Classical Music

Classical CD Reviews: Kamus Quartet’s “Homunculus” and Jeroen Van Veen plays Adams

January 22, 2018
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The nearly 10 year wait for the premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s string quartet Homunculus was worth it.

Classical CD Reviews: Hindemith Orchestral Works and Symphonic Psalms

January 21, 2018
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Conductor Marek Janowski’s Hindemith is all vigor and athleticism; Tenebrae’s Symphonic Psalms & Prayers is captivating.

Music Commentary: Top Classical Performances and Recordings of 2017

December 23, 2017
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A line-up of concerts, performances, and recordings that, as 2017 draws to its close, I can’t, for one reason or many, shake from my memory.

Classical CD Reviews: Matthias Goerne’s “The Wagner Project” and Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand

December 20, 2017
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Matthias Goerne offers proof that he is the Wagner baritone of the day. And Thierry Fischer’s understanding of Mahler deserves our admiration.

Year-end CD Round-up, Part 2: Jurowski’s Tchaikovsky Symphonies, Strauss in St. Petersburg, Jasper Quartet’s “Unbound,” Walton Symphonies, and Howard Hersh’s Dancing at the Pink House

December 19, 2017
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Highlights include an excellent Tchaikovsky symphony cycle in modern sound and one of the year’s best chamber-music albums.

Year-end CD Round-up, Part 1: Rosanne Philippens’ Prokofiev, Dover Quartet’s “Voices of Defiance,” Longleash’s “Passage,” Michael Gielen Edition Vol. 4, and Barbara Hannigan’s “Crazy Girl Crazy”

December 18, 2017
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Reviews of performances that are energetic, immediate, muscular, and simply breathtaking.

Concert Review: Singer Jamie Barton Makes No Ordinary Debut

December 15, 2017
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What is surprising is that, along with the extraordinary power of her voice, Jamie Barton’s luminous smile won me over before she sang a note.

Classical CD Reviews: All-star Schubert and Mozart Arias

December 9, 2017
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A hell-for-leather approach to Schubert has its drawbacks; for all the sheen of Juan Diego Flórez’s singing, he doesn’t always seem at home in the music.

Classical CD Reviews: Thompson & Barber Symphonies and Francois-Xavier Roth’s Mahler

December 8, 2017
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Francois-Xavier Roth’s Mahler is full of energy; the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic’s account of Randall Thompson’s Symphony no. 2 is gripping.

Classical CD Reviews: David Del Tredici’s “Child Alice” and Scott Wollschleger’s “Soft Aberration”

December 5, 2017
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Child Alice is an important addition to the recorded catalogue of major American symphonic music.

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