John Nelson’s La Damnation de Faust is a triumph; you will rarely encounter Villa-Lobos played with greater understanding or in better sound than here; Paavo Järvi and his orchestra’s survey of Messiaen orchestral works early and late is resplendent.
Alpha
Classical CD Reviews: Seattle Symphony plays Strauss & Langgaard, Offenbach’s “Folies symphoniques,” and Salonen conducts Beethoven & Strauss
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.
Classical CD Reviews: Duo Noire’s “Night Triptych,” Justin Taylor’s “Continuum,” and Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem”
Night Triptych is an important disc, but also an inviting one that takes you to some fresh places well worth experiencing. Also, another success for harpsichordist Justin Taylor, and a well-earned one at that.
Classical CD Reviews: Estonian Festival Orchestra’s Shostakovich and Andrew Manze’s Mendelssohn, vol. 2
Paavo Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra present a probing and excellent version of Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 6.
Year-end CD Round-up, Part 1: Rosanne Philippens’ Prokofiev, Dover Quartet’s “Voices of Defiance,” Longleash’s “Passage,” Michael Gielen Edition Vol. 4, and Barbara Hannigan’s “Crazy Girl Crazy”
Reviews of performances that are energetic, immediate, muscular, and simply breathtaking.