Strad Magazine
Review of April 2003 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
(click on review for legible pdf version)
Review of April 2003 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
(click on review for legible pdf version)
Reviews
American Record Guide
Review of April 2003 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
(click on review for legible pdf version)
Review of April 2003 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute, New York
(click on review for legible pdf version)
Viola Plus Harpsichord
Mark Greenfest, Music Journalist
Review of April 28, 2006 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute
After listening to Marlow Fisher, viola, and Kathleen McIntosh, harpsichord, play music for mere seconds, it is apparent that they are international-calibre interpretive artists of high technical abilities and persuasion. Their programming, moreover, was astute and excellent.
John Steinmetz, Procession (2004)
What starts out sounding oriental, then picks up the pace with a more Western air - a flavor like Lou Harrison’s Pacific, with Chinese music flowing onto the shores of California. This piece is most pleasant.
Carl Mansker, Elegy (2005)
The confluence or tension between the sounds - the viola, first entirely lyrical and elegiac, then alternating between the songful and the more anxious, and the harpsichord, in its staccato, almost stately dance, laying down a more skeletal structure and line - creates a most unusual and striking piece that has a flavor both contemporary and romantic/baroque.
Gyorgy Ligeti, Passacaglia Ungherese and Hungarian Rock (1978)
These two modern pieces for harpsichord - one, neo-baroque, and the other, rock-influenced, form an amiable relationship of marvelous character. Ms. McIntosh gets the subtle rhythmic patterns, and crisply [boogies] on her harpsichord, with the right degrees of oomphs and aahs.
Arni Eglisson, I Wander … ? (2005)
The wandering in this piece is more like wanderlust than drifting - the piece transforms from a driven march into a more melodic, visionary rhapsody, and, then, recharged, into a friendly and relaxed adventure, like - say - a tourist experiencing Italy for the first time. It’s fun and musical.
Ken Benshoof, Rondo (1969)
This piece has a flavor as if Handel had discovered country line-dancing. The rhythmic patterns flow into the melody, and vice versa, and, the whole, enjoying light-hearted transformations, has a joyous air.
Ruth Schonthal, Four Epiphanies (1976)
This solo viola piece is of great emotive power and originality - motivic materials vary from classic, traditional klezmer, and avante-garde, but the piece has remarkable frankness and beauty - a lifetime of feeling and experience compressed into most striking and remarkable musical gestures. Mr. Fisher played this extraordinary piece with virtuosic vigor and artistry.
Astor Piazzola, Oblivion (1984)
This most recognizable tango - the epitome of Piazzola’s music - was the capstone of the concert, and it sounded fresh and different with the harpsichord, instead of piano. The songful viola - remarkable.
It’s a rare treat when these artists perform together in New York.
Mark Greenfest
April 28, 2006
Mark Greenfest, Music Journalist
Review of April 28, 2006 performance
Tenri Cultural Institute
After listening to Marlow Fisher, viola, and Kathleen McIntosh, harpsichord, play music for mere seconds, it is apparent that they are international-calibre interpretive artists of high technical abilities and persuasion. Their programming, moreover, was astute and excellent.
John Steinmetz, Procession (2004)
What starts out sounding oriental, then picks up the pace with a more Western air - a flavor like Lou Harrison’s Pacific, with Chinese music flowing onto the shores of California. This piece is most pleasant.
Carl Mansker, Elegy (2005)
The confluence or tension between the sounds - the viola, first entirely lyrical and elegiac, then alternating between the songful and the more anxious, and the harpsichord, in its staccato, almost stately dance, laying down a more skeletal structure and line - creates a most unusual and striking piece that has a flavor both contemporary and romantic/baroque.
Gyorgy Ligeti, Passacaglia Ungherese and Hungarian Rock (1978)
These two modern pieces for harpsichord - one, neo-baroque, and the other, rock-influenced, form an amiable relationship of marvelous character. Ms. McIntosh gets the subtle rhythmic patterns, and crisply [boogies] on her harpsichord, with the right degrees of oomphs and aahs.
Arni Eglisson, I Wander … ? (2005)
The wandering in this piece is more like wanderlust than drifting - the piece transforms from a driven march into a more melodic, visionary rhapsody, and, then, recharged, into a friendly and relaxed adventure, like - say - a tourist experiencing Italy for the first time. It’s fun and musical.
Ken Benshoof, Rondo (1969)
This piece has a flavor as if Handel had discovered country line-dancing. The rhythmic patterns flow into the melody, and vice versa, and, the whole, enjoying light-hearted transformations, has a joyous air.
Ruth Schonthal, Four Epiphanies (1976)
This solo viola piece is of great emotive power and originality - motivic materials vary from classic, traditional klezmer, and avante-garde, but the piece has remarkable frankness and beauty - a lifetime of feeling and experience compressed into most striking and remarkable musical gestures. Mr. Fisher played this extraordinary piece with virtuosic vigor and artistry.
Astor Piazzola, Oblivion (1984)
This most recognizable tango - the epitome of Piazzola’s music - was the capstone of the concert, and it sounded fresh and different with the harpsichord, instead of piano. The songful viola - remarkable.
It’s a rare treat when these artists perform together in New York.
Mark Greenfest
April 28, 2006
