{"id":5811,"date":"2019-12-20T17:22:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T17:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/?p=5811"},"modified":"2025-01-02T10:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T15:53:20","slug":"bestof2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/bestof2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago Tribune<\/strong><\/a>
\nBest classical albums of 2019: World premieres, historic revivals and enticingly eclectic music<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jennifer Koh<\/strong><\/a>: \u201cLimitless\u201d (Cedille Records). In a bold and stylistically diverse recording, violinist Koh plays a series of duos with the composers of eight works included on this two-CD set. Where else is one likely to encounter music of contemporary composer-pianist Missy Mazzoli, soprano Lisa Bielawa and MacArthur Fellows Vijay Iyer (piano) and Tyshawn Sorey (glockenspiel) in a single project? The sounds are every bit as eclectic as one might expect, a testament to Koh\u2019s adventurousness and the creativity of all involved.<\/p>\n

Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra<\/strong><\/a>: Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D Major (BIS). The Minnesota Orchestra\u2019s Mahler Symphonies cycle arrives at the composer\u2019s least ostentatious and most cohesive work in the form, his First Symphony, \u201cTitan.\u201d Though Mahler at certain junctures attached various literary allusions to the work, it\u2019s so tautly constructed and openly expressive as to need no such linkages. Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra offer a keenly sensitive performance that preserves musical detail while encompassing the work\u2019s grand scheme.<\/p>\n

Rachel Barton Pine: Dvorak, Khachaturian Violin Concertos (Avie). Violinist Pine turns in vigorous readings of two landmarks of the concerto repertoire, accompanied by Teddy Abrams<\/strong><\/a> leading the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The Khachaturian, in particular, benefits from Pine\u2019s grit and drive as performer. Her artistry continues to deepen.<\/p>\n

Yo-Yo Ma<\/a><\/strong>: Salonen Cello Concerto (Sony Classical). Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonon\u2019s Cello Concerto unfolds on an epic scale, from the immensity of the orchestration to the vastness of its musical gestures. It all may seem a bit lush for some tastes, but the intense colors Salonen draws from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the ardor of cellist Ma\u2019s performance sweep the listener along in their wake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Limelight Magazine<\/strong><\/a>
\nLimelight\u2019s Opera Recording of the Year 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde<\/strong>
\nStuart Skelton t, Gun-Brit Barkmin s, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Asher Fisch<\/strong><\/a>
\nAsher Fisch has been nurturing and honing the West Australian Symphony Orchestra into a classy ensemble, culminating in this gala event for its 90th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Gun-Brit Barkmin offers a formidable Isolde, the Narration capped by a gleaming high B. Her firm lower register easily copes with those taxing low notes, a fine match for Stuart Skelton\u2019s polished mahogany baritonal hue. His Tristan is most remarkable in its range of expression from gentle caress to roaring rage. \u201cDaylight\u2019s\u201d knight of honour all gruff and clipped of manner hiding his true-self behind a shield of duty \u2013 the \u201cnight-time\u201d lover shaped with the most subtle means. He sings very much \u201con the words\u201d but doesn\u2019t disturb the line. A towering performance from a great singing actor.<\/p>\n

Ekaterina Gubanova is a fine Brang\u00e4ne, her warning from the tower sending chills down the spine. Boaz Daniel\u2019s Kurwenal is especially fine in Act Three and Ain Anger nobly intones King Marke. The orchestra cover themselves with glory; supple strings, superb winds and solid, well-blended brass. Fisch shapes the whole with a firm grasp of the architecture; a lithe and supple reading. Its refreshingly clear textures illuminate the work from within. ABC Classic has captured the event with remarkably fine engineering \u2013 the voices ideally balanced, forward but not too close \u2013 the orchestral image startlingly transparent and firm.<\/p>\n

\n

New York Magazine<\/strong><\/a>
\nThe Best Classical-Music Performances of 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

7. Der Ring des Nibelungen
\nIn Wagner\u2019s epic of greed, family loyalty, and betrayal, Br\u00fcnnhilde is the disappointing daughter, the warrior paralyzed by an eon of solitary confinement. But when Christine Goerke<\/strong><\/a> sang the role in the Met\u2019s latest Ring cycle, the character\u2019s downfall was the singer\u2019s triumph. It\u2019s a punishing role, full of hollering and heroics, as well as stretches of intimate regret; decades can go by between one great Br\u00fcnnhilde\u2019s peak and the next. So those of us lucky enough to hear Goerke in her prime will treasure the memory until we become insufferably nostalgic.<\/p>\n

