A Veiled Treasure: Redesigned Church As Intimate Concert Hall
MONTREAL – Few outsiders may be aware of a beautiful little 465-seat concert venue known as Bourgie Hall, in the heart of downtown. A gem architecturally, visually, and acoustically, it was designed for solo recitals and chamber music.
Out Of A Covid Project, Mozart Piano Sonatas Eloquent And Complete
DIGITAL REVIEW – Post-pandemic, pianist Orli Shaham has been releasing portions of her streamed cycle on CDs. The six volumes of all 18 sonatas, coming this summer as a set, offer a comprehensive display of brilliance and honesty.
Making Surprise Debut As Murderous Medea, Naturally She Killed It
TORONTO – There were gasps when Canadian Opera Company's audience heard that favorite Sondra Radvanovsky would be replaced by an unfamiliar Italian, Chiara Isotton, as Cherubini's vengeful icon. The gasps soon became cheers.
Orchestra Enters ‘Ring’ At Center Stage, Etching Images In Wagner Gold
DALLAS – Augmented by 21 guest players and a full roster of singers, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra made a fine beginning to its novel concert cycle of the Ring operas with Das Rheingold and Die Walküre led by Fabio Luisi.
Scaling Strauss Twice, And Matching Peaks In The ‘Alpine Symphony’
FRANKFURT – Just a few days apart, both the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra played Strauss' monumental work at the Alte Oper. Both delivered one astonishing moment after another.
Batons, Bowings, Beats: A Maestro’s New Guide To Modern Masterworks
BOOK REVIEW – Leonard Slatkin’s new book belongs to a distinguished tradition, reflecting a lifetime of study and podium experience at the highest level. And it can be absorbed by anyone with a working knowledge of how to read music.
Beach’s Grand Mass Dusted Off, Cut Down, Its Fresh Vision Intact
VANCOUVER – In what was likely the work's first performance in Canada, the Vancouver Cantata Singers and Allegra Chamber Orchestra presented an effective and convincing adaptation of Amy Beach's splendorous Grand Mass in E-flat major.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Review: A Conductor Surprises by Embracing the Ordinary - by By Zachary Woolfe at NY Times
- In fan-tastic fantasy weekend, CSO serves up ‘Scheherazade,’ sci-fi film ‘Close Encounters’ - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- Washington Opera offers new ending to Puccini's final work - by Mike Silverman at AP News
- Entirely composed, created by artificial intelligence? - by Daniel Kurganov on YouTube
- Tyshawn Sorey wins 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music for 'Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)' - by Nate Chinen at NPR
- Met Opera hosts 4 female conductors in landmark week. From its founding to 2016, there were only 4 - by Ronald Blum at AP News
- Standing room only: Classical musicians take over St. Pete brewery - by Meghan Bowman at WUSF/NPR
- Canadian Opera Company's Aportia Chryptych celebrates groundbreaking Nova Scotia contralto Portia White - by Anya Wassenberg at Ludwig van Toronto
- In fan-tastic fantasy weekend, CSO serves up ‘Scheherazade,’ sci-fi film ‘Close Encounters’ - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- Rising star conductor Valentina Peleggi makes US opera debut in Seattle - by Thomas May at Seattle Times
- Winston-Salem Symphony celebrates the bicentennial of "The Ninth" - by Timothy Lindeman at CVNC.org
- Allen Philharmonic Orchestra honors victims of outlet mall shooting with special composition - by Bo Evans at CBS News
- St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Kyu Young-Kim to step down as artistic director as musicians criticize 'non-collaborative' management - by Jared Kaufman at Twin Cities Pioneer Press
- Grammy nominee Andy Akiho tries to bring fun, energy to classical music while pushing its limits - by Geneva Chin at Oregon Public Broadcasting
- Bavarian orchestra’s dark, edged Mahler Sixth bespeaks ascendant composer of modern era - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- Rising star conductor Valentina Peleggi makes US debut in Seattle - by Thomas May at Seattle Times
- Interview: The New Orleans Opera's Lila Palmer - by Kelly Massicot at New Orleans
- Podcast/transcript: Singer Lise Davidsen on her Tiny Desk experience - by Scott Detrow at WWFM
- Remembering Norman Carol - by Timothy Judd at The Listeners' Club
- 13th Hear Now music festival finishes in style - by Jim Farber at Classical Voice San Francisco
- Jakub Hrůša, Hélène Grimaud and the Bamberg Symphony dazzle at Carnegie Hall - by Susan Stempleski at Bachtrack
- Atlanta Opera’s new ‘Die Walküre’ soars with world-class cast - by Paul Hyde at ArtsATL
- The BBC has joined the war on culture - by Stephen Pollard at The Telegraph - by Stephen Pollard at The Telegraph
- Saltwater glory from Charlotte Symphony in seafaring works - by Perry Tannenbaum at Cultural Voice North Carolina
- Philadelphia Orchestra choir lands its first labor contract - by Peter Dobrin at The Philadelphia Inquirer
- All-star Junction Trio 'a new-generation supergroup' - by Beth Wood at the San Diego Union-Tribune
- An education in music makes you a better employee. Are recruiters in tune? - by Diana Tolmie at CutCommon
- This pianist soothes elephants by playing them classical music - by Mihai Andrei at ZME Science
- Neuwirth premiere disappoints while Søndergård debut impresses with Philharmonic - by Rick Perdian at New York Classical Review
- The Phone That Tore Us Apart as Harmony Failed - by Patti Niemi at New York Times
Around the US
Desolation Illustrated: Frozen, Deathly Vistas Of ‘Sinfonia Antartica’
SEATTLE – Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 7, enhanced by photos and journal readings from Robert Scott's ill-fated expedition, conjured a convincingly brutal soundscape in a performance by the Seattle Symphony led by Gemma New.
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!
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DISC AND STREAM
Baritenor’s CD Traces Glittering Paths That Led Opera To Wagner
DIGITAL REVIEW – In his latest recital disc, In The Shadows, the eternally curious baritenor Michael Spyres surveys some of the Bayreuth bard’s antecedents, and also recaps his own vocal journey as he embarks on the Wagnerian canon.
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
Even In Twilight Years, Andrew Davis Brought Lifelong Zest To Podium
APPRECIATION – This was a shocker. Not because 80 is an unseemly age at which to make an exit, but because Andrew Davis, the British conductor who died April 20, had cut such a convivially youthful figure onstage for so many decades.
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.