Clef Notes (Free subscription) | yesterday
The sizzling Naxos recording of Leonard Bernstein's epic "Mass" by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop, is among the 2010 Grammy nominees for Best Classical Album. (The producer of the CD, Steven Epstein, is also nominated for Producer...
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Blog (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Ahead of our concerts with her on 5 December, we, together with Southbank Centre, asked Marin a few questions: What do you fear the most? Losing my independence as I get older Which mobile number do you call the most? My family What – or where – is perfection? On the podium when everyone is completely “in the zone” and [...]
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Blog (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Our next Night Shift is coming up on 5 December – in the 10pm concert Marin Alsop is conducting Mozart Symphony No. 40, while before the concert there is live music from cellist Andy Nice. Afterwards DJ Rico Portland is playing until 1am, and we’re giving you the chance to choose a track to play [...]
ArtsJournal (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
"After more than two decades, there is a new recording for what is increasingly being understood to be an American classic," conducted by Marin Alsop. "But where's Peter? No mention of Sellars is anywhere to be found on the Naxos three-CD set, as if Denver were the new China, where an inconvenient artist might be 'disappeared' Soviet-style."...
Baltimore Sun (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
A big story — maybe the biggest — in classical music over the past 30 years or so is the historical authenticity movement, the attempt to re-create the sounds and playing styles of distant times. This obsession generated a revolution in the approach to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and other pre-20th century composers. It’s less common to find advocates for going “authentic”...
Clef Notes (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
A big story — maybe the biggest — in classical music over the past 30 years or so is the historical authenticity movement, the attempt to re-create the sounds and playing styles of distant times. This obsession generated a revolution...
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Web-only review: BSO goes pretty with cozy standards by Charles T. Downey If anything, the program offered by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Friday night at Meyerhoff Hall was too pretty, too easy on the ears. Continuing an unofficial traversal of Gustav Mahler's symphonies, music director Marin Alsop gave up on last season's unsuccessful pairing of Mahler's music with that of Leonard Bernstein....
Clef Notes (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
Take that, sports fans. In the Sun's breathlessly anticipated Celebrity Smackdown, two of Baltimore's classical music movers-'n'-shakers have advanced to round two, in each case beating out local sports figures. (The ballot pairings were randomly selected, I'm assured.)Marin Alsop, music...
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Some orchestras are looking for young unknown conductors. But when you snare Riccardo Muti, as the Chicago Symphony did, you’re getting a bastion of tradition. Or, maybe not. The Chicago Symphony yesterday released a startling report of its annual meeting -- startling because Muti, supposedly the traditional European, announced a slew of new initiatives for reaching into the community when his...
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
Web-only review: BSO and Alsop Explore Bartók, Tchaikovsky by Robert Battey The Baltimore Symphony’s theme this season is folk music and its influence on the classical canon. The BSO’s concert Thursday evening at the Music Center at Strathmore was a mostly enjoyable affair, with a curtain-raiser by Harmonia, a quintet specializing in Eastern European indigenous music. They moved...
AfriClassical (Free subscription) | 09/12/2009
[Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)] Jacob's Jazz Blog By Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide to Jazz “James P. Johnson Rent Party at Smalls in NY Friday September 11, 2009 James P. Johnson , the father of the Harlem school of stride piano, is buried in an unmarked grave in Maspeth, Queens. On October...
Clef Notes (Free subscription) | 09/10/2009
The photo of Marin Alsop adorning the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's 09-10 season brochure makes a statement, and prompts diverse reactions. I've heard it said that it looks like the conductor is swinging a golf club. A much more vivid interpretation has now...
Clef Notes (Free subscription) | 08/28/2009
The BSO's just-out recording of Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" reconfirmed my impressions of the performance the orchestra gave with music director Marin Alsop last fall. My earth-shattering review ran in the paper earlier this week (if you missed it, a single...
The Classical Beat (Free subscription) | 08/27/2009
A new "Mass," released this week. One of the highlights of Marin Alsop's tenure at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the exuberant performances of Bernstein's "Mass" that played in Baltimore, New York and Washington in the fall of 2008, was issued this week on a Naxos CD. I have already written about Mass so copiously that I've actually begun to spoil this piece for myself, and...
AfriClassical (Free subscription) | 08/02/2009
[Top: Richard C. Alston, Pianist; Bottom: Victory Stride: The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson; The Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor; Music Masters 67140 (1994)] Our most recent post on the African American pianist Richard C. Alston was made on June 26, 2009: “Pianist Richard C. Alston Has Arensky CD & Performs African American Composers on YouTube.” We wrote to him this...
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