CD recordings keep bringing us unexpected treasures, including chamber works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Samuel Adler, and the (by turns) exquisite and powerful opera Armida by Mozart’s contemporary — who was not his murderer — Antonio Salieri.
Ralph P. Locke
January Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Classical Album Review: The “Spectre Bridegroom” Flies Again — Accompanied by Powerful Music
Newly recorded in the original German, Anton Reicha’s Lenore offers a vivid response to Bürger’s famous “Gothic” ballad from 1774.
Book Review: #ClassicalMusicSoWhite? — How It Got That Way and What to Do About It
Joseph Horowitz’s short, punchy, well-sourced, and compulsively readable book argues for bringing back the forgotten works of important Black composers.
Arts Feature: My “Best of 2021” — An Operatic Cornucopia
Here’s my list of twenty superlative operatic offerings of different kinds.
Opera Album Review: Great Dane! A Revered Verdian Opera From Denmark
Peter Heise’s King and Marshal (1878), one of the most-performed Danish operas, is melodic and atmospheric, here sung and played persuasively.
Classical Album Review: An Opera by the “Croatian Verdi” — Sung Right
The performance shows generally high competence and comfort, no surprise given that the work is a longtime staple in Croatia: indeed, it is the single most-performed opera in the entire repertory of the Croatian National Theater.
Classical CD Reviews: Listening During COVID, Part 6 — Fresh Music-Making from Three Splendid Singers and One Amazing Pianist-Who-Also-Sings
Chopin masterpieces, Rossini duets, and songs, spirituals, and arias — all performed in ways that make the music dazzle.
September Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Classical Music Review: “Dreams of a New Day — Songs by Black Composers”
The young baritone Will Liverman’s performances are full of spirit and a wide range of moods.