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.
All Hands On Deck: Orchestra Shares Stage With ‘Rheingold’ Singers
CALGARY – For its first go at any of Wagner's Ring dramas, Calgary Opera moved the considerably expanded orchestra from a cramped pit and onto the action space, front and center amid an uneasy flow of gods and giants and Rhinemaidens.
Nadia Boulanger Opera, Despite Cuts, Displays Teacher’s Own Mastery
NEW YORK – La ville morte should have been the sensation of 1914 Paris but for the hand of fate. More than a century later, the only opera composed by the influential teacher was given its New York premiere by Catapult Opera Company.
Jesus’ Death: A Drama Drawn Lean For Harp, Mark Morris Dancers
BERKELEY – Set to Nico Muhly's cycle The Street, inspired by 14 poems by Alice Goodman and here renamed Via Dolorosa, Morris' dance had its quietly beautiful world premiere on a program with the dance of another death: that of Socrates.
A Cacophony Of Voices, Human And Planetary: Songs Of World As One
PERSPECTIVE – Composer Matthew Aucoin's new Music for New Bodies, directed for the stage by Peter Sellars, is a “synesthetic song cycle” that reflects the interconnectedness of individuals and collective humanity with the wider natural world.
Saint-Saëns And Ravel With True French Flair As Langrée Storms LA
LOS ANGELES – Conductor Louis Langrée seems to have found a potent connection with the LA Philharmonic. His pairing of Ravel's Ma mère l’Oye and Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony sparked one of the longest curtain-call ovations I've heard here.
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.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra names Cristian Măcelaru its 14th music director - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- Heartbeat Opera: Productions Grounded in the Present - by Heidi Waleson at Wall Street Journal
- Opera gets slapped with the ‘elitist’ label. L.A. proves just how wrong that is - by Mark Swed at LA Times
- An artist with a big, messy life gets a big, messy musical - by Philip Kennicott at Washington Post
- ‘So what’d you think?’ A music critic draws the curtain on a career of asking questions - by Joshua Kosman at San Francisco Chronicle
- Review: VSO audience thrilled with Gemma New, Augustin Hadelich performances - by David Gordon Duke at Vancouver Sun
- Minnesota's Rochester Symphony announces new chief conductor - by Staff at The Violin Channel
- Pianist Aleksey Botvinov: Performing classical music to help Ukraine fight - by Ugo Poletti at Kyiv Post
- A Cultural Mission bids adieu to the 'Chronicle's' classical cat - by Andrew Gilbert at Mission Local
- Inside St. Louis Symphony's $134 million expansion of Powell Hall - by Steph Kukuljan at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Confronting 'The Beast' -- Musicians' performance anxiety - by Heather O'Donnell at Interlude
- 'The Lord of the Rings' Opera gets green light from Tolkein estate - by Michael Vincent at Ludwig Van
- Video: Classical music composition class enriches Bay Area jail - by Heather Holmes at Fox 2 KTVU
- Revisiting Mrs. Beach's Mass - by David Gordon Duke at Vancouver Sun
- Constantinople and friends make a club jam out of ancient music from Persia and Spain - by George Grella at New York Classical Review
- Meet Ayanna Woods, the Chicago native making waves in classical music - by Staff at Because of Them We Can
- SCRUTINY | Sibelius & New Cello Concerto By Detlev Glanert Offers A Mixed Bag From The TSO - by Arthur Kaptainis at Ludwig Van Toronto
- Zwilich concerto, Stravinsky stand out at SFSO concert - Robert Croan at Palm Beach Arts Paper
- Cincinnati Opera lays plans to bring Paul McCartney's 'Liverpool Oratorio' to life - by Janelle Gelfand at Cincinnati Business Courier
- Tales of a critic: A celebration of retiring Classical Musical Critic Joshua Kosman - at San Francisco Chronicle
- SCRUTINY | Esprit Orchestra At Koerner Hall: Ligeti 2, Richter No Score - by Arthur Kaptainis at Ludwig van Toronto
- Karina Canellakis and Alice Sara Ott make memorable New York Philharmonic debuts - by Susan Stempleski at Backtrack
- Imagining Nikola Tesla: Phil Kline’s New Opera Searches for the Man Behind the Myth - by Katelyn Simone at San Francisco Classical Voice
- Magic and solemnity: Mitsuko Uchida and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall - by Susan Stempleski at Backtrack
- “X” is powerful: The 3-hour Anthony Davis opera updates the revolutionary piece staged decades ago - by Angela Allen at Oregon Arts Watch
- Conductors Had One Job. Now They Have Three or Four - by Alex Ross at The New Yorker
Around the US
Oratorio As Snapshots: Images From A Lifetime Framed In Words, Music
NEW YORK – We take for granted our ability to snap, and immediately see, dozens of photos a day. Composer Luna Pearl Woolf and librettist David Van Taylor’s Number Our Days: A Photographic Oratorio recalls a different time.
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
Even Lacking Visuals, Handel’s Vivid Music Illustrates ‘Alcina’ CD
DIGITAL REVIEW – Conductor Mark Minkowski’s period-instrument orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre, has recorded many Handel operas since its founding in 1982, but nothing in two decades. For Baroque opera fans, this Alcina is good news.
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
Sampling Art Of Song, Will Liverman Leaves Final Lyric To His Mom
PERSPECTIVE – The baritone's new album Show Me the Way, with pianist Jonathan King, is shared by a variety of guest artists, but the last word goes to Will's mother, gospel singer Terry Liverman, accompanied by her versatile son at the piano.
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.