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.
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.
Conducting Laureate Shows Flair For Mahler With Third Symphony
SEATTLE – In 2016, Kahchun Wong won first prize in the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition with his take on the Third Symphony. That rapport with the composer was evident in a sublime account of the Third with the Seattle Symphony.
Canadian Orchestras Create Spate Of CDs With Uneven Results
DIGITAL REVIEW – Competition is keen for the Mahler and Strauss recorded by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Rafael Payare. And do we need Gustavo Gimeno's Turangalîla-Symphonie with the Toronto Symphony?
Racial Injustice Echoes In Music Before Solace Of Mozart’s Requiem
PORTLAND, Ore. – The first half of the Oregon Symphony program led by David Danzmayr featured pieces by William Grant Still and James B. Wilson that reflected on racism. The mood was softened by a moving account of the Requiem.
IN THE NEWS: MCANA MEMBERS' PICKS
- 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
- Tobin Center lifts curtain on resident orchestra's ambitious future - by Jack Morgan at Texas Public Radio
- Wisconsin Conservatory of Music's new fellowship aims to increase diversity in the classical music industry - by James Groh at WTMJ-TV
- Bringing the string trio back to life with the Vivaldi Project - by James Jacobs at WETA
- The peculiar programming of early music - by Parker Ramsay at Early Music America
- “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
- From blips to bliss with 'Ensemble Connect Up Close' at Carnegie Hall - by Rick Perdian at Seen and Heard International
- Brace yourselves: The plight of the San Francisco Symphony is about to get worse - by Joshua Kosman at San Francisco Chronicle
- Deeper listening, a review of Jeremy Eichler's book 'Time’s Echo' - by Matthew Gurewitsch at The New Criterion
- As Lyric Opera emerges from challenging era, Anthony Freud winds up 13-year run at helm - by Nancy Malitz at Chicago On the Aisle
- Portland choir sings Darrell Grant and A. Mimi Sei’s new commissioned project, “Sankofa" - by Angela Allen at Oregon Arts Watch
- Rare concertos provide delightful, poignant experience in Greenville and Charlotte - by Paul Hyde at EarRelevant
- Indigenous Form, Innovative Harmony, and Ingenious Rhythm in Manuel de Falla’s “Aragonesa” - by Richard Mueller at Music and Musical Performance
- A conductor who believes that no artist can be apolitical - by Joshua Barone at The New York Times
- Vancouver Symphony set to shake things up for 2024-25 - by David Gordon Duke at Vancouver Sun
- Legendary composer Péter Eötvös dies at 80 - by Francisco Salazar at OperaWire
- Continuum pays rich musical homage to Chou Wen-chung - by Rick Perdian at New York Classical Review
- Klaus Mäkelä is named CSO music director; Finnish conductor to succeed Muti in 2027 - by Lawrence B. Johnson at Chicago On the Aisle
Around the US
Amid An Opera’s Dark Waters, Musicians And A Critic Swim For Shore
DETROIT – Four orchestra players withdrew after learning of scenes of sexual horror and horrible death in Detroit Opera's production of Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves. It's an impressive spectacle, but I felt both complicit and harmed.
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.