Classical Music

Classical Albums Reviews: Seong-Jin Cho and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Play Ravel

March 21, 2025
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A pair of pleasant traversals of the French master’s complete piano music, or thereabout, from the still-relative-newcomer Seong-Jin Cho and the established Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Classical Album Reviews: James Ehnes performs Lalo, Saint-Saëns, & Sarasate and Benjamin Schmid plays Gulda & Weill

March 20, 2025
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Violinist James Ehnes and the BBC Philharmonic supply some truly great performances; violinist Benjamin Schmid revels in composer Friedrich Gulda’s freewheeling sense of play.

Classical Album Review: Semyon Bychkov and Paavo Järvi Conduct Mahler

March 19, 2025
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Semyon Bychkov supplies an extraordinarily well-played account of Mahler’s Third; Paavo Järvi’s version of Mahler’s Fifth avoids the more idiosyncratic excesses of Leonard Bernstein’s superb 1987 Vienna recording.

Concert Review: Rolling Thunder — The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Violinist Ray Chen

March 18, 2025
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Violinist Ray Chen and the BSO delivered one of the most seismic performances of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto that I’ve heard.

Concert Review: Chameleon Arts Ensemble — Between Two Worlds

March 12, 2025
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Navigating the clash between tradition and experimentation — they are often two vastly different artistic worlds — requires bold programming.

Opera Preview: “The Seasons” — A Fascinating and Disturbing Weather Report

March 8, 2025
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“I wanted, with this opera, to see if audiences and collaborators could feel something about our changing weather, in an artistic space.”

Classical Album Review: Handel’s Oratorio “Jephtha,” in All its Highly Dramatic Glory

March 8, 2025
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Conductor Jane Glover, marvelous soloists — including superstar countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen — and a superb chorus and orchestra invigorate one of Handel’s last and greatest works.

Concert Review: Vikingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang — Opposites Attract

March 2, 2025
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Playing side-by-side on two different pianos facing in opposite directions on the Symphony Hall stage, Vikingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang were as complementary, in a flavorsome way, as lemon and chocolate.

Classical Album Reviews: Debussy Sonatas and Arc III

February 27, 2025
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Nash Ensemble’s new album captures much of what makes Claude Debussy’s chamber music so fresh and beloved. Orion Weiss’s Arc III is smart, timely programming, dispatched with insight and care.

Classical Album Review: Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Music of Mahler and Weill

February 26, 2025
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Sir Simon Rattle and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra solve the riddle of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7. The conductor and the London Symphony Orchestra also offer a refreshingly impish, characterful traversal of music by Kurt Weill.

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