In “Labyrinth,” most of the “chapters” are made up of two pieces by one composer framing a work by another. The triptych closes with another Janacek piece, “Words Fail” — and indeed they do in this troubled, shifting music. 5, which closes the group, here seems like a graciously lyrical attempt to reconcile the disparate sounds we’ve just heard. Besides succeeding as listening pleasure, “Labyrinth” challenges the view that classical music is a story of steady, explicable evolution. Maybe music history is more like a labyrinth.

Source: New York Times November 15, 2020 18:45 UTC