Naxos

Classical Album Review: American Organ Concertos, Performed With Plenty of Swagger

September 18, 2024
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Paul Jacobs, the day’s reigning organ virtuoso, has assayed a fascinating assortment of Americana that showcases the King of Instruments against an orchestra.

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Classical Album Reviews: Avalon String Quartet and Decoda

July 1, 2024
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The debut album of Decoda, the first – and, so far, only – affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and a disc featuring a trio of works by two mid-century Chicago-based composers, Florence Price and Leo Sowerby.

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Opera Album Review: A Sprightly First Recording of Auber’s Love-Potion Opera

September 23, 2023
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Auber’s 1831 “Le Philtre” (“The Love Potion”) is an engaging romp that helped give birth to Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore.” Immensely popular in his own day, why isn’t it revived more often?

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Classical Music Album Review: John Corigliano’s Piano Music

July 28, 2023
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An album that does admirable justice to one of the most prolific, significant, and increasingly long-lived composers of a remarkable generation.

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Opera Album Review: A Fittingly Fresh First Recording of a Flexible One-Acter by Donizetti’s Teacher

June 4, 2023
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Johann Simon Mayr’s delicious L’Accademia di musica gets a spiffy performance from the “Rossini in Wildbad” Festival.

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Opera Album Review: A Marvelous New Recording of Rossini’s “The Silken Ladder”– at a Bargain Price

February 22, 2023
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Rossini’s one-act opera from 1812 rings fresh changes on a host of comic-opera clichés.

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Opera Album Review: Meyerbeer’s Comic Opera about Peter the Great, A Welcome Return

December 13, 2022
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This re-release of a superb recording of a major Meyerbeer opera reminds us what treasures are available to opera companies (and college opera programs) willing to step beyond the well-trodden path.

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Classical Album Review: Composer Derek Bermel’s “Intonations” — Turning Acerbity and Complexity on Their Heads

October 1, 2022
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For Derek Bermel fans, Intonations is a must. For new music enthusiasts and the otherwise curious – ditto.

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July Short Fuses – Materia Critica

July 3, 2022
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

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Opera Album Review: Donizetti’s Teacher Reveals His Own Operatic Mastery in a World-Premiere Recording of “Elena”

March 10, 2022
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This first-rate performance highlights the special attractions of the “half-serious” operatic genre.

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