Classical

A program of American and French piano music performed by the twin Naughton sisters capped a magical night at Green-Wood Cemetery, a short walk from Leonard Bernstein's grave.

This recording from Yale Schola Cantorum and David Hill presents a sparkling new chamber orchestration by Iain Farrington of Brahms' 'Ein Deutsches Requiem.'

Works by John Adams, George Lewis, and Courtney Bryan explored the interaction between man and machine, in three very different ways. And there wasn't a pianola (player piano) in sight.

The 'Four Seasons' benefitted especially from the outdoor setting. A real bird sang during the twittering of the violins in the first movement of 'Spring.' A dog barked. During 'Summer' real crickets formed a chorale as, in the music, a goatherd wept and a storm threatened.

The pianist delivers all of Chopin's challenging Etudes on an instrument of the composer's time: an 1841 Paris Érard piano tuned to a historical temperament.

'Terminal Velocity' radiates sonic brio, graceful energy, and primal momentum of imminent majesty.

When pianist Vera Anselmo, who trained at Juilliard and Mannes School of Music, started giving piano and music lessons at local schools in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Harlem in 2001, she did not realize the potential impact her 'Piano School of New York City' would make over the years. But her passion to bring the gift of music to all had always been her driving force.

'The Book of Arius - Act I' offers superb, gorgeous neoclassical music.

The pianist's new album is a superb survey of some of the most distinctive music by a composer who is today well remembered and valued by musicians and composers, but heard by audiences too seldom.

'Mohana Blues' is the kind of music that, like coffee, is an acquired taste.