Music
These are songs that have forged a life of their own across eras.
The Bad Plus are telling stories, but the trio doesn’t seem to want to follow wherever they might lead, which narrows their music’s emotional range.
One of the strengths of Laszlo Gardony’s playing is his confident insistence on what he is doing, his impressive self-assurance.
Ginastera’s innovative style often draws comparisons to Bartók and Stravinsky for the artful ways in which he integrated folk music and dance forms from his native country into a striking, modernist musical language.
For Sergio Mendes, the captivating anniversary show was a chance to look back on the early years of bossa nova and its birthplace.
Marc Minkowski’s recording of Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole pays the composer a handsome tribute in his birthday year; violinist Baiba Skride’s new all-Bartók disc is one of the year’s best.
The Seattle Symphony does right by Langgaard but not Strauss; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Beethoven is micromanaged to death; Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester offers an ideal off-the-beaten-path Offenbach disc.
Among the reviews: a terrific, important release that celebrates one of the most interesting – and hitherto overlooked – composers of the late-19th- and early-20th centuries in style. Don’t miss it.
There was nothing sleepy or commonplace about the ensemble’s performance of favorites by Mozart, Brahms, and Bartók.
In Cypress Grove, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ deep Bentonia guitar remains pure and present, while his vocals, which have never sounded better, are solid and vibrant throughout.
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