Terrific, fiery playing from George Li, one of the most compelling young pianists on the scene; Mariss Jansons’ recording of Shostakovich’s Tenth trudges from start to finish; irrefutable proof of Andris Nelsons’ excellence as a new-music conductor.
Naxos
Classical CD Reviews: Offenbach’s “La Périchole,” Aaron Jay Kernis’ Orchestral Works, and Baiba Skride plays Bartók
Marc Minkowski’s recording of Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole pays the composer a handsome tribute in his birthday year; violinist Baiba Skride’s new all-Bartók disc is one of the year’s best.
Classical CD Reviews: Julia Wolfe’s “Fire in my mouth,” Donnacha Dennehy’s “The Hunger,” Derek Bermel’s “Migrations”
Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth is one of 2019’s most memorable recordings; Donnacha Dennehy’s The Hunger, a meditation on the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th-century, leaves an indelible impression; Derek Bermel’s Migrations is a grand celebration of one of America’s great living composer at the top of his game.
Opera Review: A Sumptuous New Recording of Korngold’s “The Miracle of Heliane,” Centerpiece of This Summer’s Bard Music Festival
Once much-performed, then banished from the stage by the Nazis, The Miracle of Heliane, now available in a fine new recording, is perhaps the best opera by the man who would become one of Hollywood’s leading composers.
Classical CD Reviews: François Xavier-Roth conducts Berlioz, Yan Pascal Tortelier conducts Gounod, and JoAnn Falletta conducts Respighi
A freshly thought through, energetically executed Berlioz disc; a lovely album that contains excellent performances of underperformed and unfamiliar repertoire that deserves to be heard and championed; a fine, sometimes inspired account of Respighi.
Classical Music CD Reviews: Juan de Arriaga’s Orchestral Music, Lortzing Overtures, and Boieldieu’s Piano Concerto et al.
Francois-Adrien
Classical CD Reviews: Florence Price’s Symphonies nos. 1 & 4, George Antheil’s Symphonies nos. 3 & 6, and 20th-century Russian Orchestral Music
Fine recordings of symphonies by neglected American composers Florence Price and George Antheil; and a curious album from Cornelius Meister and the ORF Radio-Sinfonieorchester Wien.
Classical CD Reviews: JoAnn Falletta conducts Schreker, Manfred Honeck conducts Beethoven & Strauss, and Baiba Skride’s “American Concertos”
JoAnn Falletta’s recording of Schreker’s orchestral works is fantastic; Manfred Honeck and his Pittsburgh Symphony make Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony shocking again, and Baiba Skride proves a strong advocate for Miklós Rózsa’s Violin Concerto.
Classical CD Review: Vänskä’s Mahler Six, Harding’s Mahler Nine, Louise Farrenc Symphonies, Handel & Haydn Society plays Haydn and Mozart
Two Mahler symphonies, one sluggish the other intense, while symphonies composed by Louise Farrenc, Mozart, and Haydn are done right.
Classical CD Reviews: Barenboim plays Sciarrino, Berio, Tartini, and Paganini and Alsop’s Complete Bernstein
Violinist Michael Barenboim is an exceptional young musician with a famous name who stands on his own two feet.
