Classical Music

Classical Album Reviews: James Ehnes plays Sibelius and Frank Dupree performs Kapustin Concerti

December 2, 2024
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There are already countless fine documents of the Sibelius Concerto, but Canadian violinist James Ehnes finds new angles from which to examine this favorite; Frank Dupree is a dexterous keyboardist whose grasp of Nikolai Kapustin’s jazzy style is assured.

Concert Review: The Chameleon Arts Ensemble Channels the Energies of Adolescence

December 1, 2024
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The group presented a program of edgy music with the bloom of youth.

Classical Concert Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra Performs Kevin Puts’s “The Brightness of Light”

November 27, 2024
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Kevin Puts’s mesmerizing song cycle probes the passion, loss, and resignation in the relationship between the artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz.

Classical Concert Review: Berliner Philharmoniker Plays Bruckner

November 24, 2024
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The whole effort culminated in the finest orchestral performance these ears have heard in Boston since, well, the last time the Berliner Philharmoniker was here.

Concert Review: Horizon Ensemble Ushers in a Festive Autumn

November 23, 2024
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There wasn’t much autumnal despondency in this Horizon Ensemble program; it was dedicated to the upside of the season, an invitation to enjoy all its warmth, friendship, and festivity.

Classical Concert Review: The Belvedere Series Plays Sibelius, Grieg, Nazaykinskaya, Vasks, and Shostakovich

November 20, 2024
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The Belvedere Series is a chamber music group whose mission of bringing the art form to new audiences is matched by an admirable desire to expand and redefine just what the canon is. Even better: that ambition is backed up by top-flight programming, playing, and musicianship.

Opera Review: Boston Lyric Opera’s “Aida” — Intimacy Rather than Excess

November 18, 2024
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The only serious flaw in Boston Lyric Opera’s stripped-down staging approach to Aida was that not all the participants were quite up to the organization’s usual standards.

Musician Interview: Cappella Clausura Explores the Light Amidst the Darkness

November 12, 2024
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Among Artistic Director Holly Druckman’s goals is to turn Cappella Clausura into a “very serious player in the Boston early-music-new music scene.”

Concert Review: The Jerusalem Quartet Balances Lyricism and Vitality

November 6, 2024
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The performance of the Jerusalem Quartet was marked by considerable poise, polish, and personality.

Classical Music Album Review: Klaus Mäkelä’s Characterless Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 4-6

November 4, 2024
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The performances on the recording exhibit no conception of Shostakovich’s style – where is this music’s irony and sarcasm, let alone pathos? – not to mention any sense of how to navigate large-scale forms.

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