As we were coming out of the pandemic last summer, I was invited to play an outdoor concert of film music with the New England Film Orchestra. Admittedly, as a bassoonist playing outside is not something I really strive to do often, but it was hard to resist the chance to play music that I have listened to for years and never thought I'd play in concert. Fast forward to this month and once again, with COVID restrictions lessening, the orchestra scheduled a program to celebr

Lord, How Come Me Here? J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano; Will Liverman, baritone. Paul Sanchez, piano. Leonardo Altino, cello. Caen Thomason-Redus, flute. Navona Records 6408 Total Time: 56:42 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** Soul Sanctuary: Spirituals & Hymns Maria Clark, soprano. Maria Thompson Corley, piano. Ismail Akbar, cello. Navona Records 6406 Total Time: 59:27 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** Every once in a while, composers and mu

The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA), of which I am a member, announced its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2021, in the 2021 IFMCA Awards on Thursday February 17. The award for Score of the Year goes to composer Maurizio Malagnini, for his score for the unique fantasy-science fiction-ballet film “Coppelia.” The film stars members of the Dutch National Ballet and is an updated version of the original stage work by Léo Delibes, in which

The Berlin Concert Berlin Philharmonic/John Williams Bruno Delepelaire, cello. Deutsche Grammophon B0034852-02 Disc One: Total Time: 50:07 Disc Two: Total Time: 57:58 Recording: ****/**** Performance: ****/**** February 8th is the 90th birthday of film music maestro John Williams. His music is among some of the most recognizable thematic material of the latter 20th Century. Over the past few years, he has been honored with special releases of his music from the Boston P

For the better part of two decades, I have reviewed a host of film, video game, and classical music. Cinemusical was the primary blog site I developed for this outlet. It seems though that it would be far better to provide some synergy on my professional site with this written content. In a way, this will be the "new" Cinemusical. The old Xanga site will remain, but without any updates as reviews will now appear here instead. My reviews will focus on a blend of contempo