Jonathan Blumhofer

Classical Music CD Reviews: Emerson String Quartet and Renée Fleming Do Justice to Viennese Modernists; Jerusalem Quartet Play Beethoven String Quartets

August 29, 2015
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The Emerson String Quartet and Renée Fleming team up for one of the finest recordings of the year.

Classical Music CD Reviews: Vadym Kholodenko plays Grieg and Saint-Saëns and Javier Perianes plays Grieg

August 28, 2015
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Javier Perianes is a musician of sweeping, Romantic sensibilities, eager to take a stand, and the result is a triumphant recording

Classical CD Reviews: John Adams’ “Absolute Jest” (SFS Media); Alexander Melnikov plays Schumann (Harmonia mundi)

August 27, 2015
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John Adams’ Absolute Jest is a sheer blast of fun, wildly inventive and, at its best, a vertiginous collage.

Concert Review: Monadnock Music String Quartet (in Trio Form)

August 5, 2015
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The trio’s musical offerings were substantial and not the easiest things for an occasional group to pull together.

Classical CD Reviews: James MacMillan conducts Vaughan Williams, MacMillan, and Britten and Boston Lyric Opera’s “Clemency”

July 30, 2015
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Two recent albums feature compositions by James MacMillan, one of Europe’s leading composers, as well as an opportunity to hear him conducting.

Classical Music Reviews: Andris Nelsons conducts Shostakovich, James Brawn plays Beethoven

July 29, 2015
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This recording is the first of a partial Shostakovich cycle Andris Nelsons and the BSO are embarking upon.

Classical CD Reviews: Isabelle Faust plays Schumann and the Dmitri Ensemble plays Shostakovich Chamber Symphonies

July 22, 2015
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Listening to Isabelle Faust’s performance of Schumann’s Violin Concerto I wondered why the piece has remained on the fringes of the repertoire for so long.

Opera Review: Thomas Adès’ “Powder Her Face” — Scandalously Relevant

June 25, 2015
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Powder Her Face proved the perfect capstone to Odyssey Opera’s month-long survey of British (mostly comic) opera: biting, darkly humorous, provocative, and relevant.

Concert Reviews: The First Wave of Odyssey Opera’s “The British Invasion”

June 4, 2015
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To say that Odyssey Opera continues to set the bar for opera performances in Boston may be a bit superfluous, but it’s true.

Commentary/CD Reviews: Recent Symphonic Recordings From Boston Orchestras

May 19, 2015
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A series of new and recent recordings by Boston orchestras demonstrate that, in the right hands, symphonic music since 1945 remains alive and well, still powerful, fresh, and vibrant.

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