Featuring the music of John Luther Adams, Osvaldo Golijov and Michael Ward-Bergeman on March 15, 2010.
"Ward-Bergeman’s sonorous hyper-accordion sung resonantly over a string quartet, as arranged here by Golijov, in the cinematic score of Patagonia".
Read entire review here:
Chicago Classical Review
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Chamamé in Federal, Entre Ríos
Michael attended the 35th annual Festival of Chamamé in Federal, Entre Ríos, Argentina in February. His appearance was documented here (scroll down a bit):
In the original Spanish:
¿Y DÓNDE ESTÁ MICHAEL?
Google translated into English:
And where is Michael?
In the original Spanish:
¿Y DÓNDE ESTÁ MICHAEL?
Google translated into English:
And where is Michael?
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Azul Reviews from Toronto
Energetic performers highlight composer's Azul, leaving the listener wanting more.
The four-movement work was bursting with lyricism, youthful energy and magical orchestration. The accordion played a fascinating, wizard-like role in the early movements, its unusual tone (sometimes processed electronically) mediating between the sounds of different sections of the orchestra, sometimes benevolently, sometimes warping their aural identities.
from 25 Feb 2010
Toronto's Globe and Mail Newspaper
Read entire review:
Globe and Mail Azul
The four-movement work was bursting with lyricism, youthful energy and magical orchestration. The accordion played a fascinating, wizard-like role in the early movements, its unusual tone (sometimes processed electronically) mediating between the sounds of different sections of the orchestra, sometimes benevolently, sometimes warping their aural identities.
from 25 Feb 2010
Toronto's Globe and Mail Newspaper
Read entire review:
Globe and Mail Azul
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Reviews: Azul at SLSO Opening Night
Reviews from the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra opening night performance of Azul featuring cellist Daniel Lee.
Jason Makansi
Examiner
St. Louis Today
Jason Makansi
Examiner
St. Louis Today
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Tetro Soundtrack Released
The soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro will be released in September by Deutsche Grammophon.
Further information is here : Tetro Soundtrack
Listen to some of the tracks for free here : Tetro Eplayer
Buy online
Further information is here : Tetro Soundtrack
Listen to some of the tracks for free here : Tetro Eplayer
Buy online
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Reviews: Azul at Cabrillo Festival
Reviews from the Cabrillo Festival performance of Azul featuring cellist Alisa Weilerstein.
Metro Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Financial Times
The Sacremento Bee
Mercury News
Some quotes:
"Weilerstein sang through Golijov's long-noted lines, storming or gossamer-light or evoking the slow, earthy grandeur of Bach. They mixed and merged with the reedy folk-techno-whoosh of the accordion (Michael Ward-Bergemen) and the Dionysian rustlings of percussion (Baptista and Jamey Haddad), while the orchestra hovered, a luminous cloud (those trombones! those horns!), with Alsop fine-tuning the proceedings across four movements.
And yet some of the work's best moments happened when the orchestra melted away, like precious metals vanishing to leave Weilerstein and the other soloists — perhaps representing Bach and all the musicians of the world — to a Baroque-raga jam session. Crazy, beautiful stuff."
"...an accordionist (playing a whooshing, digitally enhanced instrument, like a folk musician from outer space..."
"...wizardly Cyro Baptista, sporting a pair of gigantic red eyeglasses, looking like Merlin as a rock star."
"Osvaldo Golijov’s uncategorisable Azul, in its revised version, simply beguiled. The Argentine-born composer mines Indian ragas, finds inspiration in baroque forms and the poetry of Neruda and conjures sonorities that seem both to hover in the air and pierce the heart. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein has succeeded Yo-Yo Ma as this work’s prime interpreter; her collaboration with hyper-accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman and percussionists Jamey Haddad and Cyro Baptista, both rhapsodic and visceral, set the standard for the festival."
Metro Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Financial Times
The Sacremento Bee
Mercury News
Some quotes:
"Weilerstein sang through Golijov's long-noted lines, storming or gossamer-light or evoking the slow, earthy grandeur of Bach. They mixed and merged with the reedy folk-techno-whoosh of the accordion (Michael Ward-Bergemen) and the Dionysian rustlings of percussion (Baptista and Jamey Haddad), while the orchestra hovered, a luminous cloud (those trombones! those horns!), with Alsop fine-tuning the proceedings across four movements.
And yet some of the work's best moments happened when the orchestra melted away, like precious metals vanishing to leave Weilerstein and the other soloists — perhaps representing Bach and all the musicians of the world — to a Baroque-raga jam session. Crazy, beautiful stuff."
"...an accordionist (playing a whooshing, digitally enhanced instrument, like a folk musician from outer space..."
"...wizardly Cyro Baptista, sporting a pair of gigantic red eyeglasses, looking like Merlin as a rock star."
"Osvaldo Golijov’s uncategorisable Azul, in its revised version, simply beguiled. The Argentine-born composer mines Indian ragas, finds inspiration in baroque forms and the poetry of Neruda and conjures sonorities that seem both to hover in the air and pierce the heart. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein has succeeded Yo-Yo Ma as this work’s prime interpreter; her collaboration with hyper-accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman and percussionists Jamey Haddad and Cyro Baptista, both rhapsodic and visceral, set the standard for the festival."
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Photo selected for Schmap Oxford Guide
Michael's photo of a Sheldonian Theatre Emperor Head in Oxford has been selected for inclusion in the newly released eighth edition of the Schmap Oxford Guide.
Check it out here: Sheldonian Theatre
Check it out here: Sheldonian Theatre
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