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Alpha

December Short Fuses — Materia Critica

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

By: Bill Marx Filed Under: Featured, Short Fuses Tagged: A Golden Cello Decade: 1878-1888, Allen Michie, Alpha, Amanda Forsythe, Apollo's Fire, Avie, Barbara Hannigan, Beams, Camerata RCO, Connie Shih, Dan Costa, Drew Hart, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Heavenly Bach, Hyperion, In Sickness: A Memoir, Paul Hillier, Post Hill Press, Queen, rock, Sagging Meniscus Press, Sehnsucht, Six Moon Hill, Steven Isserlis, The Architects Collaborative, The Miracle Collector’s Edition, This is the Afterlife, Vespers & Complete All-Night Vigil

Classical Album Review: “John Adams” — Mastering the Style of an Iconic American Composer

This recording presents one of the most lucid and well-programmed portraits of John Adams to emerge, well, in a long while.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, John Adams, Paavo Järvi, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

Classical CD Review: Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt plays Salonen and Ravel

Cellist Nicolas Altstaed’s recording features a fascinating pairing of pieces by Salonen and Ravel, a stirring reminder of the mysterious powers of common origins and creative invention. Don’t miss it.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nicolas Altstaedt

Classical Album Reviews: “Dance With Me” and “Eden”

Marvelously accomplished albums from American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Barbara Hannigan, Erato, Jonathan Blumhofer, Joyce DiDonato

Classical CD Reviews: “La Damnation de Faust,” Villa-Lobos’ Guitar & Harmonica Concertos, and Messiaen Orchestral Works

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.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Giancarlo Guerrero, Gulbenkian Choir, John Nelson, José Staneck, Les Petits Chanteurs de Strasbourg, Maîtrise de l’Opéra National du Rhin, Naxos, Paavo Järvi, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Warner Classics

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.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Review Tagged: Alpha, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, CPO, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Howard Griffiths, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Symphony Media, Sinfonia Grange au Lac, Thomas Dausgaard

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.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Duo Noire, Ein deutsches Requiem, Hyperion, Justin Taylor. Continuum, New Focus Recordings, Night Triptych

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.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Andrew Manze, Estonian Festival Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Paavo Järvi, Pentatone

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.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Alpha, Barbara Hannigan, Cedille, Channel Classics, Crazy Girl Crazy, Longleash, Michael Gielen Edition Vol. 4, New Focus Recordings, Passage, Prokofiev, Rosanne Philippens, SWR Classics, The Dover Quartet, Viktor Ullmann, Voices of Defiance

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