Classical Music

Concert Review: Boston Chamber Music Society’s Season Opener — Savoring a Hidden Gem

October 5, 2023
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Performances of such zest and sensitivity deserve to be rewarded with rapt enthusiasm, even love.

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Concert Review: Worcester Chamber Music Society’s “Time Changes”

October 4, 2023
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Now in its 18th season, the membership of the Worcester Chamber Music Society has remained remarkably consistent, boasting a number of familiar faces from Boston’s chamber music and orchestral scenes.

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Jazz Commentary: Four Recent Composer-Driven Jazz Releases — New Wine in New Bottles

October 4, 2023
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Four recent releases illustrate what can happen when the only limits are the imagination of the composer and the passion of the performers.

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Classical Album Reviews: “For Clara” and “Bach Minimaliste”

September 26, 2023
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Reviews of Hélène Grimaud’s latest homage to Clara Schumann and La Tempête investigates seeming stylistic overlaps in the music of J. S. Bach, Henryk Górecki, Jehan Alain, Knut Nystedt, and John Adams.

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Opera Album Review: A Sprightly First Recording of Auber’s Love-Potion Opera

September 23, 2023
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Auber’s 1831 “Le Philtre” (“The Love Potion”) is an engaging romp that helped give birth to Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore.” Immensely popular in his own day, why isn’t it revived more often?

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Opera Review: Boston Lyric Opera’s “Madama Butterfly” — A Problematic Update

September 18, 2023
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The Boston Lyric Opera’s production was a reminder that Puccini’s score is sure to stand the test of time, even when valiant attempts to make the opera’s storyline more palatable fall short.

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Classical Album Review: Telegraph Quartet’s “Divergent Paths”

September 17, 2023
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A charming rendition of Ravel serves as a perfect foil to the rigors of the Schoenberg, which, tough nut though it remains, here gets just the sort of devoted advocacy it requires.

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Classical Album Review: Manfred Honeck Conducts Tchaikovsky and Schulhoff — It’s a Doozy!

September 16, 2023
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This is a Tchaikovsky Fifth that’s thoroughly lived in.

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Opera Album Review: A Splendiferous First Recording of an Opera by the Near-Legendary Composer Marin Marais

September 14, 2023
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Marin Marais, memorably enacted by Gérard Depardieu (and his son Guillaume) in the film “Tous les matins du monde,” proves a master of Baroque opera in this splendid recording.

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Opera Review: Tod Machover’s VALIS — Futuristic Sturm und Drang

September 12, 2023
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Let’s hope composer Tod Machover, Opera of The Future, and the Media Lab have more up their space-age sleeves.

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