George Grella

New York

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Critic & Journalist; Financial Times, Bandcamp, The Wire, NYCR, &c; @thebrooklynrail music editor, @333books author—freelance and available for writing/editing

Articles

Pioneers of Computer Music

1 week ago | daily.bandcamp.com | George Grella

LISTS Pioneers of Computer Music By George Grella · Illustration by Aaron Lowell Denton · April 16, 2025 The first instance of what could be considered “computer music” dates back to 1951, with room-sized machines in Australia and England programmed to play existing songs—the first recording of computer music (restored about 10 years ago by the British Library), is a grinding, cello-like voltage sound playing “God Save the Queen” as directed by a computer program.
Met’s terrific “Barber” cast serves up a riotous evening of Rossini

1 week ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

Opera companies simply do not stage enough comic operas. The fact that comedy is much harder to pull off than tragedy accounts for some of that relative neglect—even though the comedies in the repertoire contain some of the greatest opera scores ever written. One of those is, of course, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, which is not just one of the greatest comic operas but one of the greatest operas.
The Many Scenes of Thurston Moore

1 week ago | daily.bandcamp.com | George Grella

LISTS The Many Scenes of Thurston Moore By George Grella · April 15, 2025 Don’t call him a punk rock eminence grise or even a former member of Sonic Youth—Thurston Moore is a musician with his own personal sound, ideas, and legacy. Sure, Sonic Youth is an inescapable part of that legacy; they were one of the most important bands of the post-Sex Pistols era, and one of the great, emblematic New York City rock bands of any kind.
Neptunian Maximalism, “Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu”

1 week ago | daily.bandcamp.com | George Grella

ALBUM OF THE DAY Neptunian Maximalism, “Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu” By George Grella · April 15, 2025 Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu I, Voidhanger Records . . 00:10 / 00:58 There is a powerful strain in heavy metal of syncretic worship, music that seeks exalted heights and altered perceptions and gathers together listeners in an audio/psychic ritual.
Choral Society, soloists deliver a worthy Verdi Requiem at Carnegie

1 week ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

This is the Lenten season, always a good time for requiems in classical music. And while there are many fine ones to play, it is sometimes a tricky thing, adapting them to the concert hall. That was the challenge for the Choral Society and Orchestra of Grace Church Friday night in Carnegie Hall. With John Maclay conducting, and vocal soloists soprano Michelle Trovato, mezzo- soprano Helen Karloski, tenor Scott Ramsay, and bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca, the ensemble played Verdi’s Requiem.
A Stravinsky night to remember with Kopatchinskaja‘s Philharmonic debut

2 weeks ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

The main attraction at New York Philharmonic concerts in David Geffen Hall this week is newness. It comes in two parts; a world premiere composition and the Philharmonic debut of a world-class soloist. And for anyone wanting the comforts of the familiar, there’s a Brahms symphony.
After a lightweight premiere, Schumann provides the ballast with NYP, Szeps-Znaider

2 weeks ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

The theme for this week’s New York Philharmonic program, led by guest conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, could be Central Europe, with all the music originating from there 200 years apart. The theme could also be gestures; how music can be a social gesture and the possibilities and pitfalls of making music that is about effects and signs.
A first-rate cast balances uneven conducting in Met’s “Figaro”

3 weeks ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

Monday night, the Metropolitan Opera brought back its ten-year-old production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This revival mixes the familiarity of Richard Eyre’s staging, with both familiar and relatively new faces. The Count and Countess Almaviva are baritone Joshua Hopkins and soprano Federica Lombardi, both well-known on the Met stage. Bass-baritone Maurizio Muraro has been playing Dr. Bartolo for years, and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop (Marcellina) is an experienced Met performer.
Slatkin returns to Philharmonic with American music and Shostakovich

4 weeks ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

This week’s New York Philharmonic subscription program is lead by guest conductor Leonard Slatkin. The veteran American musician is not just on the podium, but the music itself has his stamp on it. The feeling in David Geffen Hall Wednesday night was that he brought along some of his favorite scores from his accumulated experiences to present to New York audiences. That meant a set of bookend pieces, one contemporary and one a masterpiece of the repertoire.
Met’s enjoyable”Zauberflöte” finds true art in theatrical artifice

1 month ago | newyorkclassicalreview.com | George Grella

An opera that first opened in 1791, doesn’t have to be put in front of an audience today so it looks like 1791 on stage. The operas that have lasted from history were never meant to be preserved under glass, especially ones that were presenting dramas of their time. Sunday afternoon, the Metropolitan Opera opened its revival of Simon McBurney’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.