‘Emperor’ Meets Kings: Beethoven, Ellington With Towering Fanfare
PORTLAND, Ore. – Under the banner "Leaders and Pathbreakers," the Oregon Symphony bundled Ellington's Three Black Kings and Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto with Joan Tower's Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman.
In Whirligig Of Time, Opera Spins Together Crises Of Generations
NEW YORK – Several truths were revealed at the world premiere of the chamber opera Eat the Document at the HERE Mainstage: Everything changes. Everything stays the same. Opera and musical theater are not strictly separate genres.
Chi-cago, Chi-cago, That Musicological Town: Let Me Show You Around
CHICAGO – Amid highlights of a vibrant autumn season was the convergence of more than 1,700 historians, theorists, composers, and recording artists, even as Lyric Opera and Chicago Opera Theater staged two versions of the Fidelio story.
Renaissance Man Looks Into Music’s Mirror And Sees Humanity’s Image
BOOK REVIEW – In his book We Are Music, the polymath John Sharpley grapples with the meaning of music, and the multicultural embrace of his process poses an invitation to examine who we are through this timeless, pervasive medium.
Profile Of A Monk, Cast In Resonant Lines Of Renaissance Polyphony
DIGITAL REVIEW – Over the course of its 30 tracks, augmented by texts and printed program, the Brabant Ensemble’s new recording, A Monk’s Life, unfolds as a luminous and intriguing biography of a nameless monk in late-Renaissance Germany.
Explorers And A Mixed Vocal Troupe Dig Into New ‘Aida’ At The Met
NEW YORK – Required of a good Aida are lavish pageantry and strong voices. This politically aware production, dotted with modern explorers, offers spectacle but some uneven singing. Yet with more performances, the show could reach its potential.
Paris Voices: A Sojourn From Modernism To Raw Take on ‘Rigoletto’
PARIS – From the Baroque to deconstructed Verdi and an 80th birthday salute to William Christie (right), a week in Paris offered insights into the presentation of vocal music, warhorse and rarity alike. In the mix, modernist works stood out.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- What 18th century music can teach us about the 21st century economy - by Maria Hollenhorst at Marketplace
- Fort Worth Symphony premieres new Jake Heggie work, burdens Beethoven's 'Eroica - by Scott Cantrell at Dallas News
- Not your grandma's Shostakovich: How classical music is attracting younger audiences - by Jackson Weaver at CBC
- The Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra celebrates 50 years - by Alani Claudio at AOL
- Cycling to work in the winter can be a challenge. Especially when your work is the symphony - by Emma Quackenbush at The Narwhal
- (Podcast) More Than Music: Charles Ives and the common good - by Joe Horowitz at 1a/NPR
- From side gigs to center stage: How OperaDelaware's groundbreaking program gives singers stability and a creative home - by Johnny Perez-Gonzalez at WHYY
- The shocking truth behind Handel's Messiah: A tale of three April 13ths - by James Jacobs at WETA
- Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves: Celebrating a 400-year-old English folk song - by Timothy Judd at The Listeners' Club
- Lakota ontologies, AI, and graphic scores find a symbiotic home in the waking dreams of Kite - by Vanessa Ague at I Care If You Listen
- The big event for Palestrina 500 is in Grand Rapids - by Anne E. Johnson at Early Music America
- Catalyst Quartet offers two faces of classical music at Massry Center - by Joseph Dalton at Times Union
- Noël Coward 125: Classical connections - by Jack Pepper at Gramophone
- Ukrainian classical music in the face of war - by Anna Stavychenko at UN Chronicle
- Opera album review: A splendidly engaging new opera, 'The Leopard' - by Ralph P. Locke at The Arts Fuse
- Locke’s 2024 List of Notable Opera Recordings and a Few Non-Operatic Ones - by Ralph Locke in The Arts Fuse
- How a Soprano With Dyslexia Rose to the Heights of Opera - by Javier C. Hernández at NY Times
- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra navigates bold musical contrasts in a concert of grace and grandeur - by Paul Hyde at EarRelevant
- 10 Unmissable Books in the Eastman Studies in Music Series - by Proofed at Boydell and Brewer
- From nightclubs to condoms -- Weird and wonderful opera advertising campaigns - by Alexandra Wilson at BBC Music Magazine
- Student and her 3D-printed instrument harmonize classical music with digital age - by Erin Miller at U Maine News
- Ever heard of an activist opera company? White Snake Project tells new stories through old traditions - by Ryan Yau at Berkeley Beacon
- Hearing the future: All Classical Radio's move downtown is a game changer - by James Bash at Oregon Live
- The maestro and his opera academy in Suzhou - by Chen Nan at China Daily
- The Classical Music Our Critics Can’t Stop Thinking About - by critics at NYTimes.com
- The best classical albums of 2024 so far - by critics at The Times of London
- The Meditative Organ Soundscapes of Kali Malone - by Alex Ross at The New Yorker
- LSO/Volkov review — Lachenmann’s astonishing avant-garde epic - by Geoff Brown at The Times
- Jon Batiste Scores First No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Albums Chart With ‘Beethoven Blues’ - by Keith Caulfield at Billboard
- Cincinnati May Festival names Grammy Award-winning soprano as 2025 director - by Cincinnati Business Courier
Around the US
New-Wave Conductor’s Chicago Concert Shows Sea Change On Podium
CHICAGO – The energy of Lahav Shani's program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra reflected how younger conductors are forging a new sound world. Shani, a 35-year-old Israeli, is a friend of CSO music director-designate Klaus Mäkelä, 28.
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
Bryce Dessner’s ‘Solos’ Recording Is A Paradox: It’s About Connections
DIGITAL REVIEW – The guitarist-composer's latest project is deeply personal, a series of solo works that Dessner calls an “intimate diary.” These miniatures represent special rapport – with a musician, a city, family, all honoring collaboration.
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
Challenging Art Of Ives Launches New Podcast Hosted By Gail Wein
PERSPECTIVE – The still-controversial composer, born 150 years ago, believed that "music should not come easily," says Donald Berman, president of the Charles Ives Society, the debut guest on Wein's Classical Gas series on our website.
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.
