Monthly Archives: September 2009

That familiar sound

There was something familiar about Raphael Saadiq to me. He’s been blowing up in my consciousness stage for one in the last few weeks (perhaps everywhere, but I have no pulse on those kinds of things). I knew I liked his sound, and it’s been a seriously long time since I’ve been excited about a new musical talent. Except, of course, that Saadiq is far from a new talent, considering that the source of familiarity is because he has been ringing my my head for over 10 years as Tony! Toni! Toné, whose song “If I Had No Loot” still ranks among my all-time favorite jams from the 90s. He’s somewhere on the short and incredibly talented spectrum between Stevie Wonder and Al Green, reminiscent of both at times and certainly under their influence. But he manages to capture the quality of a male version of India.Aire — fresh, positive music with a truly distinctive vocal quality.

2009-2010 Boston Symphony Season Preview

In just about a week, Symphony Hall at Mass Ave and Huntington will open its doors again to welcome the 2009-2010 Symphony Season. As always, the program looks exciting and full of prominent guest artists who will grace the symphony stage. And of course, there are many ways to score inexpensive tickets to the Symphony. Here are the shows I’m looking forward to most:

Beethoven’s Complete Symphonies (!) – it will be my first Beethoven cycle with James Levine and the BSO
Berlioz’s Harold en Italy, with principal violist Steven Ansell – Ansell is an excellent violist
Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 3, Op. 60, with the BSO Chamber Players – Brahms chamber music is among my favorite
Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, conducted by Bernard Haitink
Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 – they did this for the 2008-09 season and it was phenomenal
Brahms’ Violin Concerto, with violinist Joshua Bell and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis – Bell is incredibly talented, and this is in my top three violin concertos (Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelssohn)
Elgar’s Violin Concerto, with violinist Nikolaj Znaider
Harbison’s Double Concerto for violin and cello, with violinist Mira Wang and cellist Jan Vogler (World Premiere and BSO Commission) – there’s something special about the double, as the Brahms’ double is my favorite piece
Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma – my brother saw Yo-Yo Ma a couple of years ago, and we sent our parents to see him last year in Houston. It’s finally my turn!
Mendelssohn’s Elijah
Mozart’s Requiem, conducted by John Oliver
Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, with Bernard Haitink
Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, with violinist Leonidas Kavakos and conductor Bernard Haitink
Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with violinist Hilary Hahn – Hilary Hahn has an incredibly mature sound
Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2
Schubert’s Rosamunde Overture and Entr’actes
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2