Fluid Time, Cosmic Love Meet In Rare Encounter With Epic ‘Turangalîla’
MONTREAL – For all its renommée, Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie is a once-in-a-while kind of piece. Rafael Payare led a brash performance by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal that bespoke the presence of 103 musicians onstage.
To Orchestra In Need, Guest Conductor Brings Affinity Of An Old Friend
SEATTLE – in its search for a new music director, the Seattle Symphony has played under the wide-ranging styles of seven different conductors this season, but the high-level playing under David Robertson conveyed an aura of mutual comfort.
Aussies Around Globe Gather As All-Stars For An Ardent Mahler Ninth
SYDNEY – The Australian World Orchestra consists of Australians from distant points who meet annually in their homeland. This year, founding conductor Alexander Briger presided over a blood-on-the-floor performance of Mahler.
Callas At 100, Dazzling Beacon Of Time Past, Still Bel Canto Lodestar
NEW YORK – At the Museo del Barrio, near the hospital on Fifth Avenue where the soprano was born to Greek parents in 1923, musicologist Will Crutchfield led a symposium tied to his Teatro Nuovo project "Callas: Past and Future."
In Multifaceted Concert, The Timeless Narrative Of Yuletide Shines Anew
SEATTLE – For its novel retelling of the Christmas story, Early Music Seattle united the Boston Camerata and the Medieval Women’s Choir in massive St. James Cathedral. The beauty of the presentation transcended its tricky logistics.
Concert As Storytelling: Others May Play Notes, Parlando Conjures Tales
NEW YORK – Ian Niederhoffer wants classical music to survive and flourish. That's why he founded the string orchestra Parlando, now in its fourth season, an ensemble that uses historical narrative to ensure connection with its audience.
With Touring Berliners, Young Stand-In Maestro Stands Out In Brahms
TORONTO – When Daniel Barenboim could not lead Staatskapelle Berlin on its North American tour, subs were summoned, two of them famous. But on the podium here was an obscure 34-year-old Lithuanian, Giedrė Šlekytė. She was brilliant.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Lyric’s stark, fierce ‘Jenůfa’ again showed how aggressive company has upped theater game - by Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle.
- 'Industrial' chamber music concert spotlights Pittsburgh composer Amy Williams - by Jeremy Reynolds at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- Naomi Woo named first woman director of NYO Canada - by Anya Wassenberg at Ludwig Van Toronto
- Typewriter orchestra making music in a different key - by Anne Thompson at NBC News
- From 'Tár' to 'Maestro,' what a recent surge of movies can tell us about the world of classical music - by Joshua Kosman at the San Francisco Chronicle
- Lo-fi meets classical music with Arden Records' new compilation - by Stuart Dredge at Music Ally
- Soundbox Ventures program seeks new ways to engage classical music audiences - by Jay Handelman at Sarasota Harald-Tribune
- Milwaukee Symphony extends music director contract - by Violin Channel staff at The Violin Channel
- Moby, cultural polymath, on a life of affinity with classical music - by Zev Kane at WRTI
- Christoph Waltz/My Music: 'Music is pretty much as Nietzsche said: It wouldn't be a life worth living without music' - by Christoph Waltz at Gramophone
- Peter Pears: An appreciation of the great tenor - by Catherine Bott at BBC Music Magazine
- What today's music lovers can learn from the Baroque - by John Scherer at Playbill Classical Arts
- Period Instruments: A Short Guide - by Alison DeSimone at Carnegie Hall
- First Person: Natalia Franklin Pierce, executive director of Nonclassical, on 'creating a sense of belonging' - by Natalia Franklin Pierce at The Arts Desk
- Detroit Opera bringing orchestra to neighborhood with community series - by Luke Laster at CBS Detroit
- 21st century Baroque: Nuova Pratica reopens the book on Baroque composition - by Jacob Jahiel at Early Music America
- Project Chamber Music: Willamette Valley brings Oregon students shoulder to shoulder with world class classical musicians - by Brett Campbell in Oregon ArtsWatch
- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra begins partnership with University of Maryland in 'New era for the arts' - by Mary Carole McCauley in The Baltimore Sun
- A tale of three orchestras at the California Festival - by Richard Ginell at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Maria Callas' most iconic photos, on her 100th anniversary - by Kyle Macdonald at Classic FM
- Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra wants to make classical music more accessible with community concert series - by Willie Plaschke at Press-Telegram
- Studying for finals? Let classical music help - by Allison Engel at USC Today
- Santa Fe Opera receives major grant for ALTO program - by David Salazar at Operawire
- A violist memorializes lost voices at Terezin concentration camp - by Scott Simon at WWFM
- UMass Lowell string project helps bring classical stringed music ed to K-12 Merrimack Valley students - by WHAV News staff at WHAV Wavelengths
- Mei-Ann Chen is a busy globetrotter, but music is always in her heart - by Christine S. Escobar at I Care If You Listen
- Classical Californians: Jaime Martín - by KDFC staff at KDFC
Around the US
Amazon Opera Journey Widens Met’s Embrace (With Guilty Pleasures)
NEW YORK – Just before the Met Opera premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas, someone shouted, “¡Viva l’ópera en español!” – a first at the house in nearly a century. The audience responded with cheers. In the end, approval came with a roar.
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
You’re Doin’ Completely Fine, Oklahoma! (On CD That’s Not So Complete)
DIGITAL REVIEW – A new recording, touted as all-in, indeed contains every note from the original 1943 musical, and it's played as it was written. But without the essential dialogue, we get only a superficial sense of what the story is about.
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
In Lenny’s Garden: ‘Maestro’ Tunnels Deep Into A Magical Persona
MOVIE REVIEW – Far better than expected, the Leonard Bernstein biopic starring, directed, and co-written by Bradley Cooper is an Oscar-baiting artwork unto itself. It's not for nothing that Carey Mulligan, as Bernstein's wife, gets top billing.
COMING EVENTS
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.
