Classical Music

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Over (and under) the top

Musical chairs at the BSO, the Pacifica at Longy, the Boston Philharmonic's three B's, and the Cecilia's Bach B-minor Mass
With only one rehearsal, 31-year-old BSO Assistant Conductor Julian Kuerti confronted a challenging two-and-a-half-hour program of not-quite-standard 19th- and 20th-century repertoire.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 24, 2008

Wild things

Boston Secession, the Takács Quartet and Muzsikás, Russell Sherman
Jane Ring Frank's Boston Secession, which calls itself a "professional choral ensemble," began its 12th season with a short but ambitious program.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 24, 2008

Vertical energy

Irina Muresanu gave an emotionally compelling performance, even if her view of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto didn’t always jibe with conductor Jonathan McPhee’s.
The word “concerto” comes from the Italian for “to bring into agreement,” and it’s not always as easy as soloists and symphony orchestras make it seem.
By JEFFREY GANTZ | November 14, 2008

Expressions of war

Don't miss the Takács Quartet at UNH
One of the best string quartets in the world will be within a D-string's distance from Portland, come Monday night.
By EMILY PARKHURST | November 12, 2008

Can classical be underground?

Portsmouth's Navona Records releases an indie aesthetic for orchestra
At least one of the reasons many of us contemporary-music fans don't get into classical music is because it seems like no one wants us to listen to it.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 14, 2008

Woof!

The BSO’s Carmina burana, the Cantata Singers, the Boston Camerata, and BLO’s Tales of Hoffmann
Probably most music lovers wouldn’t head their greatest-composer list with Carl Orff, despite the popularity of his violent, garish, sumptuously tuneful Carmina burana .
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 13, 2008

Isn’t it rich?

Sondheim and Follies , the BSO’s French evening, and Boston Baroque’s Xerxes
The biggest musical celebrity in town last week was Broadway great Stephen Sondheim, who filled Northeastern University’s Blackman Hall “in conversation” with his long-time associate, producer/composer Sean Patrick Flahaven.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 03, 2008

‘New music’ agenda

Modern works performed by the Bayside Trio
The Bayside Trio push the boundaries of modern classical music, performing works by living or recent composers.
By EMILY PARKHURST | October 22, 2008

Magic bullets

Maurizio Pollini returns to the BSO; Opera Boston’s Der Freischütz
Last week’s Boston Symphony Orchestra program looked odd on paper, but the concert was a knockout.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | October 24, 2008

Suburban Mozart that swings

Lexington Symphony at Cary Hall, Lexington, MA, September 13, 2008
It’s a tribute to the quality of Boston’s classical-music scene that a suburban orchestra like the Lexington Symphony is capable of a performance to attract the attention of those who live closer to Symphony Hall.
By JEFFREY GANTZ | October 09, 2008

Sony’s loss is Portland’s gain

Music money
Three local music entities are reaping the benefits of a major national lawsuit against big-name music institutions.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | October 02, 2008

Opening pitch

James Levine’s gala and Brahms, Russell Sherman’s Liszt, the Bostonians’ Kurt Weill
The most moving moment of this year’s Boston Symphony Orchestra opening gala came before the concert started — the standing ovation for James Levine, who looked rested and recuperated after his kidney surgery this summer, an operation that forced him to cancel most of his Tanglewood season.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | October 01, 2008

It’s about time . . .

The Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music starts in Boston
It’s been 17 years since Boston’s last local festival of contemporary music, the New Music Harvest organized by composer Charles Fussell: 19 programs (several free), a celebration of composer Ned Rorem, an opera production performed by BU students, and the participation of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | September 25, 2008

Double duty DJ

That landmark new work the Portland Symphony's playing? The composer's DJ-ing at SPACE.
Electronica DJ Masonic, who will be performing October 5 at SPACE Gallery, has an alter ego. He is also classical music composer Mason Bates.
By EMILY PARKHURST | September 24, 2008

New beginnings

Classical music comes alive this fall
Step into any classical music rehearsal space right now and you can almost taste the excitement.
By EMILY PARKHURST | September 10, 2008

New blood

ART and the Huntington (and Boston theater) get a youth transfusion
The famously adventurous American Repertory Theatre is soon to be taken over by a woman who spent her summer directing . . . the vintage Broadway hits Kiss Me, Kate and Hair ?
By CAROLYN CLAY | September 10, 2008

Russian, Spanish, American . . .

Music in all accents comes to the concert halls
What everyone is looking forward to this fall is the return to the podium of Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | September 11, 2008

Letter from London

The foggy joys of Europe’s most international city
How could you not fall in love with this city?
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | September 05, 2008

A classical end to summer

Bay Chamber Concerts presents three last summer shows
For the next two weeks the Bay Chamber Concert Series will present the end of their Summer Music Festival with three exciting concerts well worth the drive to Camden-Rockport area.
By EMILY PARKHURST | August 20, 2008

Star-cross’d singers

PORTOpera's Romeo et Juliette
French Romantic-era composer Charles Gounod’s version of the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet is the most famous operatic setting.
By EMILY PARKHURST | July 23, 2008

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