Classical Music

Concert Review: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Plays Mozart and Arvo Pärt

April 3, 2025
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Guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk and the Boston Symphony Orchestra invited listeners to a meditative evening of music. 

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Classical Concert Review: Sphinx Virtuosi play Joplin, Coleridge-Taylor, Skye, Stewart, Becenti, Carreño, and Taylor

April 2, 2025
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The Sphinx Virtuosi is terrific: the group’s unified tone and articulations, impeccable responsiveness and technique, and command of stylistic nuance are all of the first rank.

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Concert Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra’s “Coltrane: Legacy for Orchestra” — An Evening of Worthwhile Rethinkings

April 1, 2025
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With so many cooks, flaws were inevitable. But the effort was noble, and hearing Terence Blanchard’s beautiful trumpet sound in Symphony Hall was a transcendent experience.

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Classical Albums Reviews: Seong-Jin Cho and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Play Ravel

March 21, 2025
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A pair of pleasant traversals of the French master’s complete piano music, or thereabout, from the still-relative-newcomer Seong-Jin Cho and the established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

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Classical Album Reviews: James Ehnes performs Lalo, Saint-Saëns, & Sarasate and Benjamin Schmid plays Gulda & Weill

March 20, 2025
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Violinist James Ehnes and the BBC Philharmonic supply some truly great performances; violinist Benjamin Schmid revels in composer Friedrich Gulda’s freewheeling sense of play.

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Classical Album Review: Semyon Bychkov and Paavo Järvi Conduct Mahler

March 19, 2025
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Semyon Bychkov supplies an extraordinarily well-played account of Mahler’s Third; Paavo Järvi’s version of Mahler’s Fifth avoids the more idiosyncratic excesses of Leonard Bernstein’s superb 1987 Vienna recording.

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Concert Review: Rolling Thunder — The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Violinist Ray Chen

March 18, 2025
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Violinist Ray Chen and the BSO delivered one of the most seismic performances of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto that I’ve heard.

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Concert Review: Chameleon Arts Ensemble — Between Two Worlds

March 12, 2025
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Navigating the clash between tradition and experimentation — they are often two vastly different artistic worlds — requires bold programming.

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Opera Preview: “The Seasons” — A Fascinating and Disturbing Weather Report

March 8, 2025
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“I wanted, with this opera, to see if audiences and collaborators could feel something about our changing weather, in an artistic space.”

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Classical Album Review: Handel’s Oratorio “Jephtha,” in All its Highly Dramatic Glory

March 8, 2025
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Conductor Jane Glover, marvelous soloists — including superstar countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen — and a superb chorus and orchestra invigorate one of Handel’s last and greatest works.

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