and every sound, every nuance reached our ears with pure clarity, from the hushed solo violin strokes of Tchaikovsky’s “Canzonetta” to the bold final utterances of Orff’s “O fortuna,” for full chorus and orchestra.  [Eileen Wingard]

First, there was an introductory video with photos of the featured composers and Barnatan speaking about their lives and why he connected them.   [Eileen Wingard]

A full house greeted the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra’s Director, David Amos, as he welcomed the audience in Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s Cohen Social Hall for TICO’s Annual Pops Concert last Sunday afternoon, August 4. [Eileen Wingard]