Ralph P. Locke
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.
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
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Newly recorded in the original German, Anton Reicha’s Lenore offers a vivid response to Bürger’s famous “Gothic” ballad from 1774.
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Joseph Horowitz’s short, punchy, well-sourced, and compulsively readable book argues for bringing back the forgotten works of important Black composers.
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Here’s my list of twenty superlative operatic offerings of different kinds.
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Peter Heise’s King and Marshal (1878), one of the most-performed Danish operas, is melodic and atmospheric, here sung and played persuasively.
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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.
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Chopin masterpieces, Rossini duets, and songs, spirituals, and arias — all performed in ways that make the music dazzle.
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Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
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The young baritone Will Liverman’s performances are full of spirit and a wide range of moods.
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Arts Commentary: Rich in Creativity — But Nothing Else