How do you make filmed opera relevant in the Age of COVID? The BLO isolated the performers from one another and made E.A. Poe’s story the dream of an immigrant child in detention on the US/Mexico border.
Music
Classical Album Review: John Adams Orchestral Works
My Father Knew Charles Ives and Harmonielehre make an excellent pairing on the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s new, all-Adams album led by music director Giancarlo Guerrero.
Opera Preview: Donizetti’s “The Pariah” — One of the Most Significant Opera Releases of the Past Few Years
The long-forgotten Il paria (1829), a work that Donizetti himself prized more highly than many of his other works, has now been reconstructed by a scholarly team and given a splendid recording.
Album Review: “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen” — Kid Cudi Finds Himself, Again
Occasional slip-ups shouldn’t obscure appreciation of Kid Cudi’s fantastic vocal performance.
Classical Album Review: “Adrian Boult: A Musical Legacy” — Introduction to a Special Conductor
Sir Adrian Boult certainly had his ups and downs as a conductor, but these performances showcase him largely at his best.
Opera Album Review: Leonardo “no-dah” Vinci’s “Gismondo” — Quite Wonderful Stuff, Splendidly Performed.
Lovers of Baroque opera will want to scoop this one up quickly. I certainly have more respect and affection for Leonardo Vinci, now that I’ve come to know several of his operas.
Music Remembrance: MF DOOM — The Artist as Supervillain
The sonic thumbprint of MF DOOM will live eternally in the forensics of hip-hop DNA and underground culture as a whole.
Book Review: “How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year”
Music fans who miss, or missed, the long party that was mainstream music in the mid-’80s will be skillfully taken back to fast times in Can’t Slow Down.
Jazz Album Review: “El Arte del Bolero” — Passionate Homage to the Era of the Bolero
So Miguel Zenón, who on saxophone has the facility of a bebopper, which he uses discreetly, is here a singer as well as an instrumentalist.
Jazz Album Reviews: Dave Brubeck x 2
Two from Dave Brubeck: Time Outtakes, the alternate tracks for the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s classic 1959 album Time Out is very good to have; Lullabies is filled with the intimate sound of the pianist’s old age, tender affection, and distilled musical wisdom.