The Classical Review

“Rodeo”: Piano music of Aaron Copland. Emiko Edwards. (Lexicon Classics). In 2024 Emiko Edwards performed a rich and varied program of American piano music at Ganz Hall for the American Music Project, spanning from Meredith Monk to Leon Kirchner. That recital included a thrilling performance of Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations, which is included on her new disc of Copland keyboard works. Edwards shows complete sympathy with Copland’s intensely challenging keyboard style.

Klaus Mäkelä conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in music of Stravinsky and Debussy Friday night at Ravinia. Photo: Kyle Dunleavy/Ravinia Festival The second and final program of Klaus Mäkelä’s brief Ravinia residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra drew a much larger turnout on Friday than the previous evening. Who knew Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy were more likely to pack the pavilion and fill the vast lawn than Strauss and Sibelius?

Martinů: Symphonies Nos. 1-6. Jakub Hrůša / Bamberg Symphony (Deutsche Grammophon, three-disc set). Jakub Hrůša has become one of Chicago’s most popular and effective guest conductors, drawing compelling, often extraordinary performances across a wide range of repertoire. The Czech conductor has been especially successful in music of his compatriots, including Dvořák, Smetana and Bohuslav Martinů.

Prokofiev’s Quintet was performed Sunday at the Marlboro Music Festival. Photo: Matt Genders. For seven weeks each summer, the Marlboro Music Festival hosts a cohort of rising and established chamber musicians. Under artistic directors Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss, this cherished institution continues to offer weekend public concerts on the campus formerly occupied by Marlboro College. Lovers of chamber music make the pilgrimage each summer to this quiet place in Vermont’s Green Mountains.

Jana McIntyre as Aithra in Strauss’s “Die ägyptische Helena” at Bard SummerScape. Photo: Maria Baranova Since its establishment in 2003, Bard SummerScape has become a destination to hear operas that are rarely presented elsewhere. Like Anton Rubinstein’s Demon back in 2018, this year’s offering leans to the exotic and murderous.

Karen Kamensek conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” Sunday at Tanglewood. Photo: Hilary Scott Abraham Lincoln’s words aren’t often set to music: among other things, his oratory possesses what Robert Frost called the “sound of sense,” which doesn’t require extra-verbal assistance.

Garrop: Invictus. Joie de vivre. Marta Aznavoorian, pianist. Scott Speck, conductor/Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra (Cedille). Two recent recordings present compelling music for piano cast in starkly differentiated styles, both by contemporary composers. Stacy Garrop’s Invictus received its world premiere last October at the Ear Taxi Festival with Marta Aznavoorian as soloist alongside Scott Peck and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra.

Giancarlo Guerriero led the Grant Park Orchestra in Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3 Friday night. Photo: Elliot Mandel It’s been a good month for Aaron Copland in Chicago. Coming off an extended period of local neglect, the composer’s Appalachian Spring and Lincoln Portrait have been played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as part of its America 250 series. On Friday night the Grant Park Music Festival got into the act with Giancarlo Guerrero leading a performance of Copland’s epic Symphony No. 3.

Yuja Wang performed concertos by Chopin and Prokofiev, conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard Wednesday night in Chicago. Photo: Todd Rosenberg It’s been four long years for her many Chicago fans since Yuja Wang’s last local appearance.

Michael Tilson Thomas passed away Wednesday at his home in San Francisco, age 81. Michael Tilson Thomas died Wednesday at his home in the San Francisco Bay area. Artistic director laureate of the New World Symphony and former music director laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, Tilson Thomas was one of the world’s most distinguished conductors.