Another Scarlatti Takes Limelight In Oratorio Of Daniel In The Lion’s Den
DIGITAL REVIEW – The imaginative work by Francesco Scarlatti, in its premiere recording by the Armonico Consort under Christopher Monks, displays the influences of Handel as well as the composer's famous older brother Alessandro.
On New Tracks, Silkroad Traces Multiethnic Cost Of America’s Railways
DIGITAL REVIEW – In the13 musical narratives of American Railroad, Silkroad frames the labor and sacrifices, the hidden stories, of the Irish, African American, Chinese, Native American, and Japanese who built the transcontinental railroad.
In An Exotic Travelogue, Wafting Down Silk Road With Oslo Wind Players
DIGITAL REVIEW – On a superb CD, the Oslo Kammerakademi performs two colorful works it commissioned, plus two by Saint-Saëns and André Caplet, all evoking Eastern lands from China to Persia (today: Iran), Afghanistan, and Mongolia.
The Boy Mozart’s Riot Of Royalty, Vocal Bling: ‘Mitridate’ Video Glitters
DIGITAL REVIEW – This December 2022 taping of the 14-year-old composer's first important opera, a vocal high-wire act, features Les Musiciens du Louvre led by Marc Minkowski at the Staatsoper Berlin. Its lofty musical values deserve notice.
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.
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.
Ambitious Album Casts Light On The Composer Inside Conductor MTT
DIGITAL REVIEW – With Michael Tilson Thomas' 80th birthday looming in December, his far-ranging compositions are finally being unleashed upon the world in a handsomely produced four-CD, five-hour set containing most of his music.
Musical Cultures Meld In Renaissance-Based CD Creatively Spiced
DIGITAL REVIEW – Although the music on Pilgrimage: Musical Journey of Kryštof Harant to Jerusalem / circa 1600 is almost 500 years old, the album’s message of cross-cultural parallels and joyous interaction is a needed balm today.
Shedding Words, Two Ensembles Articulate Charm Of Early Music
DIGITAL REVIEW – On imaginative CDs featuring instrumental arrangements of vocal works, Lautten Compagney Berlin and Concerto Scirocco display more differences than similarities. And both of these endeavors are worth hearing.
Recording, Reassessing Saariaho Opera Whose Worth Is Still Unknown
DIGITAL REVIEW – The late composer was crestfallen when her second opera, Adriana Mater, got a modest reception. A new recording by the San Francisco Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen promises to recharge the conversation.
Robeson Compendium: Like Trailblazing Artist, CD Set Is Monumental
DIGITAL REVIEW – A package of 14 CDs plus a 158-page coffee table book includes every recording from 1925-'58 by Paul Robeson, a towering figure who also had a major stage and film career and was a prominent labor and civil rights activist.
Three Decades Later, Hamelin Revisits Depths Of The ‘Hammerklavier’
DIGITAL REVIEW – After a 1993 performance of Beethoven's notoriously difficult Piano Sonata Op. 106, Marc-André Hamelin dropped the work for nearly 30 years. Now it reappears on a CD that reflects the authority of an artist in his sixties.
Vänskä And Minnesota Wrap Mahler Cycle With Sonically Glorious Third
DIGITAL REVIEW – It took longer than intended, but Osmo Vänskä’s valedictory recording project with his former ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, was finally completed this year. It may be the best-sounding Mahler cycle on discs.
Recapturing The Magic In Three Eclectic Ballets By A Neglected Master
DIGITAL REVIEW – Founding conductor Gil Rose leads the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in a CD devoted to works by Chicago native John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) that reflect influences ranging from Tin Pan Alley to "serious music."
It’s A Suite Of Brilliance As Conductor, Orchestra Co-star On Dazzling CD
DIGITAL REVIEW – American composer Elizabeth Ogonek's three-part All These Lighted Things fits neatly between famous suites by Prokofiev and Ravel in a recording by the greatly undervalued Antwerp Symphony with its conductor Elim Chan.
New Video Of ‘Rusalka’ Is Appealing Evidence Of Its Rising Popularity
DIGITAL REVIEW – There are now several plausible video versions from which to choose. Opus Arte's new version, filmed at London's Royal Opera in 2023 and starring Asmik Grigorian with Semyon Bychkov conducting, has considerable virtues.
Applying Modern Prism, CD Shifts Perspectives On Women Composers
DIGITAL REVIEW – On their album Venus Rising, percussion ensemble Trio SR9 and singer-composer Kyrie Kristmanson offer innovative arrangements that refocus centuries of music by women from Hildegard von Bingen to the present.
Rare Tchaikovsky Opera Displays Charms Before Killing The Characters
DIGITAL REVIEW – Seldom seen in the west, The Enchantress, a lengthy drama that mixes abuse of power and betrayal, is the novel subject of a DVD from Oper Frankfurt directed by Vasily Barkhatov and conducted by Valentin Uryupin.
Motets From History’s Shadows Are Diamonds In Rough Performance
DIGITAL REVIEW – In 1598, Orfeo Vecchi published the third volume of his Motets for Six Voices, stunning examples of late-Renaissance polyphony that have been recorded for the first time, albeit imperfectly, by Cappella Musicale Eusebiana.
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.
