by AdminTyBarts | Nov 16, 2025 | News
On November 14, Maximiano Valdés led the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico (OSPR) in a landmark debut at the Boston Symphony Hall. The concert was part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s E Pluribus Unum: From Many, One initiative, celebrating the diverse musical voices that shape the nation’s cultural landscape.
A special highlight of the evening was the presence of Luis Sanz, a leading performer of the Puerto Rican cuatro. The cuatro is a traditional Latin American string instrument of the lute family—distinctive for its ten strings in five courses and rich, resonant sound—and holds a central place in Puerto Rico’s musical identity.
The program showcased works by Puerto Rican composers that bridge classical and popular traditions, including selections by Angélica Negrón, Roberto Sierra, Alfonso Fuentes, and Ernesto Cordero’s Concierto Criollo, in which Sanz’s cuatro featured prominently. The evening also included beloved cultural favorites such as En mi Viejo San Juan, connecting audiences with Puerto Rico’s deep musical heritage.
With Valdés’s vast international experience—spanning the United States, Europe, and Latin America—and Sanz’s mastery of the cuatro, the concert embodied the lasting cultural dialogue between the U.S. and Latin America. Audiences responded with enthusiasm and warmth, celebrating a night in which Puerto Rico’s music heritage took centre stage in one of the world’s great concert halls.
Here is an excerpt from the rave review:
“Conductor Valdés, who has been leading the OSPR since 2008 … knows his Orquesta well, shows them off to great effect, and provided helpful introductions to each work.
… cuatro star Luis Sanz was a show unto himself, not only playing the descarga movement from Ernesto Cordero’s Concierto Criollo para cuatro y orquesta sinfonia beautifully … He also displayed some spectacular showmanship as he performed on his instrument, a small guitar with 10 steel strings, over his head, à la Jimi Hendrix.”
The Arts Fuse, Steve Elman
by AdminTyBarts | Nov 12, 2025 | News
TYB Arts is delighted to announce that Georgian pianist David Khrikuli, finalist of the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition, has signed with the agency for global management representation.
David Khrikuli’s performances drew exceptional attention for their uncompromising honesty, expressive intensity, and rich dynamic range — qualities that set him apart as one of the competition’s most individual voices.
David Khrikuli is currently touring Poland and will be giving recitals in Mallorca, Madrid, Berlin and NY.
More information at https://tybarts.com/david-khrikuli
by AdminTyBarts | Oct 10, 2025 | News
Emanuel Graf’s love for racing—and Ferrari—got him an exclusive behind the scenes look at the racing-track world. Graf met some of his racing heroes and shared insights about his career with the magazine.
“When you play for an audience, you feel them… Sometimes, in an intense moment, 2,000 people hold their breath at the same time. There’s this interaction, this energy. To share music in that way and connect with people is truly special.”
—Emanuel Graf on live performance
Read the whole interview in issue 66 of Ferrari Magazine here.
Just in! Emanuel Graf will debut at Teatro Colón next season with Lalo’s Cello Concerto.
by AdminTyBarts | Sep 19, 2025 | News
Boris Giltburg delivered yet another extraordinary performance to open the Essen Philharmonic’s season. The audience responded with overwhelming enthusiasm and Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung gave a glowing review:
“Boris Giltburg showed no trace of strain [notwithstanding the immense technical challenges for the soloist], sitting calm and composed at the Steinway – hands flying – and, to the delight of the audience (two encores!), managed to combine the sensitivity of touch with pianistic bravura and elemental percussive force.”
Giltburg’s exquisite blend of precision, expression, and virtuosity set a high standard for the season ahead, confirming his status as one of today’s most thrilling pianists.
by AdminTyBarts | Aug 26, 2025 | News
Elmar Lampson’s new opera Wellen, based on Eduard von Keyserling’s 1911 novel, has received outstanding praise following its world premiere at Theater Bremen in May. In a major review for leading opera magazine Opernwelt, critic Volker Tarnow writes that “Elmar Lampson delivers an opera that defies contemporary triviality.” From the “intricate, harmonically dense overture” that evokes a sense of elemental threat, to “delicate textures—fragile echoes of a long-lost Romantic era,” Wellen offers a musically and emotionally charged portrait of a fading world. Lampson draws “striking motifs from the prosody and speech melody of short phrases,” weaving them into a “vibrant, polystylistic score” that reimagines traditional elements like the pentatonic scale with striking originality. As Tarnow concludes: “This piece will undoubtedly ripple through many opera houses.”
Critics have responded enthusiastically to the musical language of Wellen. Andreas Schnell of Kreiszeitung praised the “iridescent score,” while Wolfgang Denker in Der Opernfreund spoke of “passages of unearthly beauty.” Christine Gorny (Bremen Zwei) observed that “Elmar Lampson’s music remains constantly in flow, carrying the action forward.” Ute Schalz-Laurenze in Neue Musikzeitung emphasized the score’s expressive range: “Lampson’s music holds nothing back: it moves between wild and tender, between major and minor, with numerous pentatonic touches and hugely demanding ensemble sections. . . . it repeatedly manages to create completely unexpected constellations and confrontations. The percussion formations positioned on both sides of the stage are thrilling.”
Jürgen Gahre from Opera UK also gave a glowing review, praising the captivating music “that is as poetic as it is exciting”, with music that is “in constant motion and shimmers in many colours” and “Orchestral interludes … [that] provide a deep insight into people’s psyches…” Gahre similarly ends inviting “other companies … [to] take up this rich and rewarding opera”.
One can only hope that other opera houses will follow suit and take up this rich and rewarding work, letting its waves travel far beyond Bremen.
