Classical Music
The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra’s recent performance supplied drama, vigor, and reflection.
The Portland Youth Philharmonic’s East Coast tour allows the ensemble, whose membership is mostly drawn from the city of Portland, and its nearby suburbs, to showcase their artistry in venues that will do them sonic justice, including Worcester’s Mechanics Hall.
The Sinfonia of London and Susanna Mälkki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra release recordings filled with color and beauty.
The shamefully belated release of the first recording (1992!) of “L’olimpiade,” a major work by Hasse (a renowned contemporary of Handel and Vivaldi), featuring some of the best singers of the day, including male soprano Randall K. Wong.
Much-loved short works by Pergolesi and Mozart storm the stage, thanks to spiffy French dialogue between the musical numbers.
Rejected in Gluck’s time because it lacked dramatic thrust, today “Écho and Narcissus” proves to be a candy-box of delights.
Some may continue to lament the (supposed) dearth of opera in Boston, but an honest look at these enterprising companies suggest that vivid stories are being told with invention and economy.
With Egyptian-born Amina Edris in the title role, Massenet’s opera engages the musical and theatrical imagination with its rich characterizations of Greek mythic adventures.
Conductor Benjamin Zander put the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra to challenging work at Symphony Hall, while, on record, Isabelle Faust delivers a vital, urgent, and engrossing traversal of the Britten Violin Concerto.
The Finnish conductor’s welcome return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra heralds the kick-off of a two-week festival of Nordic music.
Recent Comments