Classical Music

Classical Album Review: Orion Weiss’s “Arc 1” — Crafting a Strong Sense of Impending Doom

May 22, 2022
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The album serves up exceptional stuff, even if the program’s a touch macabre and pianist Orion Weiss’s well-written liner notes make uncomfortable connections between the world of pre-World War 1 Europe and our own pandemic-riddled age.

Opera Review: “Champion: An Opera in Jazz” — Fought to a Draw

May 22, 2022
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The cast for this Boston Lyric Opera production was first-rate, and composer Terence Blanchard has worked in a wide variety of jazz styles and shifts gears to keep the score swinging throughout.

Classical Album Review: The Claremont Trio’s “Queen of Hearts”

May 21, 2022
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What might be the most impressive feature of this disc: everything on it was written for The Claremont Trio since 2008. The album stands as a shining testament to their adeptness as an ensemble as well as their curiosity as musicians.

Classical Music Review: Osvaldo Golijov’s “Nazareno”

May 15, 2022
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Nazareno is bright, often joyous, and easy on the ears. That ought to count for something.

Classical Album Review: Violinist Lea Birringer plays Sinding and Mendelssohn

May 14, 2022
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Violinist Lea Birringer’s performance of the Christian Sinding selections are impressive. Her Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, though, is missing drive, excitement, and passion.

Classical Album Review: “When There Are No Words…” — Do Music and Politics Mix?

April 28, 2022
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When There Are No Words presents six pieces written between 1936 and 1980 by composers responding (at least seemingly) to contemporaneous political events and situations.

Classical Album Review: “Opalescent” from the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

April 27, 2022
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Opalescent’s overriding aspect is celebratory – but from a variety of angles.

Book Review: “Every Good Boy Does Fine” — A Career in Music, Elucidated With Brilliance

April 21, 2022
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Pianist Jeremy Denk is a sensitive and articulate polymath who can elucidate his ideas about music with wit, humor, and style.

Opera Album Review: The Boston Early Music Festival — One of the Best Recordings Ever of a Baroque Opera

April 16, 2022
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The Boston Early Music Festival returns in person — and in a world-premiere recording of a German Baroque opera.

“Listening During Covid, Part 10”: So Much Amazing Music to Discover!

April 10, 2022
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The record companies are bringing us unsuspected marvels from past and present that we might otherwise never hear, from astonishing Handel-era works and brand-new American pieces to elegantly performed guitar sonatas from 19th Century Vienna.

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