Tag Archives: classical music

Roger Norrington, conductor and The London Classical Players’ Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies 

Posted on 21st February 2016 by Robert

Listening to these recordings of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, plus the overtures to “Creatures of Prometheus,” “Coriolanus,” and “Egmont,” I find myself right back in the middle of the “tradition versus innovation” argument. This is particularly entertaining, given that the subject … Continue reading →

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Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets

Posted on 21st February 2016 by Robert

Beethoven Early String Quartets Beethoven Middle String Quartets Beethoven Late String Quartets Beethoven String Quartets Live (DVD) Mmm . . . two of my favorite things in one review: Beethoven and string quartets. I willingly confess to a weakness for … Continue reading →

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Milos Forman’s Amadeus

Posted on 16th February 2016 by Kelly Sedinger

The story of Amadeus is by now fairly well known. From a screenplay by Peter Shaffer based in turn on his original stage play, the film is told in flashback from the viewpoint of Italian composer Antonio Salieri, who lived and worked … Continue reading →

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Hector Berlioz’s  Evenings with the Orchestra 

Posted on 11th January 2016 by Kelly Sedinger

No honest discussion of the Romantic era in classical music can take place without making mention of Hector Berlioz, the great genius from France who seemed to typify Romanticism in casting almost all of his music in dramatic terms and … Continue reading →

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Claude Debussy’s Noel des Enfants Qui N’ont Plus De Maisons (Christmas Carol for Homeless Children)

Posted on 11th December 2015 by Kathleen Bartholomew

Though Claude Debussy is one of my favorite composers, I hadn’t heard “Noel des Enfants Qui N’ont Plus De Maisons” (“Christmas Carol for Homeless Children”) until recently. It’s on soprano Carmen Balthrop’s lovely CD The Art of Christmas, Vol. 1. It’s … Continue reading →

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Art Tatum’s Piano Starts Here

Posted on 17th August 2009 by Diverse Voices

Craig Clarke contributed this review. Jazz pianist Art Tatum, more than 50 years after his death, still has the power to impress new listeners and wow even the most accomplished pianists. Largely self-taught, Tatum’s style was so original and his … Continue reading →

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Shigeru Umebayashi’s House of Flying Daggers and Tan Dun’s Hero

Posted on 16th July 2006 by Kelly Sedinger

Recent years have witnessed a major resurgence of interest in Asian culture in the West, as anime and manga become more and more popular, and as Asian martial-arts epics receive major releases in American movie houses. The first real mainstream … Continue reading →

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Various artists’ Sleeping With Schubert

Posted on 29th November 2004 by Gary Whitehouse

This collection is a companion piece to a book of the same title. It’s a lightweight book about a young woman who suddenly finds the ghost of Schubert somehow sharing her body. This CD, which touches on a smattering of … Continue reading →

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Bonnie Marson’s Sleeping with Schubert

Posted on 29th November 2004 by Gary Whitehouse

A young professional woman who doesn’t realize just how discontented she is with her routine life is suddenly possessed by the spirit of a well-known classical composer. It’s a good premise for a story. Liza Durbin, who lives in Brooklyn … Continue reading →

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Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer’s Music For Two and Obstinato

Posted on 6th April 2004 by Gary Whitehouse

Banjo vertuoso Béla Fleck, having already pioneered and deeply explored the intersections of bluegrass, jazz and pop in a 20-year recording career, in 2001 recorded a double Grammy winning disc of “classical” music, Perpetual Motion. It leaned heavily to Baroque … Continue reading →

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