Seattle Symphony

Classical CD Reviews: “Babel,” Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Mass for the Endangered,” and John Luther Adams’ “Become Trilogy”

December 16, 2020

Posted in Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review

Calidore String Quartet’s Babel is one of the year’s best albums; Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered offers an unsettling and beautifully direct rethinking of the traditional Roman liturgy; for John Luther Adams fans – and the Adams-curious – Become Trilogy is a must.

Classical CD Reviews: Michael Tilson Thomas’ “From the Diary of Anne Frank,” Nielsen Symphonies nos. 1 & 2, and Arabella Steinbacher’s “Four Seasons”

July 27, 2020

Posted in Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review

This San Francisco Symphony release proves to be a fitting send-off for music director Michael Tilson Thomas; there’s much to admire in the Seattle Symphony’s playing of Carl Nielsen’s first two symphonies; fiery energy from both violinist Arabella Steinbacher and the excellent Münchener Kammerorchester make their new disk a gem.

Classical CD Reviews: Seattle Symphony plays Strauss & Langgaard, Offenbach’s “Folies symphoniques,” and Salonen conducts Beethoven & Strauss

October 22, 2019

Posted in Classical Music, Featured, Review

The Seattle Symphony does right by Langgaard but not Strauss; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Beethoven is micromanaged to death; Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester offers an ideal off-the-beaten-path Offenbach disc.

Classical CD Review: Seattle Opera’s Earthbound “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (Avie Records)

January 5, 2015

Posted in Classical Music, Featured, Music, Review

What one really wishes is that the Seattle Opera’s Ring Cycle had been released as a DVD.