Yakushev Delivers the Whole Package

Salon Piano Series remains a Madison treasure   Wonderful things always happen at the Salon Piano Series, but it was particularly gratifying to see what appeared to be a couple of extra rows of chairs squeezed in at Farley’s House of Pianos last Sunday. The occasion was the second of this year’s Salon Piano Series…

Olga Kern And DeMain Deliver Again

A touch of new(er) and old classics from Madison Symphony   If the opening concert of John DeMain’s 24th season with the Madison Symphony Orchestra eschewed a major guest soloist (a DeMain tradition—and not a bad one!), it also stayed far away from major warhorse repertoire. The first of three performances of the season’s second…

New CD “44 Waltzes (on 88 Keys)” a Real Treasure

Pianist Peter Schaaf should be encouraged to bring us “Act 3”   First things first: File this review under “better late than never.” I received this new and intriguing recording in the fall, with every intention of reviewing it well before the holidays. Here’s hoping some readers will buy this for themselves—and find a good…

Madison Symphony Delivers a Bouquet of Passion, Precision and Power

Guest conductor Daniel Hege and violinist Alina Ibragimova make themselves at home   Madison Symphony music director John DeMain remains in demand throughout North America (currently spending about a month with Washington National Opera conducting Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars). Most of the time his absences are planned around the MSO and Madison Opera…