What a delightful concert!
As an avid opera fan, the lack of opera scene in Ann Arbor was something I lamented for a long time. I wholeheartedly welcome the revival of old UMS tradition – opera in concert – and I do hope that future seasons at UMS will feature more events like tonight’s concert. We have the Power Center for UM school of music opera productions, but in terms of acoustics, the Hill is much more accommodating to human voices and tonight’s concert showcased the auditorium’s strengths.

To be honest, I think I prefer unstaged operas. Sure, the sumptuous costumes and set designs and stage props are nice, but with less going on on the stage, I could pay more attention to musical drama and actually follow the supertitle.

The opera’s cast was wonderful. I’ve been a long time fan of David Daniels and seeing him live was well worth the wait. His arias Ombra cara and Dolce bene were exceptionally beautiful. I was particularly impressed by Ms. Bardon and Ms. Rae.

Kudos to all the performers and to UMS for bringing this delightful concert experience to the Hill today.

Although Beethoven’s music is not my cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s performance, especially the symphony. It’s always refreshing to watch musicians having a good time making music, instead of just doing the job of playing notes. Also, very psyched about the next season at the UMS. Just a thought – could the announcement before each concert remind the audience not to applaud between movements?

Wow. That mad speed at the final moment of Beethoven!
I thought that Grieg was particularly lovely, but the highlight of tonight’s performance was Stravinsky. Every note was so vibrant and glistening. Notes were dancing with incredible energy. I felt like I was transported to the carnival. Bravo!

If I remember correctly, he played Liadov’s Music Box in 2010 as encore after Rachmaninov.
I sincerely hope one day he would make a jazz album. Absolutely enjoyed it!

Stile Antico delivered a cohesive concert program with such clarity and purity of the voice. Byrd’s compositions are lovely but the group really shined with Tallis’s more florid polyphonic music. Audience members impressed me with very minimal coughing, which contrasted greatly from LPO the other night. Beautiful acoustics at the church – I hope the UMS brings many other future choral performances here!

One of the most memorable and musical concerts at the UMS since my relocation to Ann Arbor in 2008. The ensemble between Jaroussky and Apollo’s Fire was so organic and it was hard to believe that this is their first tour together. Jaroussky showcased tonight not only his mastery of demanding vocal techniques but also sincerity in his divinely beautiful voice that transcends the language barrier to convey the meaning of words he’s singing (especially in the first two Vivaldi arias in the second half of the concert). I hope to see them again at the UMS in the near future!

Although I quite enjoyed the musical part of the show, I couldn’t understand the laughters from the audience. I have a perfectly normal sense of humor, yet I didn’t find any moment of the show quite funny or clever. The marriage of storytelling by monologue and operatic arias was laudable, but the whole show felt a bit flat.