Jonathan Blumhofer
Violinist Augustin Hadelich and pianist Orion Weiss prove that there is plenty of music written on these shores to explore, especially when you are not limited by region or style. Soprano Karen Slack and pianist Michelle Cann demonstrate the strength of Florence Price’s songs and arrangements.
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Paul Jacobs, the day’s reigning organ virtuoso, has assayed a fascinating assortment of Americana that showcases the King of Instruments against an orchestra.
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This album fills out Michael Tilson Thomas’s compositional catalogue, deepening our appreciation of it. More fundamentally, it adds meaningfully to the story of American concert music.
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Composer Anna Clyne’s collection of works for mostly solo instruments offers enormous musical satisfaction; pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason knows how to craft an enticing program and advocate for it.
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When it comes to defining American music, Pacifica Quartet’s new recording offers some welcome food for thought.
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George Li’s latest release showcases a budding artist with a growing command of musical structure, technique, and character; Bruce Liu’s got the measure of Erik Satie’s music — next time, perhaps, he can take on more of it.
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Conductor Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony deliver a conspicuously satisfying and fluent Bruckner Seventh. Dutch violinist Janine Jansen also possesses an uncommon ability to enliven the familiar.
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John Wilson and his players clearly have the measure of Eric Coates’ tuneful, often clever, style and deliver it to the hilt; Aziz Shokhakimov and the Strasbourgers, though still on a learning curve, have a bright future ahead of them.
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The Kansas City Symphony’s new Brahms album with outgoing music director Michael Stern showcases three of his works with keyboard in arrangements for orchestra; Lahav Shani’s cycle of Bruckner symphonies with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra continues with a sterling account of the Fifth.
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Concert Review and Commentary: Music Worcester’s The Complete Bach & In Memoriam, Richard Dyer
Music Worcester’s ambitious project, which will involve multiple Boston-area music groups, is slated to run the next eleven seasons. The goal will be to present every note the great man wrote. And a homage to the late Richard Dyer, the chief classical music critic of “The Boston Globe” for three decades.
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