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LLOYD SCHWARTZ

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A date with Jane: Jane Powell remembers Fred Astaire, Elizabeth Taylor, Carmen Miranda, and more

Surrounded by artist Michael Mazur's monumental drawings of the Memorial Drive sycamores in an upstairs alcove of the Charles Hotel, pixie-ish MGM musical star Jane Powell looked even more petite than she seemed on the big screen.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | March 21, 2013

Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra’s second program and Vladimir Jurowski returns to Boston

Batting a Thousand
Benjamin Zander’s Philharmonic Youth Orchestra debuted at Symphony Hall last November with an especially impressive performance of Richard Strauss’s elaborately demanding autobiographical extravaganza, Ein Heldenleben (“A Hero’s Life”).

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | March 18, 2013

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Talking with Vladimir Jurowski

The 40-year-old Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski made an enormous impression last year at his BSO debut, conducting Shostakovich's gnarly hour-long Fourth Symphony.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | March 04, 2013

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From Jurowski to Gatsby: 10 top-notch spring events hosted at Boston's premier classical-music venues

Last year, Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski's BSO debut with Shostakovich's daunting Fourth Symphony was Boston's most thrilling orchestral concert in a long time.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | March 04, 2013

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Review: ''Clemency,'' Boston Lyric Opera's new commission

Intrepid patrons braved ice and slush and Boston's parking ban for the North American premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan's Clemency (co-commissioned by BLO).

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 20, 2013

Chantoozies: Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, and Christine Ebersole

"Before this pre-game show ends," mezzo-soprano Susan Graham announced on Super Bowl Sunday, near the end of her joint Celebrity Series recital with fellow Metropolitan Opera diva, soprano Renée Fleming, "I guarantee we have sung every note live ."

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 14, 2013

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Practically perfect: The Discovery Ensemble's latest

Sometimes a concert is so good it seems magical. Practically perfect.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 12, 2013

Requiems: The Cantata Singers, plus Emmanuel’s Bach Institute

Daniele Gatti’s Verdi Requiem with the BSO was a disappointment (though a friend tells me that the third performance was better than the one I heard).

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 11, 2013

Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

Middle East meets West
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble of musicians between the ages of 15 and 36, equally Israeli and Palestinian (but also from Spain, where they rehearse), was founded a little over a decade ago by conductor-pianist Daniel Barenboim (who made headlines performing Wagner in Israel) and the late Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | February 05, 2013

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R.I.P.: The BSO’s Verdi Requiem

This year marks the 200th birthday of the 19th century's two greatest operatic geniuses and polar opposites: Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | January 28, 2013

Paul Lewis in Boston

Even in a city like Boston with so many stars in its musical firmament, concerts in which great musicians triumphantly tackle the very greatest literature is still rare.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | January 16, 2013

New York to Boston: Alan Gilbert returns to the BSO

The BSO's first concert of 2013 featured one of its best guest conductors, but not one likely to be available for its music directorship.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | January 16, 2013

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Phrygian not frigid: Classical concerts to come

Here are some of the dozens of classical-music events this winter I'm especially looking forward to (or most curious about).

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | December 21, 2012

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Heat and Light: Classical concerts of 2012

Boston has too much music on the highest level for one listener to hear everything.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | December 17, 2012

The BSO’s conductor roulette

The last few BSO concerts of the season have had their pleasures and raised some questions, especially about who might be the next BSO music director, one of Boston's — indeed, one of the country's —major cultural positions.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | December 07, 2012

New kids: The Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, plus BEMF’s Orfeo and the Takács Quartet

There's a shiny new band in town, conductor Benjamin Zander's Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, a 117-member ensemble consisting of New England players from 12 to 21. The inaugural concert nearly sold out Symphony Hall for an auspicious debut.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 27, 2012

Adès returns

Last year's most satisfying Boston Symphony concert was led by the 41-year-old British composer/conductor/pianist Thomas Adès, who combined music from his marvel-filled opera, The Tempest (2004), with other works inspired by Shakespeare's late romance.

By: LLOYD SCHWARTZ | November 21, 2012

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