Jonathan Blumhofer
As if the Discovery Ensemble’s impressive return after a three-month hiatus weren’t news enough, last week brought the announcement that Courtney Lewis has been appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, beginning this fall.
Two new recordings from Harmonia Mundi offer gripping performances, including one of the Smetana String Quartet no.1 that’s particularly full of fire and life.
Pianist Murray Perahia’s return this weekend, with Schumann’s A minor Concerto, seemed tailor-made on paper: he’s one of the world’s great chamber musicians and this concerto plays to all his strengths.
Pianist Benjamin Hochman is a musician who’s interested in insightful programs that can be provocative, speak across centuries, and engage the mind as much as they delight it.
On Sunday, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players celebrates its 50th birthday with a typically brilliant program, one that features four world premieres.
BSO’s conductor emeritus Bernard Haitink may be best known for his interpretations of Austro-German repertoire, but, on Saturday night, he channeled his inner Francophile.
Saturday’s reading of Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto greatly benefited from pianist Garrick Ohlsson’s steely yet sensitive account of the solo part.
There’s much in “La Pasión” to like. Composer Osvaldo Golijov’s use of Latin and South American musical forms has been well documented: the piece offers a striking compendium of idioms covering a huge geographical range.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project is in the habit of making convincing arguments for just about everything it plays and its performers do so again in these three CD releases featuring music by composers with a New England connection.
There are fistfuls of notes and some tremendous technical skill. But, with a couple of notable exceptions, the readings of some of the cornerstones of the solo piano repertoire by each pianist lack direction.
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