Ryan Ross
@ryanmross.bsky.social
Musicologist. Classical music devotee. Genealogy enthusiast.
www.ross-review.blogspot.com
www.ross-review.blogspot.com
My review of the recent Schiff recording featuring Lucerne performances of Scarlatti.
classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/11/dome...
classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/11/dome...
Domenico Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (CD Review)
Classical Candor, classical music reviews, news, compact disc, CD, SACD, XRCD, XRCD24, HQCD, audio, stereo, orchestral, chamber, jazz, John J. Puccio
classicalcandor.blogspot.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:46 PM
My review of the recent Schiff recording featuring Lucerne performances of Scarlatti.
classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/11/dome...
classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/11/dome...
Always nice to receive one of these emails. :)
May 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Always nice to receive one of these emails. :)
This is a terrific cycle. Engerer really feels these pieces. She does nothing weird/off-putting; she’s just a performer accentuating what makes the music great.
April 9, 2025 at 10:02 PM
This is a terrific cycle. Engerer really feels these pieces. She does nothing weird/off-putting; she’s just a performer accentuating what makes the music great.
I don’t find Schenkerian analysis to be particularly useful to the listening experience. Its chief virtue seems to be to satiate compulsive pattern-seeking in the theoretically minded.
April 8, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I don’t find Schenkerian analysis to be particularly useful to the listening experience. Its chief virtue seems to be to satiate compulsive pattern-seeking in the theoretically minded.
Don’t sleep on this music. I’m still enamored with it even after many months. The sixth etude especially, La Forêt Oubliée,” is a contemporary treasure.
April 5, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Don’t sleep on this music. I’m still enamored with it even after many months. The sixth etude especially, La Forêt Oubliée,” is a contemporary treasure.
Liszt’s Fifth Hungarian Rhapsody is a masterpiece. One of his very best compositions. It should be treated like the gem of Romantic musical expression it is. So underrated.
March 30, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Liszt’s Fifth Hungarian Rhapsody is a masterpiece. One of his very best compositions. It should be treated like the gem of Romantic musical expression it is. So underrated.
Wonderful recording. Some of Bach’s best cantatas.
March 29, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Wonderful recording. Some of Bach’s best cantatas.
Mozart’s K. 456 is one of those strange concertos where the slow movement is more weighty and memorable than either of the outer movements.
March 17, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Mozart’s K. 456 is one of those strange concertos where the slow movement is more weighty and memorable than either of the outer movements.
We need more recordings of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. Such colorful, fun pieces. Lots of room for new interpretations.
March 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
We need more recordings of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. Such colorful, fun pieces. Lots of room for new interpretations.
Underrated: Beethoven’s Op. 9 String Trios.
March 2, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Underrated: Beethoven’s Op. 9 String Trios.
I don't think the most important thing about a piece of music is its structure. I think the most important thing about it is its spiritual or emotional effect upon the listener. Structure can have something to do with this, but very often it doesn't.
February 28, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I don't think the most important thing about a piece of music is its structure. I think the most important thing about it is its spiritual or emotional effect upon the listener. Structure can have something to do with this, but very often it doesn't.
Schubert’s development sections often turn out to be more like “fantasy remixes” of his themes. I absolutely LOVE that about his music.
February 26, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Schubert’s development sections often turn out to be more like “fantasy remixes” of his themes. I absolutely LOVE that about his music.
I'm glad to be back at Classical Candor reviewing music. Here is my (positive) take on the new Ruth Gipps orchestral works disc from Chandos: classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/02/ruth...
Ruth Gipps Orchestral Works, Volume 3 (CD Review)
Classical Candor, classical music reviews, news, compact disc, CD, SACD, XRCD, XRCD24, HQCD, audio, stereo, orchestral, chamber, jazz, John J. Puccio
classicalcandor.blogspot.com
February 25, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I'm glad to be back at Classical Candor reviewing music. Here is my (positive) take on the new Ruth Gipps orchestral works disc from Chandos: classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2025/02/ruth...
The slow movement of Haydn’s 68th Symphony is LONG…and quirky.
February 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
The slow movement of Haydn’s 68th Symphony is LONG…and quirky.
Just listened to the new Rouvali Sibelius 6 and 7 on Alpha.