6. Akhnaten
\nPhilip Glass\u2019s 36-year-old opera (part three of his great men trilogy, after Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha) finally floated into the Met on a cloud of blissed-out anticipation. Part of that was owed to to countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo<\/strong><\/a>, who is as gifted a showman and marketer as he is a singer. Glassians knew what not to expect: arias, action, relationships, conflict, or even a comprehensible libretto. Instead, director Phelim McDermott turned the honeyed score into an interpretive juggling act, a pageant of costumes and crowns, a slow-motion dance, and an argument for transcendent superficiality.<\/p>\n

\n

The New York Times<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Classical Music of 2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yo-Yo Ma<\/strong>
\nI had heard about the success of this superstar cellist\u2019s performance of the six Bach solo suites for his instrument at the 18,000-seat Hollywood Bowl in 2017. But it just seemed impossible that this intimate, subtle music, played almost without pause for nearly two and a half hours, could scale to such surroundings. But now I\u2019m a believer: When he repeated the feat in June at Millennium Park in Chicago, many thousands of people \u2014 including me \u2014 were silently riveted putty in Mr. Ma\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

Best Classical Music Tracks of 2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Derek Bermel: \u2018amerikanizalodik\u2019
\n\u201cMigrations\u201d; Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller<\/strong><\/a>, conductor (Naxos)
\nBesides being a composer, Mr. Bermel is a formidable clarinetist who in his early days played jazz and funk. \u201cMigrations,\u201d an album of his work, includes \u201cA Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace,\u201d a vibrant homage to Bartok. This, the first movement, is a dizzying melting pot of folklike rhythms, droning tunes and pungent modernist harmonies, spiked with bursts of wailing jazz. A.T.<\/p>\n

Du Yun: \u2018Give Me Back My Fingerprints\u2019
\n\u201cLimitless\u201d; Jennifer Koh<\/strong>, violin (Cedille)
\nPart of Ms. Koh\u2019s double-disc project of collaborations with composers who also perform alongside her, this piece rises from quietly uneasy to rabid and raw, then back again. Violin lines emerge, as if from far away, to mingle with Ms. Du\u2019s earthy, murmuring, sometimes choking voice. Z.W.<\/p>\n

Frederic Rzewski: \u2018Which Side Are You On?\u2019
\n\u201cAmerican Rage\u201d; Conrad Tao<\/strong><\/a>, piano (Warner Classics)
\nConrad Tao\u2019s \u201cAmerican Rage\u201d is a timely collection of flinty contemporary American pieces. It\u2019s also a personal statement of protest from a young, outspoken American pianist and composer, the child of Chinese immigrants. Here, he captures both the angry idealism and the ingenious daring of Mr. Rzewski\u2019s \u201cWhich Side Are You On?\u201d in a teeming, and beautiful, performance. A.T.<\/p>\n

\n

San Francisco Chronicle<\/strong><\/a>
\nIn classical and new music for 2019, women had all the best tunes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Betsy Jolas, chamber music
\nThe music of the 92-year-old French composer \u2014 fragrant, lyrical and inventive \u2014 is drawn from an unorthodox array of influences. French Impressionism is a big one, but Renaissance polyphony and European modernism also pop up. Two of Jolas\u2019 works, including a set of lustrous wordless songs for cello and piano, formed the centerpiece of a memorable recital presented by Cal Performances on March 10 featuring pianist Nicolas Hodges, violinist Jennifer Koh<\/strong> and cellist Anssi Karttunen.<\/p>\n

\n

Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/a>
\nThe Many Sounds of Jazz in 2019: A Listener\u2019s Guide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tenor Madness
\nThe greatest solo this writer heard on record in 2019 came courtesy of a familiar name, Branford Marsalis<\/strong><\/a>, who in the past two decades has built up one of the most versatile and volatile working bands in jazz. The saxophonist\u2019s tenor feature on \u201cLife Filtering From the Water Flowers\u201d \u2014 a rubato mood piece from his quartet\u2019s latest LP, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul \u2014 is a thing of gnarled beauty, the sound of world-class virtuosity wielded in service of unguarded pathos, that must be heard to be believed. On the other tracks, the band touches on poetic balladry, turbulent free jazz, and more, making for a well-rounded program that never feels like a mere showcase for its accomplished leader.<\/p>\n

