Jonathan Blumhofer

Classical Album Review: Attacca Quartet’s “Of All Joys” — Crafting a Space All its Own

December 17, 2021
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Taken together, the selections on Attacca Quartet’s latest release is something of a meditation on the human condition.

Classical Album Review: Cleveland Orchestra Plays Schnittke and Prokofiev

December 12, 2021
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If you’re looking for instrumental music that grapples with tumultuous events, times, and circumstances, this may well be the disc for you.

Classical Concert Review: Pianist Conrad Tao in Recital

December 3, 2021
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During the pandemic months, Conrad Tao – who, in addition to being an exceptional pianist, is also an accomplished composer – has evidently been honing his skills as an improviser.

Concert/Stream Review: A Far Cry’s “Emergence” — Typically Eclectic

December 1, 2021
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The Crier’s program pairs three composers one doesn’t always find together. As is likewise the norm with this group and their selections, everything somehow connects – and on multiple levels.

Classical Album Review: “Scenes from the Kalevala”

November 29, 2021
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This disc highlights various, early-20th-century works inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish creation epic. It is a fantastic demonstration of creative programming and invigorating orchestral performance.

Classical CD Review: Shostakovich & Arensky Piano Trios

November 20, 2021
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A mightily played, deeply felt, and finely recorded album from Trio Con Brio.

Classical Album Review: Florence Price’s Symphonies nos. 1 & 3

November 14, 2021
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Florence Price’s voice and the richness and complexity of an almost-entirely neglected body of symphonic music by Black American composers can be heard in this excellent recording.

Classical Music CD Review: Hensel & Mendelssohn String Quartets

November 13, 2021
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This is an album of real spirit and vigor, a mix of the thoughtful and the exciting, all bracingly recorded.

Classical Concert Preview: Symphony Pro Musica Plays Walton, Dawson, and Elgar

November 11, 2021
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This weekend’s concerts all add up to a quintessential Symphony Pro Musica event: a mix of the familiar and unexpected, with various old friends coming by to visit along the way.

Book Review: “Mr. Beethoven” — Alternative Musical History

November 7, 2021
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Beethoven never left Europe. But he could have. And the possibility that he might have visited Boston is the basis of Paul Griffiths’ touching, witty, and thought-provoking new novel.

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