Archive for Review – Page 10
The Art Music Lounge Reviews Blues In My Heart
Lynn René Bayley reviews Fiona Boyes’s newly remastered Blues In My Heart release: “it’s a honey of an album. … crisp, clean sound, which helps one appreciate Boyes’ artistry in better detail. … her sense of rhythm sounds perfectly natural, not forced. … Everything has to work together in order for your performances to click as perfectly as hers do. For an ideal example of what I mean, listen to Honey You Can Take My Man. Not…
Cascade Blues Association Reviews Blues In My Heart
The Cascade Blues Association’s Greg Johnson reviews Fiona Boyes’s new Blues In My Heart Remaster: “Since her win at the International Blues Challenge back in 2003, Fiona Boyes has been one of the most noted blues guitarists of our time, with no less than eight nominations for Blues Music Awards, including Traditional Female Artists of the Year. … Fiona is in fine form here in what she self-describes as an acoustic album of fingerpicking ragtime…
Making A Scene Reviews Blues in My Heart
Making A Scene reviews Fiona Boyes’s new 20th Anniversary Edition of Blues in My Heart: “Too often you’ve heard an artist’s records, admired the talent, and looked forward to a live show and/or a meet and greet, only to be disappointed. It’s so refreshing when the complete opposite takes place as it did in Boyes’ case. So, if you haven’t been introduced to her yet, we are taking you all the way back, (Wow! Twenty…
Midwest Record Reviews Blues In My Heart
Midwest Record reviews Fiona Boyes’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Blues In My Heart: “How little we realized 20 years ago that when Boyes arrived fully formed as a white, finger picking gal with the blues that had to have some kind of lineage to Bonnie Raitt and Rory Block that she’d already been paying dues for 15 years in her native Oz. Guess we missed out on her Bonnie in Boston early moments. Catch this…
Fanfare Reviews Prince of Players
Fanfare Magazine’s latest issue features a review of the Florentine Opera’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd: Prince of Players: “The performance is excellent. As Kynaston, baritone Keith Phares sings well, articulates the text clearly, and is very touching in a role that requires a wide dramatic range. Kynaston has a bar fight, two love scenes (one with each gender), and scenes where he portrays a Shakespeare character. Dramatically, Phares seems thoroughly inside the role.…
American Record Guide Reviews Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff
American Record Guide critic Roger Hecht reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto: “Manfred Honeck seems to have a clear, thought out concept of this work. Every phrase, measure, balance, dynamic nuance, coloring, etc. sounds conceived in advance. … The result is a conception executed to the last 16th note by well trained players. … this is an effective and interesting performance, carried off with…
Opera News Reviews Prince of Players
Opera News reviews the Florentine Opera Company’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “[Keith] Phares shows impressive control over his falsetto, and switches seamlessly between registers. … When Peg finally declares her feelings for Kynaston, it’s a powerful outpouring of feeling, kicking the proceedings to a higher level. It’s the centerpiece passage of the opera, and splendidly sung by [Kate] Royal… The supporting cast is consistently strong, including Alexander Dobson as Betterton,…
MusicWeb International Declares Leshnoff’s Double Concerto “a real find”!
MusicWeb International’s Lee Denham is a new Jonathan Leshnoff fan after hearing the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck recording of his Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon: “The Concerto lasts around 15 minutes and opens with a long, songful Adagio, followed by a short perky waltz, with a busy finale full of good humour. As it began, my attention immediately pricked up at the ear-catching and melodious sounds from the orchestral introduction before the clarinet…
Gramophone Reviews Tchaikovsky and Leshnoff
Gramophone Magazine reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s recording of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 & Leshnoff: Double Concerto in the September 2020 issue: “Manfred Honeck… [in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4] conveys a strong sense of structural integrity while simultaneously portraying the unfolding drama in vivid colours. … the playing itself is exquisite. In the Scherzo, Honeck is meticulous in his observance of piano and pianissimo markings, while the finale packs a wallop. Indeed, the symphony’s final moments are…
Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tchaikovsky & Leshnoff is a “Gem”
Nelson Brill reviews the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck’s Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 and Leshnoff: Double Concerto recording on Boston Concert Reviews: “This new classical gem is from another gifted composer, Jonathan Leshnoff, in his delectable exploration of the unique sounds created when a solo clarinet and bassoon join forces with a sparkling orchestra. Leshnoff’s Concerto For Clarinet and Bassoon is performed by the venerable Pittsburgh Symphony conducted by their Music Director, Manfred Honeck, and recorded on…
Florentine Opera’s “Prince of Players” is a Major Release
MusicWeb International has a second review for the Florentine Opera Company’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “Realism is triumphant on the stage… In the role of Peg Kate Royal is exceptional, having already shown her interest in the music of Carlisle Floyd. Here she produces a beautiful sound while ably portraying the conflicts faced by her character. Keith Phares is a stalwart of new and recent American operas and his portrayal…
Opera Canada Recommends Florentine Opera’s Prince of Players
The Summer 2020 issue of Opera Canada features a major recommendation of Florentine Opera’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “Floyd’s score is in line with the style he’s used for opera throughout his career. it’s colourful and atmospheric with considerable melodic invention and a judicious use of dissonance. … it all works well with the story and the over- all impression is of a very well crafted piece, musically and dramatically.…
San Francisco Classical Voice Features Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players
Jeff Kaliss has a fantastic spotlight, feature, and review in San Francisco Classical Voice for the Florentine Opera’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd: Prince of Players: “Don’t ever suppose that Carlisle Floyd can’t learn and showcase new tricks, just because he’s the veteran dean of living American composers. Hearing the newly released recording (on San Francisco’s Reference Recordings) of his latest opera, completed in 2016 (when Floyd was 90), will divest you of any such assumption.…
Opera Today Reviews Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players
Opera Today reviews the Florentine Opera Company’s World Premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “gender and performance are at the heart of the art form that we call opera. If in the 21st century we are having conversations about gender and identity, then – from castrati to en travesti, from Cherubino to Cantonese opera, from Baba the Turk to Octavian – opera has relished gender fluidity since the art form was born. Floyd’s Prince of Players is…
MusicWeb International Reviews Florentine Opera’s Prince of Players
MusicWeb International critic Paul Godfrey reviews the Florentine Opera’s world premiere recording of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players: “The singers… rise splendidly and with relish… Keith Phares is splendid in the central role of Kynaston, whether acting as a female impersonator (with some startling use of falsetto) or as a more conventionally baritone hero. Kate Royal is a marvellous match for him, delivering her soaring lines with passion; Vale Rideout is a suitably epicene, but…