Jonathan Blumhofer
The BLO’s production was one of the troupe’s true staging triumphs of late, transforming the Steriti Ice Rink into a 1950s-style nightclub.
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Andrew Manze and the RLPO have turned in one of the year’s great albums: potent, lyrical, haunting, and timely.
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Two recommended discs: James Brawn’s complete Beethoven piano sonata series continues while Simone Dinnerstein and A Far Cry execute Philip Glass’s chorale-like writing with remarkable fervency and warmth.
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Rarely in my experience has Ives’s visionary score sounded so fired with purpose.
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George Szell’s Reign is ultimately an accessible, often sociable, but sometimes perplexing fan’s history of the Orchestra and its storied music director.
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Variations and fugues are the overriding themes of pianist/composer Michael Brown’s captivating new album. If you’re an Andris Nelsons fan, this Deutsche Grammophon album won’t disappoint, and a disc that features three pieces by composer Ferdinand Ries, who was friendly with Beethoven, is worth hearing.
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The Birringer Duo’s disc is a terrific, engaging release, The Colin Currie Group’s performance is nothing short of a powerhouse, and pianist Liza Stepanova plays with lots of character and color.
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Peter Oundjian and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra deliver a great album, smartly programmed and played to the hilt. Leonard Bernstein’s live Mahler was often electrifying; this performance, even with some cracked notes and hairy transitions, certainly is.
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New Yorker critic Alex Ross has called the LAPO the best orchestra in the country and that appellation seems about right.
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Rethinking the Repertoire #21– Alban Berg’s “Altenberg-Lieder”
The Altenberg-Lieder feature Alban Berg at his most direct and concise, as well as his most sumptuous.
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