Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Orange Mountain Music
Classical CD Reviews: Anna Clyne’s “Mythologies,” Simone Dinnerstein’s “A Character of Quiet,” and Hélène Grimaud’s “The Messenger”
Composer Anna Clyne’s new disc displays her maturity as a composer and brilliance as an orchestrator; pianist Simone Dinnerstein builds a number of bridges between Philip Glass and Franz Schubert; pianist Hélène Grimaud’s interesting program is marred by some uneven Mozart.
Classical CD Reviews: Philip Glass, “Music in Eight Parts,” Thomas Adès, “In Seven Days,” and Anna Clyne, “Dance”
Music in Eight Parts is a welcome and inviting addition to the Philip Glass canon; the Summer of Thomas Adès continues with a stirring new recording of the British composer’s keyboard work; Anna Clyne’s Dance is, without a doubt, one of the finest pieces I’ve heard this year.
Classical Music Reviews: AEQUA, Philip Glass’s Symphony no. 11, and the Neave Trio plays Piazzolla
Aequa is one of the year’s standout new-music albums. Philip Glass’s Symphony no. 11 suggests that the veteran composer has more than a few tricks left up his sleeve. And Neave Trio’s Celebrating Piazzolla is a thoroughly delightful, engaging album.
Classical CD Review: Simone Dinnerstein plays Bach and Glass and James Brawn’s Beethoven Odyssey vol. 5
Two recommended discs: James Brawn’s complete Beethoven piano sonata series continues while Simone Dinnerstein and A Far Cry execute Philip Glass’s chorale-like writing with remarkable fervency and warmth.