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The week in review | November 10, 2023

"Linda Catlin Smith’s music is often sensuous, close, quiet — almost private, but it can also feel incorporeal, even impersonal or cold. But in these contradictions and idiosyncrasies, the music thrives: the warmth felt even more so, the rough made soft and delicate, the music transformed back into raw, tangible sound."

Sofía Rocha reviews Dark Flower, a portrait album of Smith’s works performed by Thin Edge New Music Collective. Out today on Redshift Records, the album is the result of a long collaboration between the composer and the ensemble.

"It wasn’t until the very end of Act I that we first heard Will Liverman’s voice as the opera’s titular character... Liverman sang, 'You ask me for my story, but you don’t want to hear it' as the house lights gradually went up. The first act ended with the fourth wall completely broken, audience members sitting in a fully lit theater, being asked to consider their own actions in real life."

Stephanie Ann Boyd reviews opening night of the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by composer Anthony Davis, which she calls "equal parts super-sonic adventure and heart-wrenching bio-opera."

"Throughout the performance, the blend was spectacular, the acoustics were warm, and the storytelling was compelling, even if the composition was passive... As more contemporary works seek to harness untold stories, composers must be cautious about how they set them."

Donna Lee Davidson reviews the premiere of I Will Tell You the Truth About This, I Will Tell You All About It, a new oratorio by composer Aaron Siegel and poet Tracy K. Smith that highlights the voices of African American troops who fought in the Civil War.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis has been on the cutting edge of opera, improvised music, and jazz for over four decades.

His playlist for I CARE IF YOU LISTEN invites you to experience the soundtrack of his life, from early influences to pieces he's grown to love. Tracks include music by Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, and Ornette Coleman.

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN is an editorially-independent program of American Composers Forum and is made possible thanks to the generosity of readers like you!