A world-premiere recording of Siroe, King of Persia makes it clear that Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) was as fine a craftsman as the painter with a similar name.
Classical Music
Opera CD Review: The Greatest Spanish Opera? — A New Recording of Enrique Granados’s “Goyescas”
Imagine the excitement of experiencing, for the first time, an opera by one of the greatest composers to have come out of the Spanish-speaking world!
Opera CD Review: Carl Maria von Weber’s Wildly Assorted Candy Box — A Spiffy New Recording
The rarely staged Oberon is easy to love and will fascinate admirers of early nineteenth-century music.
Opera CD Review: A Young, Immensely Assured Joan Sutherland in Weber’s “Euryanthe”
The oft-neglected “other” great opera by Carl Maria von Weber, splendidly performed in 1955 and in remarkably clear and vivid sound. I hope this opera’s day will yet come.
Classical Music Album Review: Stephen Hough plays Brahms — The Final Piano Pieces
This CD with British pianist Stephen Hough is a gem — and it was named Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine.
Classical Album Reviews: Andris Nelsons’ CBSO Recordings, and Mariss Jansons’ SACD Recordings
A collection that provides a fascinating bit of context for how Andris Nelsons has developed as a conductor over the last decade-plus, and an honest, mostly flattering, tribute to a much-loved conductor, the late Mariss Jansons.
Classical Album Reviews: “Strangers in PARadISe,” Camille Saint-Saëns’ Orchestral Works, and Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”
Diana Tishchenko’s a violinist well worth keeping an eye on; Jun Märkl leads the MSO in brisk, shapely readings of pieces by Saint-Saëns; Françoix-Xavier Roth and Les Siecles come up with some winning Berlioz.
Classical CD Reviews: “La Damnation de Faust,” Villa-Lobos’ Guitar & Harmonica Concertos, and Messiaen Orchestral Works
John Nelson’s La Damnation de Faust is a triumph; you will rarely encounter Villa-Lobos played with greater understanding or in better sound than here; Paavo Järvi and his orchestra’s survey of Messiaen orchestral works early and late is resplendent.
Top Classical Concerts and Recordings of 2019
Classical music continued to thrive, locally and globally, in 2019.
Classical Album Reviews: Beethoven’s “Leonore,” Tesla Quartet’s “Joy & Desolation,” and Emmanuel Pahud’s “Dreamtime”
A fresh, bracing take on Beethoven as a dramatist, Tesla Quartet serves up refreshingly direct and emotionally-complex performances of Mozart, and flautist Emmanuel Pahud has crafted an ear-catching, unpredictable program.