Classical Music
Herbert Blomstedt conducts a powerful version of Mahler’s valedictory essay, organist Christopher Jacobson provides a so-so “Organ” Symphony, and Kirill Petrenko’s initial recording as the chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic is lovely.
A can’t-miss album of Bartók Ballets, Thierry Fischer continues to do right by the symphonies of Saint-Saëns, and a spirited recording of the “last great symphony in the German Romantic tradition.”
Reviews of three superior vocal recordings, featuring baritone Gerald Finley, tenor Ian Bostridge, and baritone Thomas Meglioranza.
In this extraordinary recording, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is given a chance to perfectly convey the power of his emotions.
This album led me to choose, for a summer project, to listen to all of the music of Janáček — and it has been a complete delight.
This world-premiere recording of the 1826 Paris version of Gaspare Spontini’s Olimpie makes a powerful case for a composer much admired in his own day.
The BPYO’s repertoire in Brazil is drawn from last year’s programs and is built around Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2.
Thanks to BEMF for once again presenting Benjamin Bagby, who seems incapable of serving up anything but a wonderfully memorable experience.
Helen Gillet’s music welcomes loops of all sorts and plays with the happy accidents that create new melodies and rhythms that reach beyond borders.
Arts Commentary: Some Thoughts on the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s 2019 Brazilian Tour
Suffice it to say, the tour was an extraordinary experience, musically and culturally, and, for me, a conspicuously potent introduction to a new continent.
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