Jonathan Blumhofer
Composer Charles Villiers Stanford’s best traits were formidable indeed.
Henry Cowell’s was an important, if now often forgotten, voice in 20th-century music.
The Altenberg-Lieder feature Alban Berg at his most direct and concise, as well as his most sumptuous.
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.
Andrew Manze and the RLPO have turned in one of the year’s great albums: potent, lyrical, haunting, and timely.
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.
Rarely in my experience has Ives’s visionary score sounded so fired with purpose.
George Szell’s Reign is ultimately an accessible, often sociable, but sometimes perplexing fan’s history of the Orchestra and its storied music director.
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.
Rethinking the Repertoire #22 – Florence Price’s “Mississippi River Suite”
Composer Florence Price’s lack of acceptance into the American canon is shameful.
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