Classical Music
The Tallis Scholars are unquestionably today’s most renowned exponent of Renaissance sacred music.
None of the opera recordings I have reviewed this past year beats this Cradle for dramatic vitality, musical imagination, and ongoing political relevance.
Handel & Haydn Society’s Haydn and Mozart is about as good as it gets; Martyn Brabbins’ recording of A Sea Symphony is one of the year’s best releases; and for elegance and technical command, you can’t go wrong with Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony.
Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet delivers some fine Mozart; conductor Hannu Lintu brings rhythmic energy and textural transparency to the music of Witold Lutoslawski; Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra don’t do right by Berlioz.
American String Quartet’s disc features the premiere recording of Robert Sirota’s String Quartet no. 2, American Pilgrimage.
I was excited, moved, impressed, and surprised by Handel & Haydn Society’s performance of The Messiah under the exacting baton of Bernard Labadie.
When it comes to raising high spirits, the BEMF’s delightful Alcina was an inspired choice.
Without question, this BPYO rendition of Shostakovich Ten was one of the most urgent and necessary of any symphonic score I’ve heard all year.
This recording challenges our settled sense of what art music, in conjunction with colorful spoken and sung verse, can accomplish.
Music Commentary: Top Classical Performances of 2018
Our critic’s twelve favorite classical music performances that he reviewed this past year.
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