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REVIEWS
“This adventurous Philadelphia ensemble has commissioned 23 pieces since its founding in 2005 by Mimi Stillman, a gifted flautist.”
– Vivien Schweitzer, New York Times, February 8, 2012
“Most music organizations schedule programs marking the 100th birthday of Composer X or the 250th year since Composer Y died. Leave it to Mimi Stillman to come up with an anniversary event that no one else seems to have thought of. Dolce Suono’s “Mahler 100/Schoenberg 60” project commemorated the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death and the 60th anniversary of Schoenberg’s.
…The second program, this month, opened with Mahler’s only surviving chamber work, the Piano Quartet in A Minor, and followed it with a new piece on lunar themes by Shulamit Ran plus a performance of Pierrot that starred one of its major living interpreters, the soprano Lucy Shelton. Schoenberg composed Pierrot in 1912, so the program also commemorated the 100th anniversary of a piece that’s influenced most of the music composed during the last century.
… The Dolce Suono ensemble gave it [Mahler’s Piano Quartet] a dark, full-bodied performance by the strings, partnered by a flowing piano part played by Charles Abramovic.
…Pierrot is a virtuoso challenge for all the performers, and Schoenberg created some powerful dramatic effects. But Shulamit Ran’s Moon Songs spoke to me more than Schoenberg’s piece. For all its musical flair, Pierrot stays inside a narrow emotional channel. The poems all deal with the bizarre and violent aspects of the night. The four sections of Ran’s Moon Songs span a broader range of styles and nocturnal moods.
…Stillman conceived this project, organized it and (presumably) handled much of the fund-raising and other organizational matters, while maintaining her solo career and doing much of the other work that keeps Dolce Suono going. If we could clone her a few times, Philadelphia would become the musical capital of the U.S.”
– Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review, February 12, 2012
Feature article in Philadelphia Daily News: “Flutist’s ensemble honors 2 anniversaries”
– Mary Sydnor, Daily News, February 3, 2012