Jonathan Blumhofer
In both performances tempos are fleet but not rushed. The big moments – from the hellish apex of the first movement’s development to the screaming climax of the Scherzo and the cathartic resolution of the finale – pack heavy punches.
While one is willing to grant a 27-year-old conductor some benefit of the doubt, there’s little here to suggest that the Great Nordic Hope of Classical Music isn’t simply out of his depth.
This gripping and engaging release from HK Gruber and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra manages to thread the needle between the various strands of Kurt Weill’s musical personality.
This BBC Symphony Orchestra series, dedicated to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ nine symphonies, comes to a triumphant end with this disc.
Don’t let the redundancy of much of this album’s repertoire dissuade you. On all the vital metrics, Liebestod delivers
Missy Mazzoli’s scoring is generally airy and virtuosic, yet Dark with Excessive Bright doesn’t seem to add up to more than the sum of its parts.
Quatuor Diotima evince a thorough command of György Ligeti’s style, as well as a breathtaking grasp of the demands he makes on the instruments.
Quatuor Diotima evince a thorough command of György Ligeti’s style, as well as a breathtaking grasp of the demands he makes on the instruments.
Pianist Beatrice Rana, joined by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Yanick Nézet-Séguin, plays the daylights out of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.
Music Documentary Review: “Music Under the Swastika” — Uncomfortably Timely
The road to ultimate destruction is lined by spiritual apathy, intellectual carelessness, and moral equivalency.
Read More about Music Documentary Review: “Music Under the Swastika” — Uncomfortably Timely