A complete Mozart symphony recording project from Il Pomo d’Oro, a crack ensemble, and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, is off to an auspicious start, and then some. Mozart’s first and last symphonies are here, along with the Piano Concerto No 23. These are performances of high elegance and spirit.
Magnificent Mozart, From Both Ends Read More »
Likely born into slavery, working as a butler and shopkeeper, Ignatius Sancho became an accomplished writer and composer. Embedded in his published music, the author argues, are anti-racist ideals that rejected British cultural norms.
250 Years Ago, a Black Composer Etched Anti-Racism into his Music Read More »
Lutenist Hopkinson Smith has reworked two books of lute solos by Francesco Spinacino and Joan Ambrosio Dalza that were published with so many errors in 1507 that they are nearly unplayable. The result opens a new chapter in lute history.
Reviving Lost Masters with Reconstructive Surgery Read More »
‘LOVESICK,’ the latest album from American countertenor Randall Scotting is a tight collaboration with lutenist Stephen Stubbs, providing 17th-century perspectives on heartbreak, longing, and loneliness.
Where Lute Song Meets Lovesickness Read More »
Celebrated and misused, ‘the Star-Spangled Banner’ stirs patriotic fervor yet, like many documents of early American history, has never quite shed it racist overtones. A smart new book explores the national anthem from multiple angles.
A Problematic Anthem fit for a Nation’s Turbulent History Read More »
