Classics in the News
- Dausgaard’s Uninteresting Brahms Second May 17, 2026This latest installment in Thomas Dausgaard’s ongoing effort to downsize the romantic symphonic repertoire isn’t as bad as some of his previous releases, but it’s nothing special either. The performances are easily described, and just as easily dismissed. In the Second Symphony, Dausgaard takes the first movement unusually quickly, the slow movement more or less […]
- Rikke Sandberg’s Idiosyncratic Brahms May 17, 2026Like many pianists these days, Rikke Sandberg wears several hats. She’s the artistic leader of the Nordic Chamber Music Festival, a frequent competition juror, a professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy, and a frequent orchestral pianist for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Malmo Symphony Orchestra. The pianist is also an uneven Brahms […]
- Dina Ugorskaja’s Slow, Serious, and (Mostly) Static Brahms May 17, 2026Dina Ugorskaja’s death from cancer in September 2019 at the age of 47 robbed the musical world of a remarkable pianist, whose recordings of late Beethoven sonatas, Schumann’s Kreisleriana, and the complete Bach Well-Tempered Clavier attested to her force of personality and serious outlook. Her way with Brahms’ D minor concerto, however, is almost too […]