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A Bald Mezzo And Three Shades Of Violin: Classical Favorites From 2012

From mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's ambitious revival of the early Baroque composer Agostino Stefani (and yes, she's got another outrageous album cover) to three very different roles for the violin, here's a clutch of classical albums I returned to again and again this year for sheer delight and aural inspiration. Bartoli lavishes extravagant attention on the music of a fascinating but forgotten link in the history of opera. Daniel Hope shines in an amusing overhaul of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Hilary Hahn thwarts classical music convention to improvise with an avant-garde pianist. And MacArthur "genius" Leila Josefowicz brings to life a shimmering violin concerto — and musical farewell — from conductor-composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. Click on the listen link to hear Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz and I spin the albums, and check out the list below for longer excerpts of the music.

(Click here for NPR Classical's Top 10 Albums of the year)

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

NPR

Meet London's Master Architects In Jell-0

London duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr have made names for themselves with their wild, experimental food installations. From pineapple islands and banana vapors to re-creations of famous architectural monuments, their work playfully pushes the boundary of how we experience food.
NPR

Meet London's Master Architects In Jell-0

London duo Sam Bompas and Harry Parr have made names for themselves with their wild, experimental food installations. From pineapple islands and banana vapors to re-creations of famous architectural monuments, their work playfully pushes the boundary of how we experience food.
NPR

Stunned By Military Sex Scandals, Advocates Demand Changes

As the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, outrage has been building on Capitol Hill and beyond over the military's failure to repair a system that has placed service members in more danger of sexual assault than of battlefield injury.
NPR

Google Reportedly Faces FTC Antitrust Probe Over Display Ads

The Federal Trade Commission is in the early stages of opening an antitrust probe into how Google runs its online display advertising business, according to a report by Bloomberg News, citing sources who want to remain anonymous because the FTC has not announced the probe.

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