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Naxos

Classical Album Review: John Adams Orchestral Works

My Father Knew Charles Ives and Harmonielehre make an excellent pairing on the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s new, all-Adams album led by music director Giancarlo Guerrero.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Review Tagged: Giancarlo Guerrero, Harmonielehre, John Adams Orchestral Works, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Naxos

Classical CD Reviews: Michael Daugherty’s “This Land Sings,” Ethel Smyth’s “The Prison,” and David Lang’s “prisoner of the state”

A welcome political homage to Woody Guthrie, a new recording of Ethel Smyth’s 1931 choral symphony makes a strong case for a full reconsideration of her output, and David Lang’s rejiggering of Beethoven’s Fidelio is both stirring and timeless.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Chandos, David Lang, Decca Gold, Ethel Smyth, Michael Daugherty, Naxos, prisoner of the state, The Prison, This Land Sings

Opera Album Review: A Version of One of Rossini’s Finest — Recorded on CD for the First Time

Rossini’s Zelmira is a powerhouse opera that features two coloratura tenors and equally demanding roles for soprano and mezzo.

By: Ralph P. Locke Filed Under: Featured, Music, Opera, Review Tagged: Gianluigi Gelmetti, Gioachino Rossini, Gorecki Chamber Choir, Naxos, Ralph Locke, Virtuosi Brunensis, Zelmira

Classical CD Reviews: David Lang’s “love fail,” Christopher Rouse’s Orchestral Music, and Hub New Music’s “Soul House”

For fans of David Lang and/or one of the country’s best choirs, this is a can’t-miss release; Christopher Rouse’s Fifth is about as fresh and engaging a Symphony as the composer wrote; Hub New Music plays the daylights out of Robert Honstein’s Soul House.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Cantaloupe, Christopher Rouse, David Lang, Hub New Music, love fail, Naxos, New Amsterdam, Robert Honstein, Soul House

Classical CD Reviews: Thomas Adès’ Piano Works, “Ecstatic Science,” and Michael Gordon’s “Anonymous Man”

Thomas Adès is a formidable pianist and his output for his native instrument is fundamentally gripping; yMusic’s new album is a spectacularly-played and -recorded disc; Michael Gordon’s Anonymous Man is undeniably hypnotic but gets stuck in a loop that goes on for a mite too long.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Anonymous Man, Cantalope, Ecstatic Science, Han Chen, Michael Gordon, Naxos, New Amsterdam, Thomas Ades

Classical CD Reviews: Wagner’s “Die Walküre,” Johann Strauss’s “Blindekuh,” and Mendelssohn’s “Die erste Walpurgisnacht”

The two best things about Simon Rattle’s new recording of Die Walküre are, well, Rattle, himself, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; a strongly played and majestically sung performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s unfairly neglected Die erste Walpurgisnacht.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Blindekuh, BR Klassik, Carus, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Felix Mendelssohn, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Naxos, Simon Rattle’

Classical CD Reviews: Thomas Adès’s Orchestral Works, Aaron Copland’s Symphony no. 3, and Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest”

A terrific release showcases the Boston Symphony Orchestra and composer Thomas Adès. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony deliver a radiantly honest recording of Aaron Copland’s Symphony 3.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Aaron-Copland, Deutsche Grammophon, Kirill Gerstein, Leonard Berstein, National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, Naxos, SFS Media, Songfest, Thomas Ades, Totentanz

Opera Album Review: Rossini’s Pre-fab Opera, “Eduardo e Cristina,” Turns Out to Be First-Rate

The practice of re-using large chunks of an opera for a new plot and new words may sound implausible to us, but in Rossini’s hands the result is delightful and surprisingly coherent.

By: Ralph P. Locke Filed Under: Featured, Music, Opera, Review Tagged: Eduardo e Cristina, Gioachino Rossini, Naxos, Ralph P. Locke

Classical CD Reviews: “Aspects of America: The Pulitzer Edition,” Morton Gould “Symphonettes,” and Lindberg conducts Bernstein

Lovers of American music, don’t miss Aspects of America: The Pulitzer Edition ; Lindberg’s recording of Leonard Bernstein’s first two symphonies lacks a compelling command of the musician’s singular voice; the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra tackles four pieces by Morton Gould.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Arthur Fagin, Aspects of America: The Pulitzer Edition, Bis, Christian Lindberg, Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould, Naxos, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pentatone

Classical Album Reviews: “Strangers in PARadISe,” Camille Saint-Saëns’ Orchestral Works, and Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”

Diana Tishchenko’s a violinist well worth keeping an eye on; Jun Märkl leads the MSO in brisk, shapely readings of pieces by Saint-Saëns; Françoix-Xavier Roth and Les Siecles come up with some winning Berlioz.

By: Jonathan Blumhofer Filed Under: Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review Tagged: Diana Tishchenko, Françoix-Xavier Roth, Harmonia Mundi, Jun Märkl, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Naxos, Strangers in PARadISe, Warner Classics

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