Classical Music

Opera Album Review: A Major New Opera that the Met Has Ignored — Tobias Picker’s “Awakenings”

June 22, 2024
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This world-premiere recording lets us hear one of the most effective recent operas, based on the famous book by Dr. Oliver Sacks.

Classical Music Album Review: Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy — A Fabulous Four-Hand Team

June 18, 2024
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Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy’s debut CD is breathtaking, released a few months after the pair’s acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall earlier this year.

Concert Review: Third Coast Percussion at the Rockport Music Festival

June 17, 2024
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It has been nearly 20 years, but Third Coast Percussion has managed to retain its uncanny freshness and vitality.

Opera Album Review: Cyrille Dubois Does French Opera Arias — A Major Release to Treasure

June 3, 2024
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French opera arias, many recorded for the first time, by the enchanting tenor Cyrille Dubois. The vocal treasures here include a stirring 1842 denunciation of slavery in the Caribbean.

Classical Album Review: Experiential Orchestra’s “American Counterpoints” — Fine Music Hiding in Plain Sight

June 1, 2024
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There’s no question that either the violinist or the orchestra are completely at home with Julia Perry’s larger style or the notes: this is about as confident and secure a first recording as they come.

Concert Reviews: Chamber Music Roundup — Radius Ensemble and Chameleon Arts Ensemble

May 30, 2024
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Two Boston-area chamber music ensembles recently ended their seasons. Each embraced the present in its own distinctive way.

Classical Album Review: Skylark’s “Clear Voices in the Dark” — Music from a Time of Turmoil

May 20, 2024
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Part of the pleasure of reviewing Skylark’s performances is to spread the word: this vocal ensemble is nothing short of amazing.

Classical Album Reviews: LSO Plays Britten Orchestral Works and “All These Lighted Things” from Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

May 17, 2024
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Sir Simon Rattle revisits the music of Benjamin Britten and Elim Chan once again draws on her remarkable ear for detail.

Classical Album Reviews: James Ehnes plays Bernstein and Williams and ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Does “City Noir”

May 16, 2024
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The performance of John Adams’s “City Noir” is swift and characterful, though sometimes pushed perhaps a bit too hard for its own good. The rendition of Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade” is clear but a bit too safe.

Opera Album Review: “Circé,” A Big Hit from the 2023 Boston Early Music Festival, Now Enchantingly Recorded

May 13, 2024
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The BEMF performed the work in July 2023 in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, to enormous enthusiasm.

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