Music
This set proves Monty Alexander a more varied pianist than one might have thought. The Ellis Marsalis album is a final gift from one of America’s treasures.
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The pandemic may have largely shut down live musical performances for 2020, but the recording industry remained alive and very active these past twelve months.
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This biography provides a solid look at Jon Hendricks’s life and career; a well-rounded picture that is neither a hagiography nor a hatchet job.
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Two new recordings and one much-welcome re-release contain first-rate performances of Haydn’s 1798 “Lord Nelson” Mass, Dello Joio’s opera about Joan of Arc, and Virgil Thomson’s astonishing musical portraits of Alice B. Toklas, Picasso, and others.
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Could there be a Salem 66 reissue campaign on the horizon? Hope springs eternal for fans of the predominantly female quartet.
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Country Supper is a beautifully produced album, a cohesive musical and artistic statement that will appeal to serious fans of the blues, country, and indie rock.
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Vergangenheitsbewältigung only runs 24 minutes: it is a compact, thought-provoking, and rewarding sensory experience.
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A captivating and thought-provoking version of Missa solemnis from René Jacobs and his forces; the Michael Gielen Edition is one of this Beethoven anniversary-year’s highlights.
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Calidore String Quartet’s Babel is one of the year’s best albums; Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered offers an unsettling and beautifully direct rethinking of the traditional Roman liturgy; for John Luther Adams fans – and the Adams-curious – Become Trilogy is a must.
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With concerts all but wiped off the calendar by the pandemic, our critics naturally spent their time with recordings (and virtual live shows).
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Arts Feature: Best Movies (With Some Disappointments) of 2025