a virtual journal and essential blog of the classical music scene in greater Boston
Lee Eiseman, publisher; Robert Levin, advisor; David Moran, assisting editor; Bettina A. Norton, emerita editor
- Richard Riley on New Year’s Eve with Boston Baroque
- Dennis Milford on Dazzling ART: Natasha, Pierre, and the 1812 Comet
- Ed Burke on Critics Remember 2015
- Alan Levitan on Bartokathon Take Two: ¡YOWZA!
- Dennis Milford on Bartokathon Take Two: ¡YOWZA!
- David Moran on Tallis Tells of a Birth
- Peter Kronheimer on A Seasonal Mix Blows In From That Other BSO
- Sergey Schepkin on Illuminations of Messiaen from Emerging Pianist
- Bettina A Norton on Tallis Tells of a Birth
- Geoffrey Wieting on Ponderousness Banished by Boston Baroque
News & Features
December 21, 2015
Critics Remember 2015
by BMINT STAFF
The several BMInt writers not immune to nostalgic rumination have each submitted lists of their favorite CDs and concerts of the last season. We thank them for their reflections. More are expected, so check back. Some have chosen to nominate concerts they have reviewed while others have chosen from concerts which they merely attended. During […]
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December 9, 2015
Borromeo Bartok Quartet Marathon Coming Soon
by Brian Schuth
My intense and exhausting pleasure of hearing the foursome play these works last year still casts shadows over my listening today. I was therefore thrilled to have the chance to talk with violinist Kristopher Tong about the forthcoming surfeit on December 20th. Too much of a good thing can be wonderful! Just ask Mae West […]
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November 28, 2015
Support the Intelligencer by Buying Our Book
by BMINT STAFF
BMInt has just republished J.W. Elliot’s beloved 1870 National Nursery Rhymes and Songs. Many of the tunes remain in our collective subconscious as the versions of songs our parents and grandparents sang to us and we now sing to our children and grandchildren. Others rise to the level of through-composed art song. Our slavish facsimile of the original is replete with more than 100 illustrations by the brothers Dalziel and also includes a potpourri of carefully chosen recorded examples starring an 1870 Chickering concert grand, pianist Artem Belogurov, tenor Daniel Hershey, mezzo-soprano Thea Lobo and baritone Robert Honeysucker. Unlikely profits from sales of this book will go toward reducing the Intelligencer’s inevitable deficits.
The price of the clothbound standard edition is $45. A special limited edition bound in leather and marbled paper will give supporters a chance to make a real difference by making a $500 purchase.
A better present for musical new parents and grandparents is hardly imaginable. If you don’t have a piano, then sing along with the included CD. [continued]
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November 24, 2015
Dying Face-down in a Swimming Pool:
by BMINT STAFF
Harbison’s Gatsby To Play the Semper Opera Yes, we remember the excitement in Boston when the Metropolitan Opera commissioned our own John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby in 1999. Revivals have followed sporadically in San Francisco, at the Aspen Music Festival, and in concert performances in Boston and at Tanglewood Music Center. Finally, the first European […]
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November 19, 2015
Tanglewood Festival 2016 To Be a Feast
by Mark DeVoto
Running from July 3rd (Prairie Home Companion warmup June 25th) to August 28th, the Tanglewood-to-be promises an abundance of deeper challenges among its harvest of crowd-pleasers. The information received thus far presents preliminary and incomplete teasers of events numerous and varied. Summertime on the lawn or in the Shed implies a certain relaxation and dolce […]
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Groupmuse Seeks Support
by BMINT STAFF
Groupmuse, the Boston-founded startup that organizes classical music house concerts, has announced a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise $100,000 to grow its operations and staff. The donor tiers range from “keep Groupmuse close to your heart” for $1, to “be like an emperor or something” for $10,000. BMInt spoke with Sam Bodkin, the Founder and […]
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November 18, 2015
Christmas Comes Early From H + H
by BMINT STAFF
Some 1000 people showed up on Christmas Day of 1815 to hear the first installment of what has become the longest running show in town. Handel and Haydn Society’s inaugural concert, at King’s Chapel came as a response to a pair of successful presentations earlier in the year led by Gottlieb Graupner, a musician who […]
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November 16, 2015
Laudamus Gunther
by BMINT STAFF
Though an amazing 50 other concerts seem to be happening between Monday and Sunday, six celebrations planned in celebration of Gunther Schuller’s 90th birthday may constitute the major events for many of us. Schuller’s death five months ago inspired extended looks at his considerable legacy. Gunther’s weekend starts a day early, on Thursday. At NEC, […]
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November 12, 2015
The Circa Is Coming to Town Again
by BMINT STAFF
With nary a dog and pony act or whitefaced clown, Circa’s 19 circassians (acrobats) will illustrate three Schostakovich string quartets at Schubert Theater this weekend . . . if you can believe it. Some may remember Circa’s dark and edgy appearance in 2012. This time their unlikely partners are four blindfolded members of the Quatuor […]
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Taking On Ruehr’s Cassandra
by Liane Curtis
Capella Clausura is nothing if not ambitious. Elena Ruehr (composer) and Gretchen Henderson (poet/librettist) wrote their Cassandra in the Temples, (described variously as a poetic opera and a choral opera) for performance by the hip New York-based vocal ensemble Room Full of Teeth. The “Teeth” premiered it at M.I.T. almost exactly a year ago. While […]
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November 10, 2015
What’s the Road Ahead For Classical Music?
