Lovers of Baroque opera will want to scoop this one up quickly. I certainly have more respect and affection for Leonardo Vinci, now that I’ve come to know several of his operas.
Ralph P. Locke
Opera CD Review: William Alwyn’s Powerful Take on Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” — A Neglected Masterpiece
The second recording of William Alwyn’s searing opera confirms the work’s vitality and importance. It is one of the best and most accessible operas to have been written in the past few decades.
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.
Arts Feature: Best Opera and Vocal (Recordings, Performances, and a Book), 2020
This strange year became, for this opera lover, a chance to explore new—or even world-premiere—recordings of little-known repertory. When musical life returns to semi-normal, perhaps we can be treated to live performances of some of these amazing works.
Classical Album Review: Commedia dell’arte Clowns in a World of Heartbreak
Dohnányi and Schnitzler’s “pantomime” The Veil of Pierrette receives its first, and resplendent, recording.
Opera Review: Galuppi’s “L’amante di tutte” — A Total Hoot!
A delightful and compact opera — from a generation before Mozart — that cuts various social types down to size.
Classical CD Reviews: Listening During COVID, Part 2 — A Lute, a Particularly Silken Steinway, and Mahler Himself Playing in a 1905 Piano Roll
A trio of recordings help us rethink and rehear composers as varied as Barbara Strozzi (from the seventeenth century), Chopin, and Mahler.
Opera CD Review: Verdi’s Opera about Attila the Hun Gets a Taut, Vivid New Recording
Metropolitan Opera stars Ildebrando d’Arcangelo and Liudmyla Monastyrska headline a new recording that reveals Verdi operatic mastery five years before Rigoletto.
Classical CD Reviews: Listening During COVID — Beethoven’s Jesus, Liszt’s Variations on “Norma,” and Janáček’s Animal Opera
Concert halls and opera houses remain closed — but unusual musical experiences await in this era of social isolation.
Opera Review: Paisiello’s “Le gare generose” — Italians, Quakers, and Slavery in 18th-century Boston
The lively world-premiere recording of Giovanni Paisiello’s Le gare generose proves why the composer was in demand all across Europe.