Music
The Crier’s program pairs three composers one doesn’t always find together. As is likewise the norm with this group and their selections, everything somehow connects – and on multiple levels.
There are three key words in the title: “music,” “change,” and “everything.” At its best, the series convincingly shows how they are linked. Other times, it embraces too much of one at the expense of the other two.
This disc highlights various, early-20th-century works inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish creation epic. It is a fantastic demonstration of creative programming and invigorating orchestral performance.
At 80 years old, Bob Dylan sounds imperturbable and fierce.
Stephen Sondheim’s songs told stories about people just trying to be, sung by characters struggling to make sense of a confusing world, yearning to take the next step. But his intricately structured melodies soared and tiptoed and sauntered and sometimes wisely took the long way home.
Forget romance. Forget chemistry. Forget star-crossed lovers. At its heart, this Eurydice is concerned with the love between a father and a daughter.
As serious a musician as he is, and as virtuosic as he can be, the naturally extroverted Christian McBride knows how to entertain, a talent generously evident in this live performance.
From the pounded opening bars of “Prove It All Night,” it’s revelatory to see a young, lithe Bruce Springsteen as he prowls his domain, cocks his guitar, and belts his impassioned vignettes of blue-collar struggles and dreams.
Peter Heise’s King and Marshal (1878), one of the most-performed Danish operas, is melodic and atmospheric, here sung and played persuasively.
The album is not so much a step forward as a distillation of what The War on Drugs has always done well.
Fest Review: IFFBoston Shorts — Part One