Jonathan Blumhofer
Fiddler Daniel Hope’s new all-Schnittke disc with pianist Alexey Botvinov brings with it a level of authority that demands respect.
Read More
Violinist Hilary Hahn’s blend of musical curiosity, expressive savvy, and technical excellence doesn’t often appear in one person.
Read More
Manfred Honeck’s one of the finest and most exciting Beethoven conductors around, but his interpretive decisions result in an account of the Ninth’s climactic sequence that comes over as episodic and mannered.
Read More
The VPO’s performance doesn’t want for energy or purpose because of the lack of a crowd. Rather, there seems to be an internal imperative to the ensemble’s music-making that isn’t always apparent at these events.
Read More
One can only hope that Gail Samuel’s hiring means that the BSO’s welcome-but-fitful efforts at expanding its repertoire and engaging the community of late will become central to its post-pandemic mission.
Read More
There’s much to admire in the color, character, and urgency of the Minnesotans’ playing and the overall strong direction from conductor Osmo Vänskä.
Read More
There are some smartly colored and well-handled performances here, but it’s hard to get past the recording’s unsatisfactory acoustics.
Read More
This joint album from the Jupiter String Quartet and Jasper String Quartet is striking for its backstory but really memorable for its smart program and fine execution.
Read More
Taken together, these four pieces showcase a composer whose handling of the orchestra is expert and whose sense of form, in these works at least, feels unerringly right.
Read More
Arts Commentary: In Memoriam, James Levine (1943-2021)
Do any of his accomplishments – including James Levine’s raising the level of an orchestra’s playing to new heights – really excuse sexual predation?I’d argue in the negative.
Read More