Press

Polish-born Ida Haendel showed early brilliance as a violinist, winning competitions and earning a reputation for being as accomplished as Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern.

The Wednesday night pairing of the contemporary classical ensemble 45^th Parallel and the wry humor, musically and otherwise, of 3 Leg Torso was auspicious for lots of reasons, but mostly, I like the idea of merging the fragmented art music audience whenever possible.

Sometimes it’s called a violin, sometimes it’s called a fiddle. Violinists, one is taught, are serious people who go to conservatories to learn music in disciplined fashion; fiddlers are carefree folk who play the tunes of the people without pedigreed instruction.

Art and madness are staples of opera, so the life of sculptor Camille Claudel lends itself as an ideal subject. “Promise,” an operatic drama by actor, singer and composer Theresa Koon, makes a fair stab at her story.