Classical Music

Classical Concert Commentary: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Takes On the Contemporary

October 23, 2024
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It is only a month into the current season, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra has offered three pieces that have either been heard for the first time in Symphony Hall or given that more rare honor that evades most premieres — the deuxième performance.

Classical Concert Preview: Music Worcester’s The Complete Bach

October 22, 2024
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“The more you listen to Bach, the more the synapses fire and you just have to take hold of the reins and let the Bach horse take you wherever it will.”

Book Review: The Fascinating Life Story of a Great American Composer — Samuel Adler

October 17, 2024
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Samuel Adler, now 96 and still composing, has released an updated version of his rich, entertaining, and sometimes gripping memoir of a life well lived.

Opera Album Reviews: A Major Classical Label Arises — Four More Fine Baroque Operas

October 12, 2024
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Each of these four works has its own flavor, and lovers of Baroque and Classic-era music will happily scoop up one or more of the recordings.

Opera Review: White Snake Projects’s “Is This America?” — A Moral Parable for Our Times

September 29, 2024
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By Aaron Keebaugh The opera’s libretto moves back and forth fluently between Fannie Lou Hamer’s childhood years to her later struggles serving the cause of racial justice. On June 1, 1865, in front of a large crowd gathered at New York’s Cooper Union, Frederick Douglass gave a eulogy for Abraham Lincoln. The president had been…

Classical Album Reviews: “American Road Trip” and “Beyond the Years”

September 24, 2024
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Violinist Augustin Hadelich and pianist Orion Weiss prove that there is plenty of music written on these shores to explore, especially when you are not limited by region or style. Soprano Karen Slack and pianist Michelle Cann demonstrate the strength of Florence Price’s songs and arrangements.

Concert Review and Commentary: Music Worcester’s The Complete Bach & In Memoriam, Richard Dyer

September 23, 2024
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Music Worcester’s ambitious project, which will involve multiple Boston-area music groups, is slated to run the next eleven seasons. The goal will be to present every note the great man wrote. And a homage to the late Richard Dyer, the chief classical music critic of “The Boston Globe” for three decades.

Classical Album Review: American Organ Concertos, Performed With Plenty of Swagger

September 18, 2024
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Paul Jacobs, the day’s reigning organ virtuoso, has assayed a fascinating assortment of Americana that showcases the King of Instruments against an orchestra.

Opera Album Review: Baroque Music Enlivens the Boston Music Scene and Two New French Recordings

September 17, 2024
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The Boston Early Music Festival announces its 2024-25 season, and our critic welcomes world-premiere recordings of operas by Mondonville and Destouches, splendidly sung and glitteringly played.

Classical Album Review: “Grace” — The Music of Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas

September 17, 2024
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This album fills out Michael Tilson Thomas’s compositional catalogue, deepening our appreciation of it. More fundamentally, it adds meaningfully to the story of American concert music.

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