Through Different Prism: Rachmaninoff, Wagner As Festival Novelties
LUCERNE – A Rachmaninoff concert by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly hardly captured the composer, and a historically informed Walküre, brought from Dresden and led by Kent Nagano, seemed mainly an anomaly.
Vänskä And Minnesota Wrap Mahler Cycle With Sonically Glorious Third
DIGITAL REVIEW – It took longer than intended, but Osmo Vänskä’s valedictory recording project with his former ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, was finally completed this year. It may be the best-sounding Mahler cycle on discs.
Recapturing The Magic In Three Eclectic Ballets By A Neglected Master
DIGITAL REVIEW – Founding conductor Gil Rose leads the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in a CD devoted to works by Chicago native John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) that reflect influences ranging from Tin Pan Alley to "serious music."
Born Of A Competition, String Quartet Festival Carves Its Own Niche
BANFF, Alberta – The Isadore String Quartet and the Viano Quartet, recent winners of the triennial Banff International String Quartet Competition, returned to the site of their triumphs as guests of a festival sprung from the celebrated competition.
In Valley 6,000 Feet Up, Gem Of A Music Festival Sparkles Four Decades
SUN VALLEY, Idaho – Situated in this flower-laden resort town, the Sun Valley Music Festival is unlike anything else in its posh setting: It's free. Writers from the Music Critics Association of North America had a close look at the spirited event.
Weinberg Opera Rarity And ‘Hamlet’ In Concert Score High At Salzburg
SALZBURG – This year’s Salzburg Festival boasts an impressive variety, from a new staging of Weinberg’s The Idiot, the summer's hit, to recitals and a concert treatment of Thomas’ opera Hamlet – in which the melancholy Dane is crowned king!
Peering Into The Void: Concert Fare Explores Realm Of Mental Health
NEW YORK – The Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center tapped into this year's Summer for the City theme with Schumann and the world premiere of Hannah Kendall’s He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Letter From Sun Valley: New Music by Quinn Mason and James Ehnes’s Brahms Concerto - by Katelyn Simone at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Two-piano transcription of Debussy's "Jeux," iconoclastic tour de force - by Gary Lemco at Audiophile Audition
- The cellist of Auschwitz - by Alex Ross at The New Yorker
- Love, death and puppetry loom large in Atlanta Opera’s new season – by Paul Hyde for Arts ATL
- New and noteworthy American operas upcoming - by Katelyn Simone at Opera America
- Subdued, sleepy and despised: How minimalist piano eclipsed classical music - by Flora Wilson at The Guardian
- A maestro for the ages: Koussevktsy at the Library of Congress - at the Library of Congress: In the Muse
- Music in the mountains at the Sun Valley Music Festival - by James Bash at Oregon Arts Watch
- Nurturing new ensembles in the Arizona desert – by Anne E. Johnson at Early Music America
- "The Righteous" Has World Premiere at Santa Fe Opera - by Rodney Punt at LA Opus
- AI, the new opera star - by Béatrice Cadrin at Ludwig van Montréal
- Music critic John von Rhein is inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame - by Windy City Times
- From Danville to Chicago: John Magnum’s musical journey to the top – by Janos Gereben at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Book review: Edward Said’s cultural universalism and love of opera – by Abe Silberstein at New Lines Magazine
- Laurie Plays in the LA Phil: Second Violinist Faces Fear of Heights - by Laurie Niles at Violinist.com
- Who is Jakub Józef Orliński? The breakdancing countertenor who sang at the Olympics – by Staff at Classic FM
- Interview with violinist Augustin Hadelich: A 20-year ‘American road trip’ – by Laurie Niles at Violinist.com
- Scientists observe a remarkable synchronization effect among classical music listeners – by Eric W. Dolan at PsyPost
- Tanglewood: Idyllic to the eye, radical to the ear - by David Patrick Stearns at Arts Journal
- Podcast: The 'Dream Orchestra' gives refugees a chance to build a new life - by Krista Bo at CNN
- John Mangum named to top post at Lyric Opera of Chicago - by Kyle MacMillan at Chicago Sun-Times
- Reflections on ‘the gift’ of listening: A farewell column - by Jeremy Eichler at Boston Globe
- Greenville Symphony appoints new music director after 3-year search - by Paul Hyde at Greenville Journal
- Paul McCartney's 'Liverpool Oratorio' an entertaining – if uneven – mix - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- At 97, This Conductor Is Modest and Extraordinary - by Joshua Baron at NY Times
- John Adams’s Girls of the Golden West Gets a Definitive Recording - by Richard S. Ginell at SFCV
- The Nearly Lost Work of a ‘Born Opera Composer’ Returns - by Will Crutchfield at NY Times
- The Eastern Music Festival, housed at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, starts 63rd season - by Timothy Lindeman at CVNC
- Cincinnati Opera’s ‘La Traviata’ unmarred by police shooting outside Music Hall - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- A sonic gift: Sandbox Percussion premieres John Luther Adams’ “Prophecies of Fire” at Chamber Music Northwest - by Angela Allen at Oregon ArtsWatch
- The Cleveland Orchestra with Bela Fleck at Blossom - by Laura Kennelly at Cool Cleveland
Around the US
Global Youth Ensembles Fill Carnegie Hall With Vibe Of Art And Energy
NEW YORK – Some of the summer's most exhilarating music-making emanated from 700 young musicians from five continents and 35 countries forming seven orchestras, a joyful meeting of minds at World Orchestra Week.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Welcome to Classical Voice North America, the online journal of the Music Critics Association of North America. CVNA was launched in 2013 to provide an outlet for music criticism at a time when the market for traditional print journalism was shrinking. Over the past decade this trend has continued. Yet concert societies and opera companies remain vibrant and enthusiasm for what they do is undiminished. The need for informed commentary is as pressing as ever.
The mission of CVNA is to meet this need with expert coverage by members and occasional guest contributors. If you are a writer with experience in classical music, please consider joining the association. If you are a reader with thoughts to share, please write us at info@mcana.org. We believe in criticism!
AROUND CANADA
INTERNATIONAL
DISC AND STREAM
It’s A Suite Of Brilliance As Conductor, Orchestra Co-star On Dazzling CD
DIGITAL REVIEW – American composer Elizabeth Ogonek's three-part All These Lighted Things fits neatly between famous suites by Prokofiev and Ravel in a recording by the greatly undervalued Antwerp Symphony with its conductor Elim Chan.
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
Seeking Higher Crest, Escher String Quartet Rides Wave Of Bartók
PERSPECTIVE – To stake its claim as one of the world’s top string quartets, the Escher played all six of Bartók’s quartets in a single three-hour March concert in New York. Its second such marathon will take place Aug. 11 in Santa Fe.
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.
