Classical Music

Opera Album Review: A Major German Baroque Opera — Reinhard Keiser’s “Ulysses” Gets a Spiffy Recording

March 28, 2023
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All in all, an ear-opening introduction to an important opera composer — and to the little-known tradition of German-language (with Italian touches) Baroque opera.

Opera Album Review: A Groundbreaking French Grand Opera Receives Its First Major Commercial Recording

March 25, 2023
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Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable paved the way for major works by Meyerbeer himself, Halévy, Verdi, Wagner (in German), Saint-Saëns, Massenet, and others — and this splendid performance shows why.

Concert Review: Conductor Thomas Adès Takes The Boston Symphony Orchestra To Hell and Back

March 24, 2023
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Conductor and composer Thomas Adès brought more of his intriguing music to Symphony Hall this weekend with two selections from his recent ballet, The Dante Project.

Concert Review: Boston Camerata’s “Dido and Aeneas” — Plenty of Contemporary Razzmatazz

March 20, 2023
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What emerged was a lithe, almost Shakespearean rendition, complete with moments of unexpected humor and an infectious dramatic vitality.

Classical Music Album Review: Paul Bowles’s “A Picnic Cantata” — A Bittersweet Charmer

March 19, 2023
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Festival of American Song Records has released an elegant, touching performance of the totally delightful half-hour long “Picnic Cantata.”

Classical Concert Review: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Plays Wolfe and Górecki

March 17, 2023
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Brimming with edge-of-seat intensity and fist-waving theatricality, Julia Wolfe’s oratorio “Her Story” is the unequivocal highlight of the current BSO season.

Opera Album Review: A Major Baroque Opera in English Receives a Stylish Recording

March 15, 2023
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Aside from English pronunciation issues, the singers put over this remarkably polished and attractive opera by one of England’s great seventeenth-century composers with great panache, matching the superb instrumentalists.

Opera Interview: Director Anne Bogart Takes on “Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs”

March 14, 2023
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“We take the audience on a journey that’s not part of a traditional approach to opera.”

Classical Music Album Review: Bamberger Symphoniker’s “Liebestod” — Anything But Sleepy

March 12, 2023
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Don’t let the redundancy of much of this album’s repertoire dissuade you. On all the vital metrics, Liebestod delivers

Classical Album Review: Missy Mazzoli’s “Dark with Excessive Bright”

March 11, 2023
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Missy Mazzoli’s scoring is generally airy and virtuosic, yet Dark with Excessive Bright doesn’t seem to add up to more than the sum of its parts.

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