The last Chameleon Arts Ensemble performance of this season, “mystic moons and dream music,” promised much, with three famed masterpieces by Debussy, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg.
May 212013
May 182013
The idea of house concerts seems to be getting some legs. The “fabulous world headquarters loft of Accurate Records” again plays host, this time to the eclectic San Francisco band, Mercury Falls.
May 162013
The selection of Andris Nelsons, 34, as the BSO’s next chief is an inspired choice and bold, and not just because of his age.
May 112013
In the end, the technological snafu probably did more than the musical selections themselves to prove that listening to symphonic music ‘live’ is not a stuffy affair.
May 062013
The return to the standard repertoire, which, since January, has been the orchestra’s primary focus, is safe, unassuming, and (potentially, at least) creatively stifling.
May 032013
John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby gets its long-overdue Boston premiere, as does Jan Dismas Zelenka’s 1739 Missa Votiva. Handel’s Jephtha returns to the Handel and Haydn Society after a century and a half, and the Walden Chamber Players explore music from Cuba.
May 012013
Generally in New England we’re outspoken about nearly everything – politics, social issues, sports – so why not the arts?
Apr 292013
The Boston Lyric Opera’s production of “The Flying Dutchman” may not the subtlest you will see — the Freudian elements are slathered on pretty thick — but the nervy dramatic concept adds to our understanding of the opera without compromising its core elements.
Apr 252013
In my experience, few leave an Evgeny Kissin concert disappointed.
Apr 242013
Next season’s stale programming certainly derives from the BSO’s lack of a music director guiding and shaping the overall course of the season.
Apr 162013
Indeed, for much of the latter part of his career, Colin Davis was that rarest of breeds, a conductor seemingly without ego, one who made music simply for the love of it.
Apr 152013
Sunday’s concert had the Discovery Ensemble and conductor Courtney Lewis playing with uncommon vigor and focus: this was one of the most exciting symphonic performances that any local orchestra has given this season.
Apr 032013
“Once people hear this music they do indeed come back for it – it is pleasing on so many levels: it soars, it soothes, it excites, it transports.”
Apr 012013
The Boston Camerata proffers a constant sense of discovery and rediscovery, of unusually lively musicianship and scholarship, and a sprightly sense of the humanity – and the snarly complexity – behind the music it performs.
Mar 312013
All is not well with the classical music scene in Boston. Boston’s Church of St. John the Evangelist has pulled funding from its Wednesday Concert Series.
Mar 282013
A busy month that includes a pair of appearances by composer/conductor Oliver Knussen, turns by stellar pianists Evgeny Kissin and Lars Vogt. Also, the final concert this season in the admirable Music for Food Series.
Mar 262013
Boston Musica Viva presented an invigorating (if early) conclusion to the season, providing an ear-catching snapshot of chamber music written in the last thirty-plus years.
Mar 252013
Daniele Gatti’s management of the orchestra – the unfolding of melodic lines and instrumental textures – was particularly noteworthy, matched here with a keen sensitivity to the music’s expressive detail: this was a riveting performance.