by BMINT STAFF
By Mary Collins A panel representing several divisions of the music biz debated the future of classical music in Boston and beyond. The Learning Community event at the First Church in Boston (possessor of thriving Sunday music program and host of many of the city’s musical offerings in its acoustically superb sanctuary) voiced guarded optimism. […]
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November 9, 2015
Lorelei’s Medieval and Modern Bird Songs
by Steven Ledbetter
“Briddes World” on Saturday at the 808 Gallery provided my first opportunity to hear Lorelei Ensemble at full length. Whether they sang in small groupings, or as a whole, they established a perfect blend and extraordinary balance. [continued]
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November 6, 2015
Cantata Singers Discovers New Auditorium
by BMINT STAFF
This fall, arts venues across the city of Boston have been threatened with closure. Yet amongst all these disappointing announcements, an interesting theater is about to emerge from years of well-kept secrecy. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge has quietly and privately been sponsoring lively lectures and occasional concerts for over 200 […]
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November 3, 2015
Tears for Mozart
by Joel Cohen
On the Impossibility of Finishing the Lacrymosa My recent visit to Harvard’s Memorial Church, to hear Edward Jones’ superb student choir, aided by orchestra and soloists, rehearse the ever-enigmatic Mozart Requiem infused this writer with a mixture of both elation and melancholy. The elation came from hearing a group of young people, in this epoch […]
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November 2, 2015
The Review That Wasn’t There Again Today
by Lee Eiseman
Readers have things to say about our removal of a review by the husband of a well-known violinist which lambasted one of her rivals on the basis hearing only the first work on the concert; he then departed. After fewer than 24 hours and some editorial conferencing, we decided it did not meet our standards. […]
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Boston Musicians Play for Hope
by BMINT STAFF
Some distinguished performers joined together in “Journey Towards a Home” last Friday at Harvard’s Memorial Church in a benefit for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, setting an important precedent; according to WQXR, the event was the first of its kind to be held in the United States. BMInt’s preview is here. Yasmina Kamal, the North American […]
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November 1, 2015
New Phil Embarks on 21st Season
by BMINT STAFF
There is a future for the Newton-based New Philharmonia Orchestra after the loss of its beloved long-time conductor Ron Knudsen last March. Founded in 1995 by a group of nonprofessional musicians seeking to achieve a high level of performance not available with other ensembles, the New Phil was led in its early days by the […]
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October 30, 2015
Mark Kroll To Celebrate Couperin the Great
by Paul Cienniwa
Keyboardists know the name François Couperin (1668-1733), and so do many audiences and students of music. A cursory look at Couperin turns up some easy pieces in piano primers and some character pieces in music appreciation textbooks. Organists know Couperin as a good composer whose writing doesn’t have much use for the pedal, while historically […]
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October 29, 2015
BMInt Peddles Songbook
by BMINT STAFF
In response to numerous inquiries as to what readers might do to support the Intelligencer, we now have an answer: Buy our book. BMInt has just republished J.W. Elliot’s beloved 1870 National Nursery Rhymes and Song. Many of the tunes remain in our collective subconscious as the versions of songs our parents and grandparents sang to us and we now sing to our children and grandchildren. Even though it’s not yet Thanksgiving, please consider our holiday gift suggestion. [continued]
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October 28, 2015
BPYO Free to All at Symphony Hall
by BMINT STAFF
In its first concert since triumphantly touring Europe in June, the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra will open the doors of Symphony Hall to all on November 2nd at 7:30 pm, as Music Director Benjamin Zander leads Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto with Ayano Ninomiya, Debussy’s La Mer, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. […]
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October 24, 2015
WCRB Partners with Warner Classics
by BMINT STAFF
Many months have elapsed since an event has prompted asking one of our readers’ most popular questions, “Whither goest WGBH?” Upon hearing (third-hand, since BMInt no longer receives press releases from the station) of the new recording partnership between our local classical broadcast colossus and Warner Classics, a major media conglomerate, our initial take was […]
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October 20, 2015
Big Mahler To Move Balletomanes
by BMINT STAFF
Boston Ballet will open its 52nd season with a work likely of more interest to BMInt readers than most terpsichorean fare. John Neumeier’s choreography for Mahler’s Third Symphony has has been acclaimed as “a work of genius” (Clive Barnes, New York Post). Boston Ballet becomes only the fourth company in the world—after the Hamburg, Paris […]
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October 17, 2015
Musicians Caring for the Displaced
by BMINT STAFF
Boston-area musicians from American, Caribbean, Western European, Greek, Turkish, Syrian, and Lebanese traditions will gather to sing and play for victims of the current crisis in Syria and Iraq at Harvard’s Memorial Church at 8:00 pm on October 23rd at Harvard’s Memorial Church. For the benefit “Journey Towards A Home: Boston Musicians Perform for Syrian […]
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October 15, 2015
BMInt Summoned to Havana
by BMINT STAFF
Imagine the publisher’s incredulity upon receiving an invitation to provide American coverage of the Salzburg Mozarteum’s Festival Mozart Habana 2015. We could not say no to the honor. Thus, BMInt’s Laura Stanfield Prichard agreed to become the Intelligencer’s first official foreign correspondent. Regular reviews and reports from the festival will appear on these pages October […]
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October 13, 2015
Three Months of New Boston Choral Music
by Laura Stanfield Prichard
Boston’s choral scene is one of the most active in the U.S., with frequent commissions and premieres of new choral works. Only New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles rival the Boston area for commissioning works from such a variety of choirs—amateur and professional, ranging from symphonic chorus through our local college choirs to […]
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