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Orchestral

Defending 'Leo Ornstein: Piano Quintet'; Marc-André Hamelin & The Pacifica Quartet [REVIEW]

To review a recording from a highly underperformed repertoire presents a serious moral challenge. Lacking a frame of reference places an enormous burden on performers whose recordings will immediately be linked to the composer. For the listener, a leap of faith is necessary to combat any undue biases surrounding the piece itself. This very issue seemed to arise in the aftermath of September's release of 'Leo Ornstein: Piano Quintet, String Quartet No.2', recorded by Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin and the Pacifica Quartet.
By Steve Nagel

  • Hans Zimmer Releases Trailer for European Concert Tour; Johnny Marr May Join [WATCH]

    Hans Zimmer, the composer of many blockbusters, is temporarily trading in his baton for a stage piano. Having never performed a whole tour of his own music before, that will all change next spring as he gears up to go to Europe for the Hans Zimmer Concert Tour 2016 and has released a trailer video about the tour. According to Indiewire, (and suggested by the trailer promoting the tour), there's a possibility that Johnny Marr (of Smiths fame) will join Zimmer.
    By Steve Nagel

  • Beethoven Influences 'John Adams: Absolute Jest & Grand Pianola Music' [REVIEW]

    Diving in as close to an artist's mind as possible is an obsession for most art-lovers. For musicians, our heroes of composition are especially aloof because of the language they use: a language that exists to say what words could never say. This makes it extremely difficult to get inside their head... yet we always feel like we know them. Composer John Adams seems to feel this way towards Beethoven, as he told Classical NPR's 'Deceptive Cadence'. When examining the influence of Beethoven in John Adams's latest album, 'Absolute Jest & Grand Pianola Music', the first of its two pieces (his eponymous concerto) could almost be likened to a matryoshka doll, or "nesting" doll.
    By Steve Nagel