Music
None of the opera recordings I have reviewed this past year beats this Cradle for dramatic vitality, musical imagination, and ongoing political relevance.
The success or failure of this show rests primarily on the physical presence, voice and acting of the actor playing the celebrated lyric tenor Roland Hayes.
Handel & Haydn Society’s Haydn and Mozart is about as good as it gets; Martyn Brabbins’ recording of A Sea Symphony is one of the year’s best releases; and for elegance and technical command, you can’t go wrong with Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony.
When Vermont’s Mountain Man brings us its Appalachian vocal stylings the trio is venturing into the hollers of both the Green and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet delivers some fine Mozart; conductor Hannu Lintu brings rhythmic energy and textural transparency to the music of Witold Lutoslawski; Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra don’t do right by Berlioz.
“Now I’m retired, but I still look forward to honoring the legacy of John Coltrane.”
American String Quartet’s disc features the premiere recording of Robert Sirota’s String Quartet no. 2, American Pilgrimage.
With two able bandmates, Fred Hersch is inspired to unwind a nice set of standards and a few originals.
Sophisticated Giant paints a convincing picture of an extremely charming, intelligent, resilient, and talented man.
I was excited, moved, impressed, and surprised by Handel & Haydn Society’s performance of The Messiah under the exacting baton of Bernard Labadie.
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