Lisa Hirsch

Lisa Hirsch is a technical writer. She studied music at Brandeis and Stony Brook and blogs about classical music and opera at Iron Tongue of Midnight.

Articles By This Author

blythe_stephanie.jpg
Review

Navigating Songs

Lisa Hirsch - April 26, 2009
Members of New York’s venerable Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center are spending April touring a program called American Voices. Thursday at Herbst Theatre, the centerpiece of the program, which spans the 18th to 21st centuries, was a new song cycle by Alan Louis Smith, Vignettes: Covered Wagon Woman.
takacsquartet_wide.jpg
Review

Major Schubert

Lisa Hirsch - March 10, 2009
On Sunday, at Hertz Hall, the Takács Quartet played the second of their two Berkeley concerts this season. As with the first concert, an eminent guest joined the quartet. This time, we were lucky enough to hear Peter Wyrick, associate principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony.
alexanderstringnew_wide.jpg
Review

Brother and Sister Act

Lisa Hirsch - February 17, 2009

Classical music has had a few notable sibling acts in its history. Wolfgang and Nannerl Mozart toured as duo pianists; violinist Yehudi and pianist Hephzibah Menuhin performed recitals together.

cahill_sarahpiano2_wide.jpg
Review

Playing a Sweeter Music

Lisa Hirsch - January 27, 2009

Piano recitals don't often come with a title, beyond the ubiquitous "Famous Pianist Plays Chopin and Brahms." Sarah Cahill took the name of her recital, and her commissioning project, from the lecture Martin Luther King Jr. gave on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize: "We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war."

Beautifully Balanced

Lisa Hirsch - October 28, 2008
The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is in the second year of its search for a music director to succeed Kent Nagano, who has led the orchestra since 1978.
actoneboccanegra_wide.jpg
Review

Striving for Unity

Lisa Hirsch - September 9, 2008
San Francisco Opera launched its 2008-2009 season on Friday with a comparative rarity, Verdi's great opera of reunion and reconciliation, Simon Boccanegra, using the revised version of 1881. This revival, led by outgoing Music Director Donald Runnicles, is blessed with a much better cast than that of the 2001 production.
adrianamater_wide.jpg
Review

Beating Hearts

Lisa Hirsch - July 29, 2008
War, violence, revenge, and parent-child relationships are evergreen subjects found at the heart of important operas from the earliest days of the form.

Those Shining Finns

Lisa Hirsch - June 24, 2008
The last quarter-century has seen musical talent bursting out of Finland, a country of only 5.3 million that, owing to ample public funding of music education, has produced a steady stream of great conductors, performers, and composers. Among the prominent composers are Aulis Sallinen, Kaija Saariaho, Esa-Pekka Salonen (who also conducts), and Magnus Lindberg.
poemeharmonique2_wide.jpg
Review

Seeing Music as Drama

Lisa Hirsch - June 10, 2008
The Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, held in alternate years, typically features at least one program that's as much theater as music. In past years, the early music extravaganza had the horse ballet "Le carousel du roi" and the "Carnaval Baroque".

Springing to Mind

Lisa Hirsch - May 20, 2008
Old First Concerts played host on Sunday to a varied and exhilarating program of chamber music by Stefano Scodanibbio, performed by sfSoundGroup and the composer himself.