Classical Music

Cultural Commentary: The Gergiev Case

March 11, 2022
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There are times – and we’ve been living in these for several years now – when boldness is required, especially from artists.

Opera Album Review: Donizetti’s Teacher Reveals His Own Operatic Mastery in a World-Premiere Recording of “Elena”

March 10, 2022
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This first-rate performance highlights the special attractions of the “half-serious” operatic genre.

Opera Album Review: Marti Epstein’s Resonant, Disturbing “Rumpelstiltskin”

March 6, 2022
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Boston’s 15-year-old Guerilla Opera releases a recording of a fresh take on the old Grimm Brothers tale, to haunting, ritualistic music for four singers and four players.

Classical Album Reviews: Sibelius Symphonies from Klaus Mäkelä and Owain Arwel Hughes

February 25, 2022
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Conductor Klaus Mäkelä may be young, but, on the merits of this set, he sure seems to be the real deal. Buckle up: this ought to be an exciting career.

Classical Music Album: Florence Price — “Uncovered, Vol. 2”

February 23, 2022
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This is an album that’s at once musically significant but, more than that, thoroughly enjoyable. How tragic that, largely on account of her race and gender, Florence Price’s music was almost erased.

Classical Album Review: Igor Levit’s “On DSCH” — Exhausting But Astonishing

February 14, 2022
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A major release by a pianist who, just in his mid-thirties, is already one of the most intelligent and satisfying musicians on the circuit.

Opera Review: “Iris,” A Powerful Vision of an Imaginary Japan — Six Years Before “Madama Butterfly”

February 14, 2022
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The composer of Cavalleria rusticana brought his sense for characterization and drama to the all-too-plausible tale of a woman victimized by a cad.

Classical Album Review: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik — “The Death of Juliet and Other Tales”

February 13, 2022
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The program is compelling, but some of violinist Yevgeny Kutik’s interpretations could sing more freely and dance more nimbly.

Music Commentary: In Memoriam, George Crumb (1929-2022)

February 9, 2022
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George Crumb, who crafted some of the 20th-century’s most brazenly original-sounding and haunting music, lived his life and guided his career on his own terms.

Opera Album Review: The Most Famous French Baroque Opera, Recorded at the Palace of Versailles

February 8, 2022
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Tenor Mathias Vidal shines, as does the period-instrument orchestra, in the rarely heard, trimmer version of 1761, on the Chateau’s own new award-winning label.

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