The rarely staged Oberon is easy to love and will fascinate admirers of early nineteenth-century music.
Music
Opera CD Review: A Young, Immensely Assured Joan Sutherland in Weber’s “Euryanthe”
The oft-neglected “other” great opera by Carl Maria von Weber, splendidly performed in 1955 and in remarkably clear and vivid sound. I hope this opera’s day will yet come.
Book Review: “Rocking the Closet” — Queering the Mainstream
Audiences knew (or at least thought they knew) something was up, and that something was what made these performers unique.
Music Feature: Best Non-Jazz Albums of 2019 – A Semi-Chronological Constellation
Milo Miles tests a long-held theory: that critic comments on why entries made it onto lists have little or nothing to do with whether readers track down and listen to the selected music.
Classical Music Album Review: Stephen Hough plays Brahms — The Final Piano Pieces
This CD with British pianist Stephen Hough is a gem — and it was named Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine.
Jazz Remembrance: Jack Sheldon
Trumpeter Jack Sheldon will be missed for much more than his musical output would account for.
Theater Interview: Tony-winning actress Kelli O’Hara — Broadway is not Enough
” I want to try everything, study everything. I just love this work.”
Classical Album Reviews: Andris Nelsons’ CBSO Recordings, and Mariss Jansons’ SACD Recordings
A collection that provides a fascinating bit of context for how Andris Nelsons has developed as a conductor over the last decade-plus, and an honest, mostly flattering, tribute to a much-loved conductor, the late Mariss Jansons.
Concert Review: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones — Beloved and Blistering
It may sound oxymoronic, but the Bosstones scream, shout, and agitate for common decency.
Classical Album Reviews: “Strangers in PARadISe,” Camille Saint-Saëns’ Orchestral Works, and Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”
Diana Tishchenko’s a violinist well worth keeping an eye on; Jun Märkl leads the MSO in brisk, shapely readings of pieces by Saint-Saëns; Françoix-Xavier Roth and Les Siecles come up with some winning Berlioz.