Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Apollo's Fire
Album Review: Bertrand plays Dutilleux and Debussy plus Mendelssohn Symphonies nos. 3 & 4 (Harmonia mundi), and Forsythe sings Handel (Avie)
Three new classical music albums: two are superior, one is a bit of a mixed bag.
Concert Review: Boston Modern Orchestra Project/Gil Rose at Jordan Hall
Ultimately, there’s a “look at my technique” quality to composer Lewis Spratlan’s writing in this piece that doesn’t match the musical content and that seems to be striving to be all things to all listeners.
Classical Music Review: O Give Me a Muse of Apollo’s Fire!
The audience went wild after each piece Philippe Jaroussky sang. There were three gorgeous encores, ending with the slow, familiar aria from Handel’s “Xerxes”. Most of the crowd would have been happy to have stayed for more. We knew this was an Apollo’s Fire concert to remember.