Music Critic Fresno activities suspended indefinitely. Thank you for your interest. Be sure to check out all of our past reviews and interviews in the archive.

Edgar Meyer and his Bass Elevate Fresno Audience

January 17, 2011

Bassist Edgar Meyer joined the Fresno Philharmonic at Saroyan Theatre Sunday for an unusual and enjoyable concert. When was the last time you heard the bass as a solo instrument featured in a concerto?

The concert began with Mozart's "Prague" Symphony, No. 38 in D major, K. 504, and there was an extra bassist on the stage. Rather than sitting in the green room waiting his entrance, Meyer joined the orchestra for the opening number. I like to see the soloist playing other pieces on the program just for the fun of it.
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Lorenz Guest Introduces Takemitsu to Fresno

November 29, 2010

Pianist Stephen Kovacevich dropped in Sunday and performed a recital in the Concert Hall at California State University Fresno, presented by the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts. On this cold November afternoon, Kovacevich both warmed the ear with early and late Beethoven sonatas and chilled the spine with an early work by Toru Takemitsu. Continued.

Philharmonic Serves a Feast from Eastern Europe

October 24, 2010

Those who left Saroyan Theatre at intermission of the Fresno Philharmonic concert Saturday missed one of the most dramatic performances of the orchestra in recent memory in Smetana's Ma Vlast (My Fatherland). The drama of the music itself combined with the tension between orchestra and conductor created a riveting show.
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Shostakovich Steals the Thunder at Fresno Philharmonic Opener

September 26, 2010

The Fresno Philharmonic, led by Theodore Kuchar, opened its season Saturday at Saroyan Theatre with a very ambitious program that built its way up from the colorful Capriccio Espangnol, Op. 34 by Rimsky-Korsakov to the massive Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, played by 24 year old pianist Lukas Vondracek.
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