Capping Berlin’s Opera Season, Two Excursions Into The New And Bold
BERLIN – Ample government subsidies have allowed German companies to take risks, and that spirit has been bolstered by the enthusiasm of a young, hip audience quite different from the older crowd that shows up for more traditional fare.
Lalo Schifrin: Reflecting On A Stylish Composer And A Personal Loss
PERSPECTIVE – As you get older, the departures of people who played significant roles in your work and imagination become more numerous and saddening. Certainly Schifrin's passing on June 26 affected me this way – and more than I expected.
Double Dealing: Sharp Contrast In Two Takes On ‘Queen Of Spades’
PERSPECTIVE – Pique Dame (Queen of Spades) was Tchaikovsky’s favorite of his works, and this summer one could see it twice in the span of a week: at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera, where Anna Netrebko was thrilling.
Ariel Quartet Embarks On Beethoven Journey, Exploring Its Own DNA
PERSPECTIVE – "His music is one of the main reasons we do what we do," says Jan Grüning, violist with the ensemble in residence at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory. Their CD release of the Op. 18 quartets launches a complete cycle.
Eclectic Festival Mixes Historical ‘Siegfried,’ Spin On Shostakovich
DRESDEN – Jan Vogler, right, artistic director of the Dresden Music Festival since 2009, offered Wagner's opera in concert on period instruments, a fado singer, and a concept of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony blending musicians with dancers.
In Polished Simplicity, ‘Ring’ Cycle Reflects Heroic Performances
VIENNA – The Vienna State Opera staging, seen June 20-28, was a mesmerizing musical journey with impassioned, high-volume conducting from Philippe Jordan and a gifted cast. Tenor Andreas Schager sang both Siegmund and Siegfried.
Dissonance Of Threads Tangles A ‘Jazz’ Opera, With No Jazz In Weave
NEW YORK – The premiere of The Tin Angel, an opera by composer Daniel Asia and novelist-cum-librettist Paul Pines, was an intriguing experiment touched by eloquent poetry, but it suffered from a tumult of characters and thematic ambitions.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Bach’s Colossus: Pygmalion’s visceral rendition of the B-Minor Mass - by Alex Ross at The New Yorker
- Elegance meets eloquence: getting to the heart of the music of Anastasiya Bazhenova - by Dave Franklin at The Big Takeover
- Enduring power of Verdi’s Requiem felt anew in Muti’s fierce production with CSO, Chorus - by Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle
- [Opinion] Through the opera glass: Peter Gelb's mismanagement of the Metropolitan Opera - by Jeffrey Arlo Brown at The Baffler
- Myth meets modernity in 'Aphrodite,' a striking opera that dissects the links between beauty, power and desire - by Laura Case at The Conversation
- Jennifer Higdon won't apologize for writing accessible music - by Tom Huizenga at Colorado Public Radio
- Risk and access: Nadia Sirota curates 'Living Music Underground' summer series - by Yaz Lancaster at I Care If You Listen
- South Korean maestro Chung will be the first Asian to head Italy's famed La Scala - by Anthony Kuhn at NPR
- Making sense of the BSO's 'Decoding Shostakovich' - by Aaron Keebaugh at The Arts Fuse
- Meet Rakhi Singh, the time-travelling violinist bringing together baroque and techno - by Josh Spero at Financial Times
- This 27-disc Steve Reich box set is not the work of a minimalist - by Michael Andor Brodeur at Washington Post
- A major new opera the Met has ignored - album review - by Ralph P. Locke at Arts Fuse
- ‘Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy’ Review: Bittersweet Strings on PBS - by John Anderson at Wall Street Journal
- MCN citizen Kirsten C. Kunkle headlines Mission Opera's all Indigenous 'Tosca' - by Frances Herrod at Mvskoke Media
- We said pay what you want for opera - the audience changed overnight - by Nancy Durrant at The London Times
- How I became an opera composer in a maximum security prison - by Joseph Wilson at The Marshall Project
- In S.F. debut, Isidore String Quartet is just getting started - by Rebecca Wishnia at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Violinist Curtis Stewart on making music: By serving others, I am serving myself - by Curtis Stewart at The Strad
- How I became an opera composer in a maximum security prison - by Joseph Wilson at The Marshall Project
- ‘Own every note’ – Zuill Bailey pays homage to his teacher Joel Krosnick, who died April 16 - by Larry Lapidus at Spokesman Review
- Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera - by Ralph P. Locke at Short Fuse Review Round-up
- A brilliant young tenor gets a role worthy of his voice - by Philip Kennicott at Washington Post
- Do Pittsburgh's symphony and opera suffer from 'hypeflation'? - by Jeremy Reynolds at Post-Gazette
- A conductor quietly rising into first echelon: Karina Canellakis’ bravura night with the CSO - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- The Saint-Laurent Choir and its acolytes, creators of music and dreamers of dreams - by Béatrice Cadrin at Ludwig Van Montréal
- Les Arts Florissants on a Quest to Discover the Real Vivaldi - by Michael Ziebach at SF Classical Voice
- Pianist Conrad Tao explores colors of Debussy - and the Lumatone - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- Peninsula Music Festival features award-winning soloists, rising stars in its 73rd season - by Christopher Clough at Green Bay Press-Gazette
- Opera out loud: Rossini Festival celebrates arts for all, y'all - by Leslie Bateman at Inside of Knoxville
- Young classical musicians are disrupting the industry -- by going viral - by Jessica Duchen at iPaper
Around the US
Brash, Brassy Schuller Ignites Season Finale Capped By French Flair
SEATTLE – The Seattle Symphony's 2024-25 season closer, under conductor emeritus Ludovic Morlot, may have been entitled "Ravel Boléro," but in sum it showcased this tandem shining light on both new and well-established repertoire.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Welcome to Classical Voice North America, the online magazine of the Music Critics Association of North America. Since 2013, CVNA has been a vibrant outlet for music criticism, providing expert coverage by members and occasional guest contributors. If you are a writer with experience in classical music, please consider joining MCANA. Together, we will keep music criticism alive and well.
AROUND CANADA
INTERNATIONAL
DISC AND STREAM
Departing On Track 16: Board Here For The Best View Of Odd Liszt Trek
DIGITAL REVIEW – Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes' new recording, in part with the Norwegian Soloists' Choir, is a curious mix. To find immediate reward, I suggest jumping in late for his sublime account of Liszt's Six Pensées poétiques, or Consolations.
PARLANDO: VIVIEN SCHWEITZER'S PODCASTS
The composer, pianist and climate activist Gabriela Lena Frank talks about the environmental damage caused by the music industry, how her significant hearing loss has impacted her career, and more.
ISSUES IN THE ARTS
Symphonic Spectacles Display High Standard Of Polish Orchestras
PERSPECTIVE – Most cities in Poland have at least one orchestra, with Warsaw, Katowice, and Krakow home to three of the best. And like the country itself, they rose from the ashes of World War II and the dark days of Soviet control.
MCANA HOSTED BLOGS
Prototype Festival 2020: Iron and Coal
The Prototype Festival of new opera offers a mid-winter adrenalin booster for New York opera lovers.
