Jonathan Blumhofer
Soprano-conductor Barbara Hannigan’s semiquincentennial album reframes familiar American classics through a lens of wistfulness, insight, and quiet defiance.
A thoughtfully curated program uncovers surprising connections between George Gershwin and Vienna’s early 20th-century avant-garde.
With Carlos Simon’s “Four Black American Dances,” the Pittsburgh Symphony offers a thoughtful and resonant recontextualization of Dvořák’s Ninth.
Andris Nelsons and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver a polished but curiously inert reading of a symphonic powerhouse.
A polished, detail-rich account of two lyrical concertos, distinguished more by clarity and refinement than by risk or fire.
Guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan’s ambitious survey reframes the American story through guitar, poetry, and protest.
Orchestral splendor meets interpretive risk in two Mahler releases.
Early promise, enduring vision, and a lifetime of well-timed reinvention.
Anne-Sophie Mutter’s latest album sidesteps easy binaries, pairing Widmann’s mercurial Beethoven study with works by Chin, Darvishi, and Adès in performances of striking authority.
Arts Commentary: The Kennedy Center and the Boston Symphony Orchestra — A Tale of Two Crises
A court-ordered reset in Washington and a self-inflicted rupture in Boston expose deeper failures of leadership, transparency, and trust.
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