Aaron Keebaugh
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is a rare gem in the already star-studded crown of European ensembles.
The music of Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir embraces the elemental, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra skillfully waded into its searching mystery.
The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra’s recent performance supplied drama, vigor, and reflection.
Some may continue to lament the (supposed) dearth of opera in Boston, but an honest look at these enterprising companies suggest that vivid stories are being told with invention and economy.
The Finnish conductor’s welcome return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra heralds the kick-off of a two-week festival of Nordic music.
Mass in D was Ethel Smyth’s first large-scale score and, according to Cappella Clausura conductor Amelia LeClair, the composition expressed her yearning for hope and redemption.
Pianist Yunchan Lim struck an arresting balance between thunderous drama and filigreed lyricism as he tackled Rachmaninoff’s knuckle-busting score.
The performance conveyed the essence of the Du Bois Orchestra’s mission: when played with exuberance, long-neglected and little-played works can generate as much excitement as they do wonder that they were ever overlooked.
Karina Canellakis’s tour through Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” showed why she remains a conductor who continues to exercise a remarkable interpretive power.
Given its considerable strength and vitality, Ethel Smyth’s music deserves its newfound place in the limelight. Let’s hope the BSO programs more of her music again soon.
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