War and Peace by Villa-Lobos
These two symphonies were both composed in 1919 and reflect the composer's response to the First World War. Musically they have a ...
Mariya Kim’s Steel-Edged Schumann
Mariya Kim is a pianist from Ukraine who won the 2008 Seoul International Music Competition, one of several career-enhancing event...
Historical Gems: Sibelius Premieres, 2 Out of 3 Isn’t Bad
All three performances on this disc are recording premieres. Two are very good, and one is dreadful. First, the good performances:...
Slatkin Aces Late Rachmaninov
Leonard Slatkin's Vox Rachmaninov cycle was one of his most successful early series of recordings, and he still has the measure of...
Three Daugherty Recording Premieres
Michael Daugherty continues his musical exploration of iconic bits of Americana on this highly entertaining disc containing premie...
Weinberg Elevates Socialist Realism
Mieczyslaw Weinberg couldn't write bad music if he wanted to. His Nineteenth Symphony was composed in 1985 to commemorate the end ...
Filling in the Gaps: Uplifting Ellington from Falletta and Buffalo
What with the dodgy availability of Mauric Peress' benchmark Musicmasters Ellington recordings, we badly needed a top-notch survey...
Major Discoveries: Mayr and the Joys of Plagiarism
Opera composer (mostly) Giovanni Simone (Simon) Mayr's Concerto bergamasco is one of the most delightful combinations of conceptua...
Tianwa Yang’s Smart Mendelssohn Program
Young violinist Tianwa Yang has exceptional technique, and her vision in the great E minor concerto is unfailingly intelligent. Th...
Weinberg’s Sincere and Touching “Polish Flowers”
Although he never returned to his native Poland after the Second World War, Mieczyslaw Weinberg never lost touch with his roots. H...Search Music Reviews
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Sign up for Classics Today Insider exclusive music reviews and news, created specifically for classical music listeners, from the serious collector to the inquisitive newcomer. Here are some of our latest Insider Only Reviews:
Claudio Abbado is one of the more enigmatic conductors still working--a micro-manager whose youthful... Continue Reading
These Strauss recordings are amazing. Granted, Don Juan isn't as sprightly as it could be (though st... Continue Reading
Klemperer took his Mozart very, very seriously. This works wonderfully well in The Magic Flute, a re... Continue Reading
Latest 10 / 10 Reviews
These two symphonies were both composed in 1919 and reflect the composer's response to the First World War. Musically they have a lot in common, save that the "War" Third Symphony features a lengthy f... Continue Reading
Is there ever a wrong time to listen to the Bach violin concertos? There are no more immediately ingratiating works in Bach's oeuvre, which easily explains the number of recordings in the CD catalog: ... Continue Reading
On this astonishing disc Marc-André Hamelin demonstrates conclusively that a modern piano can do anything a fortepiano can in music of the classical period, while still retaining its superiority in d... Continue Reading
Latest Music Reviews
In 2000 BBC Legends brought out Sviatoslav Richter’s June 11, 1975 all-Beethoven Aldeburgh recital, which I reviewed for Classicstoday.com (read review here). Now ICA Classics releases the same prog... Continue Reading
Recorded between 1988 and 1991 for Carlton Classics and reissued anew by Alto, Martino Tirimo’s Debussy solo-piano music cycle remains a serious and arguably underappreciated contender. For starters... Continue Reading
London Baroque offers a selection of mostly unfamiliar yet often inspired French baroque trio sonatas. With the exception of François Couperin's L'Imperiale, the works by Leclair, Boismortier, and es... Continue Reading
