“[Parlando’s] performance in Merkin Hall was packed and received enthusiastic applause at every turn; clearly it’s doing something right.”
“One of NYC’s most exciting chamber orchestras”
“Parlando has established itself as a serious player on the New York classical scene through its presentations of lesser-known, and modern(ish) pieces.”
The Cabaret Project, Part 1
The Parlando Chamber Orchestra goes bold on its first album release. Founder and music director Ian Niederhoffer conceived the program for Censored Anthems after he became, he says, “entranced by the idea of music as cultural resilience…in the face of censorship.”
Like every Parlando concert, the program tells a story. The album’s tales are told in music by two Soviet-era Russian composers, Dmitri Shostakovich and Mieczysław Weinberg, and one Armenian, Edvard Mirzoyan, son of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide.
Also like a Parlando concert, the album includes spoken commentary by Niederhoffer, here presented in three tracks at the end.
Ian Niederhoffer and Parlando returned to Merkin Hall on Sunday afternoon for a program titled “Mystic Chords.” The theme bent towards the spiritual, with performances of three works that epitomize the eclecticism and excellence through which this ensemble has found its musical niche in New York.