The 24 year old Tao is quickly rising to the fore as one of his generation's most promising -- scratch that, he's already delivering -- American classical musicians. This season alone, the New York Philharmonic gave the world premiere of a work entitled Everything Must Go, which they commissioned as a prelude to Bruckner's Eighth Symphony. I wasn't in town to hear it, but a visit to his website or youtube provides an enticing sampling of his talent, both as performer and composer. Stefan Jackiw's violin playing is transcendent. Like Tao at the piano, you forget that he's playing a specific musical instrument at all -- an antique  mechanical device, miraculous, of course, but rife with idiosyncratic problems and hurdles to overcome. They both utterly disappear into the music, submitting completely to the composer's creation. 

New York’s 2019 Season is off to the races. NYC classical music in January, there are no fewer than three festivals focusing on new music happening immediately: The FERUS festival ; PROTOTYPE Festival. PROTOTYPE - OPERA l THEATRE l NOW; MAESTRO, A presentation of Ensemble for the Romantic Century at Duke 42nd; Carnegie Hall,; American Symphony Orchestra; New York City Opera; New York Philharmonic

2018 was a big year for classical music in New York. A veritable who’s who of the world’s top performers graced our stages. Repertoire spanning the centuries was buttressed by a healthy supply of fresh, new work. Here is my contribution to the year’s end cornucopia of “Ten Best” lists, my ten favorite classical music moments in a year full of exciting concert-going.

In what might go down as one of this season's most thrilling events, Jaap van Zweden returns to the podium at David Geffen Hall to lead the New York Philharmonic in two incredibly powerful such works. All hands on deck, this is a tight, thrilling account of Shostakovich's dramatic Symphony No. 7, the "Leningrad," from 1941. But the real eye-opener of the concert might be Britten's too rarely played, yet stunning, Violin Concerto, featuring soloist Simone Lamsma in her brilliant debut with the Philharmonic.

Mahler famously said that "The symphony is a world; it must contain everything." The Fifth's everything is that of the tortured, yet fulfilled, soul. Its development from the despair of defeat to the jocular, towering, hard-earned finale is a feat for any orchestra. Even in this bottom-heavy, rueful interpretation, it is impactful, shaking the rafters of the house, and taking the audience's breath away.