| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 31-Jan-2013 Barbican Centre: Hall | Fevered but not all that Balkan? Crossover at the Barbican with the LSO and the Theodosii Spassov Trio |
 Kristjan Järvi cuts quite a dash on the podium, youthful, exuberant and full of energy, all adjectives that could be applied to the music in last night's Barbican crossover gig by the LSO, entitled "Balkan Fever". The concert was in two halves, linked by an over-arching theme of folk- and gypsy-inspired music, the first half being straight classical (Kodaly and Enescu), while the second was headlined by the Theodosii Spassov Trio. Spassov is a Bulgarian player of the kraval (an end-blown flute); he is accompanied by two guitarists.
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| 20-Jan-2013 Walt Disney Concert Hall | LA Phil finds focus on Bartók, Kodály – but not on Eötvös |
 The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s January 20 concert, the last in its “Focus on Eötvös” mini-residency, may as well have been called “Focus on Hungary.” The small, landlocked country, with barely over 9 million residents, has exerted – and continues to exert – a powerful influence on music. Even discounting Franz Liszt – ethnically Hungarian, but with a cultural outlook more tilted to Vienna and Paris than to Budapest – there is no disputing Hungary’s vast, even outsize contribution to musical culture.
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| 24-Sep-2012 Lincoln Center: Alice Tully Hall | A mighty wind: Opening night at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center |
 With so much of the chamber repertoire focused on strings and piano, it was a refreshing choice by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center to open their season with some of the great works for winds. Many of the wind and brass performers on the program spend most of their professional lives as orchestral and solo musicians, and clearly relish the chance to make music with their colleagues without following the conductor’s baton. The unique collegiality of music on the small stage has a pull on some of the country’s best musicians.
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| 12-Apr-2012 Sage: Hall One | Beginning with a Sneeze: The National Youth Orchestra Folk Explosion |
 Composers have a long tradition of incorporating folk tunes into their music, and this evening’s concert by the National Youth Orchestra, with support from members of the folk group Bellowhead, really proved the point that musical genres are not separate boxes, but just points on a continuum, with no fixed boundaries.
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