Arthur Fagen is already a permanent guest at the Bolzano Festival Bozen, where he conducts each year the Haydn Orchestra. This year, Mr. Fagen will lead the orchestra through a Liszt celebratory program conducting his both concertos for piano and orchestra at the Busoni Competition and the final evening on Sept. 2. Meanwhile, the rave reviews continue to appear in magazines like Fanfare, Musical America, The American Record Guide, about the latest recordings and opera productions such as Der Cid and Vincent.
Enjoy the live streaming of Liszt concertos on August 30 and 31 on:
www.concorsobusoni.it
On Friday September 2nd, 8.30pm there will be a live radio broadcast of the great final round of the Busoni Competition. The program will be broadcast by the Italian Radio Rai 3.
Mr. Fagen will conduct the opening of W.A. Mozart’s “Cosí fan tutte” at Bloomington’s Musical Arts Center when Indiana University Opera Theater’s 2011-12 season opens next week. Mozart’s timeless comedy will debut Friday, Sept. 23, with additional performances Sept. 24, 30 and Oct. 1. The Sept. 23-24 performances will be video-streamed live at http://music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive, embellished by live blogging from IU Jacobs School of Music musicology students.
Latest reviews:
Einen hohen Anteil am Gelienger dieser Inszenierung hatte das Dirigat von Arthur Fagen. Auf hohem Niveau führte er das Saarländische Staatstheater durch die Partitur. Sein souveräne, von großer Intensität und hoher musikalischer Sensibilität gezeichnete Leitung garantierte nicht nur das nahtlose Zusammenspiel von Solisten, Chor und Orchester, sondern führte auch durch eine zügige und analytische Behandlung des Orchester geschickt über die Länger und „Untiefen“ der Partitur hinweg. Der uneingeschränkten Anerkennung von Fagens Leistung, die die Einstudierung des Chores durch Jaume Miranda einschließt, muss auch die der Solisten zur Seite treten.
Michael Pitz-Grewenig, Das Orchester, September 2011
Fagen and the Orchestra respond with stunningly articulated clarity, and the close-up recorded sound is as fine as one could wish for. If we add to this the informative notes, this becomes a must purchase.
Alan Becker, The American Record Guide, March / April 2011
The Piano Concerto No. 1, written by the 35-year-old Martinů two years after he’d left his native land for Paris, is a neoclassical piece dressed in a sort of neobaroque style that he may have absorbed from Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony, and music he’d possibly heard by one or another of Les Six in some of the Parisian cabarets. Breezy, brisk, and a bit cockeyed, Martinů’s score delights in bending the ear with tuneful bitonality. But the piece also recalls the composer’s not-so-distant homeland and romantic roots, as it does in the meltingly beautiful, Czech-tinged Andante movement.
Martinů was well into his Parisian period when he wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2. The bitonality and French cabaret elements seem largely gone, as the music takes on a more serious, almost Brahmsian, cast. It’s as if Martinů is returning to his romantic roots. The Poco Andante confirms as much with a movement which, according to the note authors “seems to be an unabashedly romantic homage to Brahms.” If you’re just beginning to explore the music of Martinů and/or you’re on a budget, this fine Naxos release can be recommended without reservation. Once again, there is much to enjoy on this new Naxos recording. Certainly if you acquired the first volume, you’ll want this one. And though I may have expressed a slight preference for one or another version of these works, Koukl and Fagen do not disappoint. Fine performances and a well-engineered recording make for a positive recommendation.
Jerry Dubins, Fanfare, May 2011
The orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fagen, played with sonorous beauty, delicate and powerful by turns …. So impressed was I by the opera and its production that I returned for a second performance. This is an opera that should be taken up by the operatic establishment. …. Dramatic and accessible, it is an opera from the heart to the heart.
Charles H. Parsons, American Record Guide, June 2011
…..the impeccably prepared cast on opening night (lead roles alternate) …..performed admirably. Best to characterize the performances as being of high quality; things in the pit were even more impressive, as Arthur Fagen guided the Philharmonic Orchestra through Rands’s peaks and valleys, so eloquently crafted to match Vincent’s own.
Susan Elliott, MusicalAmerica.com, April 14, 2011
