Music

Jazz Album Review: Ran Blake’s “Looking Glass” — Music from an Idiosyncratic Guru

February 17, 2022
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This album offers a Baedeker of pianist Ran Blake’s cinematic effects, the mis-en-scene for a narrative musical imagination unlike any other.

Rock Album Review: David Bowie’s “Toy” — Perusing His Back Pages

February 15, 2022
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David Bowie’s Toy is a solid, enjoyable, and buoyant effort from an artist who never failed to stay interesting and vital well into his later years.

Classical Album Review: Igor Levit’s “On DSCH” — Exhausting But Astonishing

February 14, 2022
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A major release by a pianist who, just in his mid-thirties, is already one of the most intelligent and satisfying musicians on the circuit.

Opera Review: “Iris,” A Powerful Vision of an Imaginary Japan — Six Years Before “Madama Butterfly”

February 14, 2022
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The composer of Cavalleria rusticana brought his sense for characterization and drama to the all-too-plausible tale of a woman victimized by a cad.

Classical Album Review: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik — “The Death of Juliet and Other Tales”

February 13, 2022
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The program is compelling, but some of violinist Yevgeny Kutik’s interpretations could sing more freely and dance more nimbly.

CD Review: Dave Bainbridge’s “To The Far Away” — Prog Rock with Passion

February 12, 2022
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For prog fans who consider that the proof of the pudding is long, complex songs with virtuosic solos and exotic instrumentation, no fear: To The Far Away is multi-textured and musically exciting.

Rock Album Review: Mitski’s “Laurel Hell” — The Art of Exhaustion

February 10, 2022
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At times, Laurel Hell’s withering fatigue is directed at the clash between commodification and art.

Music Commentary: In Memoriam, George Crumb (1929-2022)

February 9, 2022
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George Crumb, who crafted some of the 20th-century’s most brazenly original-sounding and haunting music, lived his life and guided his career on his own terms.

Jazz Album Review: Pianist Cecil Taylor — Lightning in a Piano

February 9, 2022
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“When you play with authority, then that’s what the music is about, like ooooh baby, and sing it.” — Cecil Taylor

Opera Album Review: The Most Famous French Baroque Opera, Recorded at the Palace of Versailles

February 8, 2022
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Tenor Mathias Vidal shines, as does the period-instrument orchestra, in the rarely heard, trimmer version of 1761, on the Chateau’s own new award-winning label.

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