Jonathan Blumhofer
For balance and virtuosity, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra plays Rued Langgaard’s “Klippepastoraler” for all it’s worth. That just doesn’t end up being very much.
These stories occupy their own, distinctive spaces but they share something intangible. A kind of humanity, maybe? Perhaps.
This is a strongly-played effort that makes a powerful case for the vitality and worth of Erwin Schulhoff’s oeuvre, particularly his mature chamber music.
Overall, this is a strong program done in by unsatisfying recorded sound.
Pianist John Wilson, like his mentor Michael Tilson Thomas, is a servant of the music rather than its dictator and he knows both when and how to step back and let it speak.
As the composer moves from youth to middle age, Thomas Adès is unique among his contemporaries for his singular embrace of melody, harmony, and form.
The season-long celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Benjamin Zander’s debut as a conductor, which gets underway later this month when the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) returns to the stage, doesn’t stint on festive spirit.
Augustin Hadelich has the feeling of this music – its bittersweet melodic phrases, dancing riffs, and restrained passion – well in hand.
This recording presents one of the most lucid and well-programmed portraits of John Adams to emerge, well, in a long while.
Classical Critic’s Notebook: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2
Whatever Rachmaninoff’s conflicted feelings about writing symphonies were, there’s nothing ambiguous about the content of his Second Symphony. From start to finish, it’s a marvel of melodic freshness and brilliant instrumentation.
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