"Please look after my music" — Leonard Bernstein last words to his long-time assistant Charlie Harmon, who has finally broken his silence in a tell-all biography extolling the challenges of living with a genius on the cusp of legacy.
To the average concertgoer, Rachmaninov is probably best known for writing lush, romantic melodies and music of great passion; that said, he was also a man with an appreciation for the darker side of life.
Jaap van Zweden doesn’t officially take over as music director of the New York Philharmonic until September 2018, but their new album hints at the possibilities.
New RCO recording of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony featuring soprano Annette Dasch and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is passion and intensity from beginning to end.
James Ehnes gives us fine renderings of Bartók’s modernist transformation of gypsy style with conductor Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.