Classical Music
The charmed trifecta of John Adams, Yuja Wang, and Gustavo Dudamel produced a hit, at least to this Boston audience.
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The Henry Purcell Society proves that playing mad can be a lot of fun.
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These superbly produced — and sung, played, and conducted — holiday music albums are perfect stocking stuffers.
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Michael Tilson Thomas delivers a towering Ives Fourth; pianist Conrad Tao’s American Rage is hard-edged and defiant, but also poignant and stirring; Gianandrea Noseda’s Shostakovich Fourth is ferocious.
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A noteworthy recording of Ernst von Dohnányi’s Symphony no. 1; as usual, Harry Christophers and the Handel & Haydn Society play Haydn with their customary elegance and character; a celebration of British composer Eric Coates – his music’s impossibly fresh tunefulness, striking progressions, and vividly idiomatic orchestrations.
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Violinist Liza Ferschtman and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto lacked nothing for momentum and spirit.
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Terrific, fiery playing from George Li, one of the most compelling young pianists on the scene; Mariss Jansons’ recording of Shostakovich’s Tenth trudges from start to finish; irrefutable proof of Andris Nelsons’ excellence as a new-music conductor.
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Simon Rattle’s Bruckner is, on the whole, lean and lively; if you’re looking for a new Mahler Four, Vladimir Jurowski’s is the one to check out; Thierry Fischer leads performances of each symphony that take Saint-Saëns’ writing seriously.
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These are two practiced masters at free improvisation. I am confident that many listeners will find them as intriguing and accomplished as I do.
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In the right hands, Shostakovich’s Twelfth can come off as nothing less than an intriguing, lively symphonic essay.
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The 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll: The Institution Continues