Cellist Alistair MacRae, violinist Basia Danilow, and pianist Steven Beck perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Rossen Milanov. Photo by Princeton Symphony Orchestra Staff.
In Tuesday’s (10/22) Tap Into Princeton (New Jersey), Linda Sipprelle writes, “[On] Sunday, October 20 … a near capacity crowd was in Richardson Auditorium to attend the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s second concert of the season. The orchestra was led by the accomplished PSO music director, Rossen Milanov. First on the program and my choice as the concert’s highlight was Michael Abels’s ‘More Seasons.’ Abels is a 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner and Emmy and Grammy-nominated composer best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us, and Nope. The latter two were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Score. Many composers … have had fun with and been inspired by the motives and themes of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons.’ In ‘More Seasons,’ Abels plays with Vivaldi’s motives and themes in his own unique way. The piece was impressionistic and enjoyable to listen to and, from the smiles on some of the musicians’ faces, probably fun to play…. ‘More Seasons’ exuded humor and took the audience on a delightful, unexpected, and fanciful journey.” Also on the program were Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano.
