In Florence Price, A Composer Ripe For Rediscovery
BOOK REVIEW – From the 1930s to her death in 1953, Price’s talent brought her wide notice. Then, being black and a woman brought her neglect. A new biography by Rae Linda Brown sets the composer's life in historical context.
Baroque Treasures For Voices, From North And South
DIGITAL REVIEW – Great sacred vocal music abounded in the Baroque period. Happily, there always seems to be more of it to discover, as two recent recordings – one with music of Germany, the other of Spain – demonstrate.
Students, Faculty Staying Together While Kept Apart
COPING WITH CRISIS – The coronavirus pandemic has forced music schools across the nation to move instruction online. They’re making the best of a bad situation, and taking a few innovative strides forward at the same time.
Levit’s Beethoven: At Blazing Speed, Blistered Sonatas
DIGITAL REVIEW – Igor Levit's now complete nine-CD cycle of the 32 sonatas, begun with the late sonatas six years ago when the pianist was only 26, displays astonishing technical skill but often feels short on flexibility and drama.
Music Of Spheres: Kronos’ ‘Sun Rings’ Gets Sound Prize
DIGITAL – The Kronos Quartet's Nonesuch CD Terry Riley: Sun Rings won a 2020 Grammy for sound by Leslie Ann Jones, who captured what violinist David Harrington calls "the hugeness, intricacy, and beauty of nature."
Bold Aizuri Leaps Across Eras With Quartet Ventures
HOUSTON – Known for its innovative and thoughtful programming, the Aizuri Quartet offered a stimulating concert on the theme of "Music and Isolation," ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Beethoven and Nancarrow.
A Shed Shimmers In Verdi Requiem With Film Gloss
NEW YORK – Conductor Teodor Currentzis, the tenacious Greek super force behind Siberia’s musicAeterna Orchestra and Chorus, brought a powerful performance of Verdi's Requiem to one of Manhattan's newer venues.
Coming Events: Collaborations Kick Off Season
DATEBOOK – With a Billy Budd in San Francisco to mark Melville's 200th (at right), a Sonatathon in Cincinnati for Beethoven's 250th, and novel new roles for composers and composer-performers, the 2019-20 season is ready to go.
The Devil Is At It Once Again In Heggie’s Latest
SAN FRANCISCO – In If I Were You, a Merola Opera Program commission, the composer’s captivating music and the outstanding performances at the Aug. 1 world premiere upstaged the oft-told tale of body-jumping souls.
Glimmerglass Lifts Verismo Mirror To American Tragedy
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – In Blue, Jeanine Tesori ’s new opera with librettist Tazewell Thompson, a black cop and his wife raise their son. A heated, raw, all-too-familiar story ensues, closely tracked by the singable, expressive score.
Grim ‘Don Giovanni’ Frames A Fine Cast In Concrete, Rebar
PARIS – Ivo van Hove’s dark production for the Paris Opera features modern dress and architecture. While it's faithful to the emotional life of the characters, viewers may miss the usual buffo style despite fine singing and acting.
Well-Proportioned ‘Passion’ Highlights Carolina Bach Fest
By Perry Tannenbaum
CHARLOTTE – The sound of silence during the climax of a powerful St. Matthew Passion provided what may have been the most dramatic moment of the second annual Charlotte Bach Festival. Tenor Steven Soph sang the Evangelist.
Unreleased Coltrane CDs Stir Up The Jazz World – Again
Everyone in jazzland seems to be weighing in on the release this week of Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album, a previously-unknown 1963...
Quartet Summons A Time And Place In Musical History
By Anne E. Johnson
NEW YORK – The Diderot String Quartet, playing on period instruments, evoked the thriving scene of Leipzig in the 1840s with a program of Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn.
Teen Cellist Makes Brilliant CD Debut In Shostakovich
By Paul E. Robinson
DIGITAL REVIEW – Two gifted young musicians, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, 19, and conductor Mirga Grazinyté-Tyna, 32, display wonderful rapport in Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1. Cello encores round out the disc.
Handel’s ‘Esther,’ Pivotal Oratorio, Scores As Drama
By Kyle MacMillan
CHICAGO – It's easy to grasp what drew Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque to the early 1720 version of Esther. The nascent oratorio, a critical stepping stone in Handel's development, proved to be compelling in its own right.
Soprano Makes Rare Appearance, And Mesmerizes
By Heidi Waleson
NEW YORK - Many aspects of Anna Caterina Antonacci's special artistry were on display during her recital of French, Italian, and English repertoire with the fine American pianist Donald Sulzen at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall.
Tilson Thomas Masterminds Bold New Work Menu
By Richard S. Ginell
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - For a concert that brazenly tries to obliterate the boundaries of what a concert usually is, you might expect it to occur in a futuristic space. The New World Center’s Gehry/Toyota performance hall is just that.
In Graceful Debut, Dudok Foursome Thaws Winter Fest
By Kyle MacMillan
EVANSTON, Ill. – Unlike some modern quartets that put a premium on muscularity and punch, the fast-rising young Dutch ensemble called the Dudok Kwartet, in its North American debut, conveys more of an Old World sensibility.
