Classical Music
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.
Two Boston-area chamber music ensembles recently ended their seasons. Each embraced the present in its own distinctive way.
Part of the pleasure of reviewing Skylark’s performances is to spread the word: this vocal ensemble is nothing short of amazing.
Sir Simon Rattle revisits the music of Benjamin Britten and Elim Chan once again draws on her remarkable ear for detail.
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.
The BEMF performed the work in July 2023 in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, to enormous enthusiasm.
The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich recording of Mendelssohn’s Symphonies doesn’t cast the composer as a radical, but the effort highlights the strengths of his music and finds ways to put distinctive interpretive stamps on several of these scores.
Pianist Marc-André Hamelin demonstrated a total command and control of his materials.
Rimsky-Korsakov’s delightful village comedy, based on a Gogol short story, receives a modern recording that features a superb international cast.
The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is a rare gem in the already star-studded crown of European ensembles.
Arts Remembrance: The Musical Mission of Joel Cohen