\n

NPR Music<\/strong><\/a>
\nThe Most Soothing & Punishing Albums Of 2019 (Under Punishing)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Conrad Tao<\/strong>
\nAmerican Rage
\nPianist Conrad Tao is fuming. His album American Rage pounds its fists in rebellion, points its fingers in accusatory fury and proposes only flashes of elegiac serenity and hope. Pent up anger bursts out of Frederic Rzewski’s Which Side Are You On, an explosive twist on an old labor song which still resonates vividly, as it did during this summer’s mine worker protests in Kentucky. Julia Wolfe’s Compassion, written after 9\/11, howls in anguished stacks of pounded block chords, while Aaron Copland’s war time Piano Sonata offers a bleak canvas of loss and promise. Sometimes, Tao says, you just need to “make a ruckus.”<\/p>\n

\n

Houston Chronicle<\/strong><\/a>
\n2019\u2019s 10 best symphony and opera performances<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eschenbach Returns<\/strong>
\nThe abrupt cancellation of soloist Leila Josefowicz couldn\u2019t spoil yet another triumphant homecoming by Christoph Eschenbach<\/strong><\/a>, as the orchestra\u2019s Conductor Laureate adroitly steered fill-in Jennifer Koh<\/strong> around the hairpin turns and dreamlike passages of Esa-Pekka Salonen\u2019s Violin Concerto. And conducting Anton Bruckner\u2019s majestic, hour-long \u201cRomantic\u201d symphony, the 79-year-old maestro was clearly in his element.<\/p>\n

Trifonov Plays Tchaikovsky<\/strong>
\nWorld-class guest artists are routine in Houston, but audible gasps of the sort that roguishly handsome pianist Daniil Trifonov<\/a><\/strong> caused upon completing Tchaikovsky\u2019s Piano Concerto No. 1 certainly aren\u2019t. Combining staggering technical prowess with fierce emotional intensity, the 28-year-old Russian native instilled one of the piano repertoire\u2019s most familiar pieces with a revelatory, almost primal life force.<\/p>\n

\n

Boston Globe<\/a><\/strong>
\nARTIST OF THE YEAR<\/strong>
\nConrad Tao<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming of age in the late \u201900s and early \u201810s as a celebrated concert-hall wunderkind, pianist and composer Conrad Tao also spent countless hours jacked into the Internet\u2019s carnival of memes and mixed media, where he picked up a playful, somewhat anarchic (but never trollish) attitude towards music. Now, whether pinch-hitting as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, playing a barefoot recital at Carnegie Hall, helping choreographer Caleb Teicher tear up the floor at Jacob\u2019s Pillow, releasing an album of \u201cAmerican Rage,\u201d or creating chamber-music alchemy with the JCT Trio, he faces the world with open mind and heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago Tribune Best classical albums of 2019: World premieres, historic revivals and enticingly eclectic music Jennifer Koh: \u201cLimitless\u201d (Cedille Records). In a bold and stylistically diverse recording, violinist Koh plays a series of duos with the composers of eight works included on this two-CD set. Where else is one likely to encounter music of contemporary … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3636,4286,4391,4435,3823,4438,3633,4441,3910,3613,3971,3656,4436,4434,3686,3610,3612,3822,4439,4440,3931,3857,3669,4437],"class_list":["post-5811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-album","tag-anthony-roth-costanzo","tag-asher-fisch","tag-best-of","tag-branford-marsalis","tag-brian-jagde","tag-cello","tag-christine-goerke","tag-classical","tag-conductor","tag-conrad-tao","tag-jazz","tag-jennifer-koh","tag-lists","tag-orchestra","tag-piano","tag-review","tag-saxophone","tag-singer","tag-soprano","tag-teddy-abrams","tag-tenor","tag-violin","tag-yo-yo-ma"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5811"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15265,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5811\/revisions\/15265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/5823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}