Extending The Embrace Of Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’ By Attuning To The Deaf
LOS ANGELES – Reprising a 2022 venture, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic offered a concert version of the opera with double casting: singers mirrored by silent actors who convey text and musical emotion through sign and gesture.
Chinese-American Kid Chases U.S. Army Life: Devastation As Opera
NEW YORK – In An American Soldier, a world-premiere opera by composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang, Private Danny Chen's path is charted from youthful eagerness to a sergeant's ruthless bullying and Danny's suicide.
‘Juniper Tree,’ Terrifying (In Terrific Way), Brings Grimm Fable To Opera
ORLANDO – Sumptuous costumes and makeup and oversized puppets took center stage in the Opera Orlando production of this dark fairy tale of infanticide, cannibalism, and reincarnation with a score jointly by Philip Glass and Robert Moran.
Amid The Chaos Of War, Music As Documentary Observes The Homeless
NEW YORK – The underreported displacement of 100,000 Artsakh-Armenians and the basic need to protect family are central in Mary Kouyoumdjian's Homeless, a fusion of photos, oral history, and music premiered by the New York Philharmonic.
Countertenor’s Recital ‘Don’t Look Back’ Looks Well Beyond The Box
NEW YORK – When Anthony Roth Costanzo devises a program, you never know what will happen. His recital at the Morgan Library and Museum drew on scores held there, to which he added narration and effective visual elements.
A Vocal Constellation Affirms Star Power Of Competition Winners
NEW YORK – A recital featuring the international winners of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competitions in 2023 and 2024 showed that the opera and concert world need not worry. The new wave of talent is as impressive as it is plentiful.
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.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Video: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music - Alex Ross and John Adams in conversation at CalPerformances
- When Chicago Symphony went small, intimate with Mozart and Stravinsky, impact went deep - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
- Louis Langrée reflects fondly on time with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- Renée Fleming shines in nature-inspired song recital in Greenville, SC - by Paul Hyde at EarRelevant
- Vancouver Opera's production of Carmen making new friends in 150-year-old story - by David Gordon Duke at Vancouver Sun
- Contrabassoons take center stage in two new concertos - by Joseph Dalton at Times Union
- Did AI just kill classical music? - by Daniel Kurganov at YouTube
- Love in a time of dementia: 'A Song by Mahler' combines science and music - by Peter Crimmins at WHYY
- Classical duo MiraLamar make appeal for Palestine's national music conservatory - by Lemma Shehadi at The National News
- Shawn Okpebholo's music is in high demand, putting a spotlight on Lexington music - by Richard Copley at Lexington Herald Leader
- From jazz to classical: five surprising classical albums from jazz greats - by Steve Wright at classical-music.com
- 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
- 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
Around the US
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.
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
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.
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.