EMA Recording & Book Reviews

Fiddle and banjo music played by free and enslaved Blacks before the 1860s is a key element of American musical and cultural history. But the evidence is scant. In 'Go Back and Fetch It,' authors Kristina R. Gaddy and Rhiannon Giddens explore more than three centuries of songs in this landmark new book.

The oldest known opera by a Black American composer, Edmond Dédé's 1887 'Morgiane,' had its world premiere last spring and now has its debut recording. Rich string writing, a variety of obbligato parts, and snappy dance rhythms point to a composer with an ear for traditions both formal (French grand opera) and folk (his New Orleans upbringing).

Amanda Forsythe is the star of this Telemann recording with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra. In a favorite cantata and showy opera arias, the soprano and ensemble deliver fiery intensity and emotional depth. And it's a 2026 Grammy winner for Best Classical Solo Album.

Historical performance often reveals fresh sounds in big symphonic music. The Philharmonie Austin's Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and 'Romeo & Juliet' showcases a thrilling Texas ensemble, while the European group Les Siècles, in Mahler's 'The Song of the Earth,' goes back to the composer's soundworld.

Jean Rondeau’s 10-CD compilation of all the known works of Louis Couperin is a cornucopia of delights. His harpsichord playing is off-the-charts terrific, as are the performances of his instrumental collaborators and vocalists. This highly persuasive box set is a must-have for aficionados of French keyboard repertoire.

Despite Bach's overwhelming presence in our musical lives, a lot of influential scholarship remains inaccessible to a broader public because it is in German. A recent book (and searchable website) has bridged this gap with translations of over 50 lectures by prominent Bach expert Hans-Joachim Schulze. Loaded with the latest in-depth scholarship, the talks are nevertheless aimed toward the amateur listener.

Celebrating 35 years, Ensemble Galilei has seen, and perhaps anticipated, the coming together of the traditional music scene with early music. Their latest album mixes the great Irish composer Turlough O'Carolan with John Dowland and music from Elizabethan England with cracking Irish tunes, plus a few newly composed works.

In recent years, there's been so much new information on J.S. Bach's six cello suites that it can be hard to keep up. A new book is not only the newest (and therefore the most up-to-date) entry in the long catalog of Bach suite studies, it is also outstandingly comprehensive in scope. 

Two esteemed ensembles, two recordings, a new double-disc set. Almost a decade in the making, Ensemble Peregrina and Ensemble Gilles Binchois team up for 'Summa Leticia: A Survey of Nova Cantica in France, c. 1100' — music that was radical in its day and, for us, is loaded with such ambiguity that this repertoire is infrequently performed.

The early demise of American mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson left an unfillable hole in the hearts of many listeners. A newly remastered recording captures the burnished beauty of tone, commitment to character, and intensity that made her such an unforgettable artist.