Classical Music

Classical Album Review: A Splendid Introduction to the Music of Alberto Ginastera

October 24, 2019
Posted in , , ,

Ginastera’s innovative style often draws comparisons to Bartók and Stravinsky for the artful ways in which he integrated folk music and dance forms from his native country into a striking, modernist musical language.

Read More

Classical CD Reviews: Offenbach’s “La Périchole,” Aaron Jay Kernis’ Orchestral Works, and Baiba Skride plays Bartók

October 23, 2019
Posted in , , ,

Marc Minkowski’s recording of Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole pays the composer a handsome tribute in his birthday year; violinist Baiba Skride’s new all-Bartók disc is one of the year’s best.

Read More

Classical CD Reviews: Seattle Symphony plays Strauss & Langgaard, Offenbach’s “Folies symphoniques,” and Salonen conducts Beethoven & Strauss

October 22, 2019
Posted in , ,

The Seattle Symphony does right by Langgaard but not Strauss; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Beethoven is micromanaged to death; Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester offers an ideal off-the-beaten-path Offenbach disc.

Read More

Classical Music CD Reviews: Strauss/Korngold’s “Eine Nacht in Venedig,” Berlioz’s Requiem, and Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D

October 21, 2019
Posted in , ,

Among the reviews: a terrific, important release that celebrates one of the most interesting – and hitherto overlooked – composers of the late-19th- and early-20th centuries in style. Don’t miss it.

Read More

Concert Review: Boston Philharmonic plays Mozart, Brahms, and Bartók

October 20, 2019
Posted in , , ,

There was nothing sleepy or commonplace about the ensemble’s performance of favorites by Mozart, Brahms, and Bartók.

Read More

Classical CD Review: “Free America!, Early Songs of Resistance and Rebellion” — Fight the Power!

October 7, 2019
Posted in , , , ,

Enjoy Boston Camerata’s Free America! for its high spirits and its crafty, delicious way of making the iconoclasm of the past come alive.

Read More

Classical CD Reviews: Christian Tetzlaff plays Beethoven & Sibelius, Rachel Barton Pine takes on Dvorak & Khachaturian, and Wagner’s “Siegfried “

October 4, 2019
Posted in , , ,

Christian Tetzlaff’s brilliant account of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto makes for a great album; Rachel Barton Pine’s versions of Dvorák and Khachaturian violin concertos are songful; orchestrally, Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra’s Sigfried is unfailingly colorful and fresh.

Read More

Classical CD Reviews: “To Paradise For Onions,” “Transatlantic,” and “Die Zauberflöte”

October 4, 2019
Posted in , , ,

To Paradise for Onions is a lovely album; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ‘s Transatlantic is spirited; Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s Die Zauberflöte is lost in the crowd.

Read More

Opera Album Review: Offenbach’s “La Périchole,” by an All-French Cast, Combines Zest and Elegance

September 26, 2019
Posted in , , ,

This is one of the zippiest, most life-affirming opera recordings I have heard in a long time. Well, this puts it a bit too blandly, because the work’s social satire also targets the smug self-satisfaction and careless cruelty of the powerful.

Read More

Concert Review: Koyaanisqatsi Live! — Apocalypse Then … and Now

September 25, 2019
Posted in , , , ,

modern world out of control is more perceptive and chilling than ever.

Read More

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives