Tag Archives: new

Blythe / Gilbert / NYPhil @ Avery Fisher 10/4/11

My review is live at Classical Source. My quibbles with the Corigliano’s One Sweet Morning notwithstanding, it is a substantial work showcasing a superb singer that got a top-shelf US premiere. I recommend you give a listen when it becomes available — which it almost certainly will, as the telling forest of mics above and in front of the orchestra telegraphed. My guess: we’ll see it appear on DG Concerts early next year.

Eugene Fodor, 1950-2011

Margalit Fox breaks the bad news at the NY Times. He made a handful of fine recordings of virtuoso repertoire for RCA and a few independent labels. I met the affable, easygoing Fodor on a number of occasions before and during my tenure at BMG. His longstanding battles against chemical dependency were well known in (and outside) the classical music world, and Fox details the usual “cautionary tale” spin that one would expect from his death. And yes, I have to question the role of his early management in the path that his life took.

A Tactful Panning

I’ve never warmed to Andrea Bocelli’s opera recordings, but I am that rare classical snob who likes his pop and Neapolitan offerings.  Zachary Woolfe’s negative review of  Bocelli’s MET recital in the NY Times spreads the blame quite properly. Woolfe did not make mention of Bocelli’s management, which has also done an extraordinary job, at least up until now. The talented, likable crooner should sack whoever it was on his team that persuaded him to do a MET recital.