Lloyd Schwartz
Lloyd Schwartz is the classical music critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
In addition to his role on Fresh Air, Schwartz is the Senior Editor of Classical Music for the web-journal New York Arts and Contributing Arts Critic for WBUR's the ARTery. He is the author of four volumes of poems: These People; Goodnight, Gracie; Cairo Traffic; and Little Kisses (University of Chicago Press, 2017). A selection of his Fresh Air reviews appears in the volume Music In—and On—the Air. He is the co-editor of the Library of the America's Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose, and Letters and the editor of the centennial edition of Elizabeth Bishop's Prose, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2011.
In 1994, Schwartz was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He is the Frederick S. Troy Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Boston and teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.
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John Adams' opera, which premiered in 2005, centers on the first atomic bomb test at Los Alamos, N.M. Now, a new album features a recording of Doctor Atomic conducted by the composer himself.
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The legendary frontman plays all the characters in a new recording of Igor Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. Critic Lloyd Schwartz calls it a seriously enjoyable addition to the Stravinsky catalog.
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In the age of blockbuster art exhibitions, a small show sometimes makes just as big an impression as a large one. That's what happened to critic Lloyd Schwartz on a recent trip to New York.
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Ma began learning Bach's famous cello suites when he was 4. Now in his 60s, Ma has released his third recording of the pieces. Critic Lloyd Schwartz says this latest iteration may be his favorite.
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Though known for her avant-garde concert performances, the 92-year-old soprano recorded songs by 19th-century classical composers, including Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, when she was turning 60.
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Fitzgerald's warm, yet ultra-cool voice was at the opposite pole of jazz singing from Armstrong's gravelly growl. There's absolutely no reason their voices should blend so effortlessly — but they do.
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Gandelsman has been celebrated for playing a wide variety of music, from purely classical to the most inventive contemporary pieces. He takes on Bach's complex sonatas and partitas on his new album.
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The New York Philharmonic celebrates its 175th birthday with a box set dating back to its very first recordings a century ago, featuring some of the greatest musicians of the 20th-century.
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Callas, who died in 1977, was known for her ability to merge musical notes with complex feelings. Now Warner Classics has released a box set of her live recordings — including 20 complete operas.
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Freire plays tribute to the noted German composer on his new album. Music critic Lloyd Schwartz doesn't always love Brahms, but he loves this recording.