I doubt you'll hear a string section play as blisteringly fast or as precise in the Presto section, which is rendered here nothing short of a symphonic panic attack. Bacewicz wrote symphonies, concertos and stage works, but she arguably shined brightest when crafting the intricate musical conversations that unfold within chamber music. This year, amid a multitude of albums, I found favorite musicians (The Fourth Symphony, written in the heady months before Shostakovich's first fall from Soviet grace in 1936, and shelved for 25 years, charges out of the gate with rare intensity in this live recording. These are performances of shattering virtuosity in luxuriously recorded sound.True artists take risks. Turns out, it's a flexible ensemble led by a trio of Spanish brothers: Aarón, Daniel and Pablo Zapico, who play keyboards, theorbo (a large lute) and baroque guitar, respectively. While it may sound incongruous to pair a Mexican jazz singer with a classical string quartet, the gamble paid off spectacularly in The album's title alone connotes its socially conscious threads — "Niña," with a text by Mexican poet and diplomat Octavio Paz, captures the elemental power of children. Lately, thanks to the Silesian Quartet (and friends), Bacewicz is getting the posthumous recognition she deserves, mainly through recordings like this absorbing album of chamber music composed between 1949 and 1965.A violin virtuoso and a formidable pianist, Bacewicz managed to carve out a career in the turbulent years before and during communist era Poland.

4:52pm Dec 18, 2018.
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In Bartók's more popular Second Concerto, from 30 years after his first, Tetzlaff taps into the folk influences of the opening theme, while conductor Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra expertly judge tricky balances between the harp, French horn and string pizzicatos. These are performances of shattering virtuosity in luxuriously recorded sound.True artists take risks. If you can spend another couple of minutes making a pledge of as little as $5, you’ll feel like a superhero defending democracy for less than the cost of a month of Netflix. Bacewicz wrote symphonies, concertos and stage works, but she arguably shined brightest when crafting the intricate musical conversations that unfold within chamber music. In Bartók's more popular Second Concerto, from 30 years after his first, Tetzlaff taps into the folk influences of the opening theme, while conductor Hannu Lintu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra expertly judge tricky balances between the harp, French horn and string pizzicatos.

Other songs flash back to the Herrera, who is a spokesperson for the United Nations campaign Unite to End Violence Against Women, has given us a vocally resplendent album, one for the head and the heart.The mark of a great composer, it's been said, is an unmistakable sound. NPR Music's picks for the week's best new releases include Brandy's first new album in eight years, a stunning debut from rapper and singer Dominic Fike, retro-country from Charley Crockett and more.Featured Albums:1.
Copyright 2020 NPR. Other songs flash back to the Herrera, who is a spokesperson for the United Nations campaign Unite to End Violence Against Women, has given us a vocally resplendent album, one for the head and the heart.The mark of a great composer, it's been said, is an unmistakable sound. NPR Music's Best Classical Albums Of 2018 ... (This review originally appeared on NPR Music's list of the 50 Best Albums of 2018.) For all its angst and bluster, the Fourth ends mysteriously, with a celeste evaporating into a gray sky of low strings.The Eleventh Symphony, composed 20 years later, picks up that ethereal mood, unfolding into a series of tableau depicting events and emotions surrounding "Bloody Sunday," when Tsarist guards opened fire on the public outside the winter palace in 1905. Our 'best albums' out this Friday includes a beautiful and socially conscious release from composer Max Richter, who is inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.