by David Perkins

Lenox, MA, 20 August 2007. The baritone Gerard Souzay once wrote that his fellow Frenchmen "tend to take serious things lightly, while taking la fantaisie deeply to heart." He was thinking of French music, and especially French vocal music, which dances that fine line between jocular reverence and reverent jocularity.

by Marvin J. Ward

Amherst, MA, 29 July 2007.  Yesterday evening’s program at the Festival, now in its 38th year, featured not one but two world premières, teamed up with two other works from the early 20^th century, one undeservedly overlooked, and the other a milestone of the modern repertoire: Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Piano Trio, Op. 1 and Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and another contemporary piece.