Throughout these Études, Driver’s playing marries tonal warmth with textural precision.
Classical Music
April Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Opera CD Review: Two Splendid World-Premiere Recordings Rediscover an Exotic Master of Song — Reynaldo Hahn
Attention is being paid today to talented composers who have been sidelined or disdained because of their race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Reynaldo Hahn qualifies on several counts.
Classical CD Review: Antoine Tamestit, Cédric Tiberghien, and Matthias Goerne play/sing Brahms
One might risk hyperbole by saying so, but in this instance such recklessness is worth it: this album sounds like Brahms as he ought to be played and sung.
Book Review: Alex Ross’s Dizzying, Engrossing, and Sometimes Overwhelming Exploration of Wagnerism
For Alex Ross, Wagnerism is as profound and far-reaching an aesthetic ideology – for good, ill, and all degrees in between – as any.
Classical CD Review: Daniel Hope and Alexey Botvinov Play Alfred Schnittke
Fiddler Daniel Hope’s new all-Schnittke disc with pianist Alexey Botvinov brings with it a level of authority that demands respect.
Short Fuse Podcast #36: An Interview with Neal Goren, Conductor and Artistic Director of Catapult Opera
New podcast host Elizabeth Howard talks to Neal Goren about contemporary opera: the trends, attracting new audiences, and how opera can be adapted for the internet.
Opera Album Review: Rossini’s Splendid Passover Opera for Paris — “Moïse et Pharaon”
Just in time for Passover: another fine world-premiere Rossini recording, the 1827 French version of his Moses-in-Egypt opera.
Arts Commentary: In Memoriam, James Levine (1943-2021)
Do any of his accomplishments – including James Levine’s raising the level of an orchestra’s playing to new heights – really excuse sexual predation?I’d argue in the negative.
Classical Album Review: Hilary Hahn’s “Paris” — A Thrilling Ride
Violinist Hilary Hahn’s blend of musical curiosity, expressive savvy, and technical excellence doesn’t often appear in one person.