Orchestra As Lead Voice Rings True In Crowning A Concert ‘Ring’ Cycle
DALLAS – With performances of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi capped off an ambitious, even history-making Wagner project usually reserved for full staging in opera houses.
Percussion Ace Shows Gifts As Composer With Glittering Cello Concerto
PORTLAND, Ore. – Music director David Danzmayr led the Oregon Symphony and soloist Jeffrey Ziegler in the West Coast premiere of a concerto by virtuoso percussionist-composer Andy Akiho that struck sparks of rhythmic intensity and wit.
Maker Of Multifaceted Art, Venerable Monk Spreads Her Net Anew
NEW YORK – Meredith Monk has been creating, performing in, and recording multi-disciplinary music-based works for more than 60 years. At age 81, she offered the U.S. premiere of her expansive performance piece and installation Indra’s Net.
Three Decades Later, Hamelin Revisits Depths Of The ‘Hammerklavier’
DIGITAL REVIEW – After a 1993 performance of Beethoven's notoriously difficult Piano Sonata Op. 106, Marc-André Hamelin dropped the work for nearly 30 years. Now it reappears on a CD that reflects the authority of an artist in his sixties.
‘Auferstehen,’ Indeed: Refurbished Hall Rises To Grand Mahler Second
SAN DIEGO – With a performance of Mahler's massive and sonorously complex Resurrection Symphony, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra under music director Rafael Payare unveiled the $120-million transformation of its concert hall.
Opening With Flourish, Alabama SO Goes Big With Saint-Saëns Third
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Well-balanced performances of Barber's Violin Concerto with the Australian teen Amaryn Olmeda and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony bespoke qualities the orchestra has sustained through a decade under Carlos Izcaray.
Cultish ‘Listeners’ Gets Lighter Shade of Dark As F-Bombs Rain Down
PHILADELPHIA – En route to Opera Philadelphia, Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners, about toxic modern America, has softened into something pungent with dark comic edges. But how many times can we hear the f-word sung before it turns artificial?
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- The Chicago Temple is turning 100. Its birthday gift to itself? Fixing its historic organ. - by Hannah Edgar at Chicago Tribune
- Harrowing and uncomfortable: “The Handmaid’s Tale” at San Francisco Opera - by Angela Allen at Oregon ArtsWatch
- Joyce Hatto: Fantasia for Piano - by Mark Singer for The New Yorker
- A Philip Glass concerto turns an ear toward the timpani - by Michael Andor Brodeur at Washington Post
- First-Ever Recording of “Shamus O’Brien” — A Long-Forgotten Delight by One of Britain’s Savviest Composers - by Ralph P. Locke for The Arts Fuse
- The hardest-working countertenor in the biz makes ‘Figaro’ all his own - by Michael Andor Brodeur at Washington Post
- The Servant: An encounter with Hans Messner, Pierre Boulez's personal assistant - by Thomas von Steinaecker at Van Magazine
- 'We didn't know' - The young musicians chosen for secret premiere of lost Mozart work - by Kyle Macdonald at Classic FM
- San Antonio Philharmonic postpones October concerts - by Staff at The Violin Channel
- 10 composers from across Latin America we're celebrating this month! - by Holly Chung at KDFC
- Backstage at SF Opera: From the make-up table to the prompter's box - by Lisa Hirsch at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Cleveland Chamber Music Society celebrates 75 years - by Zachary Lewis at The Land
- Professional clarinetist performs highest recorded classical music concert in Colorado Rocky Mountains - by Jennifer Mulson at The Denver Gazette
- Emily D'Angelo will sing for 100 minutes straight: She opens the Met season with Jeanine Tesori's 'Grounded' - by Justin Davidson at The Cut
- Previously unknown Mozart music unearthed in German library - by Chris DeVille at Stereogum
- New leaders, fresh perspectives: Priscilla Herreid and Liza Malamut - by Kyle MacMillan at Early Music America
- Always beginning: Interview with Max Richter - by Sophie Leigh Walker at The Line of Best FitLetter 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
Around the US
Illicit Love As Passion And Tragedy Inflames Opera Amid The Faithful
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Set in a Mennonite community in Northern Mexico, Silent Light by composer Paola Prestini and librettist Royce Vavrek creates a weave of ecstasy, guilt, and heartbreak in a production marking National Sawdust's 10th year.
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
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.
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
After Opening Plaudits, Even Best New Operas Face An Unsure Future
PERSPECTIVE – Awards are great, says one recipient of the annual prize for best opera from the Music Critics Association of North America, but more performances are the goal. A follow-up revealed some winners surging, others stalled.
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.
