The Buffalo Philharmonic welcomes back former Music Director Julius Rudel this weekendBy Bill Raffel, WBFO
Buffalo, NY – The Buffalo Philharmonic welcomes a former music director back for a program of French opera highlights. Good morning. I'm Bill Raffel with Music Notes.
Julius Rudel will lead several selections from Carmen at concerts this weekend. Rudel was on the podium between 1978 and 1984. He's returned to Buffalo at least once since then but hasn't been in town for the past eight years or so. Rudel was born in Vienna with a background in opera and European classics. But his tenure followed two champions of 20th century music, Lukas Foss and Michael Tilson Thomas. So I asked him how that affected what he did and couldn't do with the BPO.
The soloists are Soprano Jonita Lattimore, Mezzo-Soprano Jessica Grigg, Tenor Jon Garrison, and Bass Less Young, joining Julius Rudel, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Saturday (4/13) at 8PM and Sunday (4/14) at 2:30PM in Kleinhans. Pre-concert talks take place one hour earlier.
Also this week, 20th century music champion Garth Knox gives a viola recital Monday (4/8) at 8PM. That's in the Baird Recital Hall, next door to Slee Hall on UB's North Campus. A work by UB student Aaron Cassidy is part of the program. And the Baird Trio is in recital tomorrow (Tue 4/9) at eight in Slee Hall. A work by trio member Jonathan Golove is on the program, called Bad Dream, The Seventeenth Murder. Trios of Haydn and Schubert round out the program performed by Golove on Cello along with Violinist Movses Posgossian and Pianist Stephen Manes.
At SUNY Fredonia, the Percussion Ensemble performs Wednesday (4/10) as does the Wind Symphony on Thursday (4/11). Both start at 8PM in the King Concert Hall. And at Canisius, Pianist Marcella Branagan gives a free recital Thursday (4/11) at 2:30PM in the Montante Cultural Center.
The Bel Canto Choir gives a free half-hour concert Friday at 12:30 in Saint Paul's Cathedral downtown.
And songs by Buffalo song-writers Jack Yellen, Harold Arlen and others will be featured Sunday, April 14th at 3PM in the Riviera Theatre, presented by Friends of Buffalo Opera.