Music

Coming Attractions in Jazz: Late January 2011

January 26, 2011
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UPDATE: The Mango Blue CD release event scheduled for tonight (January 26) has been cancelled due to the impending snowstorm; check back here for announcements concerning rescheduling.

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Culture Review: At MIT, an exhilarating example of 21st-century, multi-media collaboration

January 24, 2011
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It would have been easy to make an entire season out of the ideas the Boston Chamber Music Society compressed into one afternoon; as it is, the wealth of material had the audience buzzing during the two intermissions. Some found the multi-media presentation too much of a good thing. I found it exhilarating and challenging…

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Jazz Review: Grace Under Pressure

January 23, 2011
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Saxophonist Grace Kelly has to decide what kind of artist she wants to be in her maturity, how long a run she’d like to have, how much she intends to contribute to the jazz tradition—and how she intends to accomplish these things. By Steve Elman. A moment of reckoning arrives in the career of every…

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Book Review: The Nine Lives of Pianist Leon Fleisher

January 22, 2011
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My Nine Lives reads like a conversation with a man who has worked through more than his share of ups and downs in the world of classical music. The tone is understated and graceful; his narrative could easily have faltered in less skillful hands. Pianist Leon Fleisher aims for a general readership. It’s a very…

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Classical Music Interview: Pianist Jeremy Denk — Riding the Roller Coaster of Rhythm

January 20, 2011
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Pianist Jeremy Denk says, “Being a musician can be very solitary and a bit navel-gazing (like blogging). I’m not sure that blogging made me saner, but it surely released a valve somewhere.” By Susan Miron Pianist Jeremy Denk will be tackling one of the year’s most challenging programs this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at MassArt…

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Classical Music Review: For Those Who Love British Choral Music

January 16, 2011
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The only thing more unforgettable than this sung story of woe was the eloquent singing of Lynn Torgove. Vaughan Williams could have hoped for no better singer or instrumental ensemble. The Cantata Singers. At Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA, January 14. By Susan Miron The history of British classical music is a strange…

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Classical Music Review: A Mixed Score for BSO’s “UnderScore Friday”

January 16, 2011
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It’s very difficult to lure new audiences into the concert hall in most parts of the United States, hard to find useful introductions to pieces of classical music and hard to judge from the reaction of UnderScore concertgoers whether they were pleased with their experience. I applaud the BSO’s initiative. UnderScore Friday. Presented by the…

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Classical Music on YouTube: Hidden and Not-So-Hidden Treasures

January 7, 2011
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For classical music connoisseurs, YouTube has morphed into a virtual museum of music, at once an oasis of archival material, rare recordings, and provocative content. Rare recorded materials, some of them dating back to the early 1900s that were once available only in the dusty archives of a research library, are now instantly accessible, often…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: Early January 2011

January 2, 2011
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Two outstanding Israeli pianists, baritone sax and bass masters, and some fascinating ensemble collaborations highlight the start of 2011.

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Fuse Critical Commentary: The non-criticism of @Discographies

December 28, 2010
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@Discographies is closer to marketing jingles or consumer guide advice than it is to reviewing—the exercise is fun but limited because it deals with the least valuable part of criticism: the opinion, the verdict. By Bill Marx. Further tongue-in-cheek (?) proof that the traditional conception of arts criticism—that there’s a difference between critical judgment and…

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