6 is better than 7 here, but neither is particularly good. He doesn’t always have a good sense of what to assign to the foreground, the middle-ground, and the background in 6. And 7 is just a spasmodic mess.
6 is better than 7 here, but neither is particularly good. He doesn’t always have a good sense of what to assign to the foreground, the middle-ground, and the background in 6. And 7 is just a spasmodic mess.
February 24, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Just listened to the new Rouvali Sibelius 6 and 7 on Alpha.
6 is better than 7 here, but neither is particularly good. He doesn’t always have a good sense of what to assign to the foreground, the middle-ground, and the background in 6. And 7 is just a spasmodic mess.
6 is better than 7 here, but neither is particularly good. He doesn’t always have a good sense of what to assign to the foreground, the middle-ground, and the background in 6. And 7 is just a spasmodic mess.
“It is impossible really to appreciate a truly great symphony without understanding its structure, because in such a work, expression is largely the result of structure.”—Marc Vignal
POPPYCOCK!
POPPYCOCK!
February 21, 2025 at 8:19 PM
“It is impossible really to appreciate a truly great symphony without understanding its structure, because in such a work, expression is largely the result of structure.”—Marc Vignal
POPPYCOCK!
POPPYCOCK!
Reviewing the new Ruth Gipps Chandos disc for Classical Candor. Will be out soon. Some gems on this recording.
February 18, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reviewing the new Ruth Gipps Chandos disc for Classical Candor. Will be out soon. Some gems on this recording.
Recording Review #63: Scrumptious Scarlatti
Another fantastic installment in Naxos's complete Scarlatti sonatas series.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Another fantastic installment in Naxos's complete Scarlatti sonatas series.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #63: Scrumptious Scarlatti
Domenico Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 29. Emanuil Ivanov, pianist. Naxos 8.574633. I haven't been able to determine how man...
ross-review.blogspot.com
February 17, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Recording Review #63: Scrumptious Scarlatti
Another fantastic installment in Naxos's complete Scarlatti sonatas series.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Another fantastic installment in Naxos's complete Scarlatti sonatas series.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #62: A Feeling for Field
Alice Sara Ott serves up some great Field Nocturnes.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Alice Sara Ott serves up some great Field Nocturnes.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #62: A Feeling for Field
Field: Complete Nocturnes . Alice Sara Ott, pianist. Deutsche Grammophon 486 623-8. The conventional wisdom on Irish composer John Field ...
ross-review.blogspot.com
February 13, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Recording Review #62: A Feeling for Field
Alice Sara Ott serves up some great Field Nocturnes.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Alice Sara Ott serves up some great Field Nocturnes.
ross-review.blogspot.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #61: Mishandled Mahler
Rattle and Co. exhibit wonderful playing and sound. I just don’t think he gets this music.
www.ross-review.com/2025/02/reco...
Rattle and Co. exhibit wonderful playing and sound. I just don’t think he gets this music.
www.ross-review.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #61: Mishandled Mahler
Mahler: Symphony No. 7; Simon Rattle/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks. BR Klassik 900217. By now the notion that Gustav Mahle...
www.ross-review.com
February 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Recording Review #61: Mishandled Mahler
Rattle and Co. exhibit wonderful playing and sound. I just don’t think he gets this music.
www.ross-review.com/2025/02/reco...
Rattle and Co. exhibit wonderful playing and sound. I just don’t think he gets this music.
www.ross-review.com/2025/02/reco...
Recording Review #60: Quibbles for Kantorow
I don't like some things, but I like a whole lot else.
I don't like some things, but I like a whole lot else.
Recording Review #60: Quibbles for Kantorow
Brahms • Schubert. Alexandre Kantorow, pianist. BIS-2660. Some things are just awkward. For instance, titling a CD release "Brahms • Schub...
www.ross-review.com
February 2, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Recording Review #60: Quibbles for Kantorow
I don't like some things, but I like a whole lot else.
I don't like some things, but I like a whole lot else.
At Noxubee Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi.
No gators in sight today!
No gators in sight today!
February 2, 2025 at 6:02 PM
At Noxubee Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi.
No gators in sight today!
No gators in sight today!
All FREE today at the local library! 😲😲😲
February 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
All FREE today at the local library! 😲😲😲
Just found this at a library sale.
January 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Just found this at a library sale.