Music
For fans of David Lang and/or one of the country’s best choirs, this is a can’t-miss release; Christopher Rouse’s Fifth is about as fresh and engaging a Symphony as the composer wrote; Hub New Music plays the daylights out of Robert Honstein’s Soul House.
The solo format at Alexandra Palace recalled his recent “Conversations with Nick Cave” tours, a similar chance for the singer to deconstruct his songs at the piano, except that he never addressed an imagined audience beyond his lyrics.
For an hour and a half, Blu examines himself on Miles, trying to understand who he is and where he comes from.
Music in Eight Parts is a welcome and inviting addition to the Philip Glass canon; the Summer of Thomas Adès continues with a stirring new recording of the British composer’s keyboard work; Anna Clyne’s Dance is, without a doubt, one of the finest pieces I’ve heard this year.
Cloud Nothings’ latest effort is less muscular than their previous work, but it still contains its fair share of hooky bliss.
Gimme Radio brings the human element to streaming by relying on DJs to curate playlists and provide context to what listeners are experiencing.
Every piece here seems to play by its own rhythmic rules, and yet nowhere does the music sound academic or formal.
Freed from the pressures of recording for a major label, Kacy Hill has created an album that feels surprisingly personal.
If the first set was all about reminding us the breadth and depth of the talent in Billy Strings’ combo, the second set was all about dynamics and power.
Arts Commentary: Reviewing Music, Re-viewed
Our opera-loving reviewer contrasts his own pieces, written 48 years apart, on the same Offenbach operetta.
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