Classical Music

Concert Review: Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Season Opener — A Mostly Auspicious Evening

October 7, 2023
Posted in , , ,

Ten years on, Andris Nelsons’s retains his remarkable gifts for expressing the raw power of music with dazzling panache.

Classical Album Review: Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s 90th(!) Recording — Orchestral Works by Grammy-Winning Composer Avner Dorman

October 6, 2023
Posted in , ,

The Israeli-born composer, a professor at Gettysburg College, composes music that intrigues the mind and glistens with fresh sounds.

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

October 5, 2023
Posted in , , ,

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

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

October 4, 2023
Posted in , , ,

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.

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

October 4, 2023
Posted in , , , , ,

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

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

September 26, 2023
Posted in , , ,

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.

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

September 23, 2023
Posted in , , ,

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?

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

September 18, 2023
Posted in , ,

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.

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

September 17, 2023
Posted in , , ,

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.

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

September 16, 2023
Posted in , , ,

This is a Tchaikovsky Fifth that’s thoroughly lived in.

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives