It’s Beethoven’s 250th birthday year: reviews of four sets of the complete piano concertos from, respectively, Paul Lewis, Stewart Goodyear, Inon Barnatan, and Stephen Hough.
Classical Music
Classical CD Reviews: “Key of A,” “Metamorphosis,” and “Reminiscences of Brazil”
An impressively original release from violinist Lara St. John and pianist Matt Herskowitz; a tremendous Ligeti performance from the Jupiter String Quartet; Justin Badgerow releases a finely curated and played survey of mostly 20th-century solo piano music from Brazil.
Classical CD Review: “Janáček: Solo Piano,” Schumann & Mendelssohn Chamber Music, Philip Glass Piano Works
Pianist Thomas Adès proves himself a sympathetic champion of Czech composer Leoš Janáček; it’s not often that a Schumann-Mendelssohn album focuses on the music of Clara and Fanny (rather than Robert and Felix); Jenny Lin’s performances of piano pieces by Philip Glass don’t lack for style or technical command.
Classical CD Reviews: Beach & Elgar Piano Quintets, Mark Abel’s “The Cave of Wondrous Voice,” and Ibragimova plays Shostakovich
It took more than a century, but Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet has finally got the recording it deserves; it would be hard to beat the all-star line-up featured in The Cave of Wondrous Voice; and ready for some flawless Shostakovich?
Performing Arts Series: Stories of Surviving COVID-19 — New England Conservatory
What lies beyond COVID-19 for the arts community?
Opera CD Review: Spontini’s Wacky Comic Opera, in Which Nothing Is as It Seems
Metamorfosi is a marvelously effective and amusing one-act opera that would suit college opera workshops splendidly.
Opera CD Review: An Album of Beethoven Arias? Soprano Chen Reiss’s Imaginative New Solo Disc Pulls it Off
Immortal Beloved is a CD that will appeal to lovers of fine singing and to people curious about some hidden corners of Beethoven’s output.
Classical CD Reviews: Thomas Adès’ Piano Works, “Ecstatic Science,” and Michael Gordon’s “Anonymous Man”
Thomas Adès is a formidable pianist and his output for his native instrument is fundamentally gripping; yMusic’s new album is a spectacularly-played and -recorded disc; Michael Gordon’s Anonymous Man is undeniably hypnotic but gets stuck in a loop that goes on for a mite too long.
Classical CD Reviews: François-Xavier Roth conducts Mussorgsky and Ravel, Manfred Honeck conducts Tchaikovsky and Leshnoff, and Mikolajus Čiurlionis Orchestral Works
François-Xavier Roth and his period ensemble Les Siècles serve up freshness of playing and conviction of interpretation; Manfred Honeck is a conductor who can draw compelling, electrifying accounts of the standard canon as if on cue; the verdict’s mixed on the music of Lithuanian-born composer Mikalojus Čiurlionis.
Classical CD Reviews: James MacMillan’s Viola Concerto, Magnus Lindberg’s “Accused,” and Richard Rodney Bennett Orchestral Works
James MacMillan’s Viola Concert is a magnificent addition to the repertoire; the debut recording of Magnus Lindberg’s song cycle Accused leaves a bit to be desired; a fetching, brilliant gathering of orchestral music by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.