Gil Rose’s team, headed by an incandescent Ellie Dehn as Catherine of Aragon, should help bring this major work back to the world’s opera-house stages.
Gil-Rose
Classical Music Album Review: Boston Modern Orchestra Project Plays John Harbison
A surprisingly moving collection, all of it mightily played and sung by musicians who clearly intuit John Harbison’s musical language.
October Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Classical Album Reviews: John Adams’ Chamber Symphonies — Built on Trust
BMOP’s performances of three John Adams chamber symphonies, all conducted by music director Gil Rose, offer welcome, distinctive takes on the triptych.
Classical CD Review: Elliott Carter Ballets
Bottom line: these are excellent performances and a valuable documentation of Elliott Carter’s early work.
Classical CD Reviews: Listening During COVID, Part 3 –From Boston with Love (Performances of Haydn, Dello Joio, and Virgil Thomson).
Two new recordings and one much-welcome re-release contain first-rate performances of Haydn’s 1798 “Lord Nelson” Mass, Dello Joio’s opera about Joan of Arc, and Virgil Thomson’s astonishing musical portraits of Alice B. Toklas, Picasso, and others.
Classical CD Reviews: Delibes Ballet Suites, John Williams in Vienna, and John Harbison Concertos
Terrific performances, blazing with color, character, and wonderful technique from Neeme Järvi and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; John Williams and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra offer considerable pleasure with some misteps; another triumphant release from Gil Rose and the BMOP.
Opera CD Review: Gunther Schuller’s Splendid 1970 Children’s Opera Gets Its World-Premiere Recording
A Grimm, but not grim, opera about a Fisherman, his Wife, their Cat, and a wish-granting Flounder.
Concert Review: Odyssey Opera’s “The Chronicle of Nine”
Arnold Rosner’s writing in each act is strongly contrapuntal, metrically unpredictable, and idiomatically scored. The music is marked by constantly shifting colors, a strong sense of rhythm, and a healthy dose of lyricism.
Concert Review: Boston Modern Orchestra Project plays John Corigliano
John Corigliano’s take on goodbyes is, if not exactly bitter, then full of sorrow: few happy memories to be had here.