Search Results: samph
A Singapore Symphony Orchestra recording of compositions by John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, and Hugo Friedhofer quietly punctures old prejudices about film composers and “serious” music.
Soprano-conductor Barbara Hannigan’s semiquincentennial album reframes familiar American classics through a lens of wistfulness, insight, and quiet defiance.
At Jacob’s Pillow, Brinae Ali’s “Baby Laurence Legacy Project” reanimates a jazz tap master’s bebop musical brilliance through choreography, live music, and technology.
Boston’s pop music scene in November has an international flair. Multiple groups from the UK who specialize in folk and electropop join bands from Spain and Ireland in coming to Boston this fall. While the picks for this month all have roots abroad, these acts make the Fall months of Boston that much more inviting.…
The widening chasm between European and American orchestras is not just a matter of polish, but of style, inheritance, and musical conviction.
The remake follows the same plot as the 1984 original, but the new version is more like watching a bunch of twelve-year-old kids in a steel cage death match. Reviewed by Tom Samph In a time when baby-faced Michael Cera and whiny John Mayer are cultural icons, Americans still can’t get enough blood and guts.…
In their latest collection, “Suit Up,” Brandeis VoiceMale have yet again produced an eclectic mix of passionately sung, expertly mixed A Cappella covers. Reviewed by Thomas Samph The title of the album tells us to suit up. Evidently that’s what the all-male group did before going into the recording studio, because they have a truly…
By Thomas Samph This month’s music selection is all about trying something new. One of my selected artists recorded her entire album in a church. One guy kissed another guy on stage at an awards show that was on live TV. And another group brings together nine solo acts under one dirty name that has…
Ambient indie-pop and summery surf sounds take over Boston in the second half of August. By Thomas Samph August 13, Deerhunter at Royale At a Deerhunter show, the sight of frontman Bradford Cox’s skeleton-like figure striding on to the stage through a thick mist (sometimes wearing a dress) is as ethereal and spooky as his…
August Short Fuses — Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Read More about August Short Fuses — Materia Critica