Jonathan Blumhofer
Andris Nelsons’s conception of Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung was impressive, marked by strong contrasts of character, flexibility of phrasing, and a commendable grasp of musical space.
I’m not entirely sure if Enigma just adds up to the sum of its parts or if it, in fact, exceeds them. Either way, it is music of stirring, striking originality.
For Benjamin Zander and his musicians – as for all of us – it was a strange, even desperate, several months.
This is an all-English album whose strongest moments are mighty and who’s most intriguing piece is a revelation.
Some tracks work better than others, but Maya Beiser’s larger effort succeeds in presenting Glass’s music in a more nuanced – and musically complex – light.
A thoughtfully conceived, technically excellent, beautifully recorded, and expressively rich album that celebrates 20th-century piano music by (mostly) American composers.
One could hardly ask for more persuasive Bruch advocacy than what the Nash Ensemble offers here.
Here is an outstanding recording from the Escher String Quartet of music by two stylistically divergent 20th-century American composers, Samuel Barber and Charles Ives.
For Joan Tower fans, this disc is a must; for the Tower-curious, it offers an excellent introduction to the composer’s wider work, all of it compellingly played.
Interpretively, this installment in the BSO’s cycle of Dmitri Shostakovich’s fifteen symphonies is occasionally (and a bit surprisingly) spotty.
Recent Comments