Lloyd Schwartz
Lloyd Schwartz is the classical music critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
For his writing about music, he has received the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism (1994), three ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards, and awards from the Amphion Foundation and the International Music Fraternity.
A selection of his Fresh Air reviews has been collected in the volume Music In—and On—the Air (Arrowsmith Press).
Since 2014, he has been Contributing Arts Critic for Boston's WBUR website. He is also the Poet Laureate of Somerville, Massachusetts, and the author of seven volumes of poems: most recently Who's on First? New and Selected Poems (University of Chicago Press, 2021), He Tells His Mother What He's Working On (Grolier Poetry Press, 2026), and "Artur Schnabel and Joseph Szigeti Play Mozart at the Frick Collection (April 4, 1948)" and other poems (Arrowsmith, 2026). He has received awards in poetry from the New England Poetry Club, the NEA, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the 2025 David Ferry and Ellen LaForge Annual Poetry Prize.
His editorial work includes Elizabeth Bishop and Her Art (University of Michigan Press, 1983), the Library of the America's Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose, and Letters (2008), and the centennial edition of Bishop's Prose (FSG 2011). He is the Frederick S. Troy Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
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The American mezzo-soprano died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 52. Her recordings are still being reissued. The latest is a beautifully remastered version of an album called Handel Arias.
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Critic Lloyd Schwartz tells a story about Lezhneva, a Russian singer he "discovered" a few months ago — without realizing he already owned a 2015 recording of her rendition of Handel's early oratorio.
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On Robeson, opera singer Davóne Tines pays tribute to the musician often remembered for singing "Ol' Man River." Tines' album pairs well with the 14-CD album Paul Robeson: Voice of Freedom.
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Many music lovers consider Ives, who died in 1954, to be the first truly great American composer. A new recording by pianist Donald Berman is a major addition to the Ives discography.
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The 28-year-old conductor has been making news lately — getting rave reviews for renditions of Stravinsky and Debussy, and also for being the music director of more than one major orchestra.
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Soundies were 3-minute musical films which you could watch at a bar or club on a large jukebox with a screen. Film historian Susan Delson has curated a selection in Soundies: The Ultimate Collection.
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In 2018, three years before his death, the pianist and composer gave a concert in Sardinia that included both Mozart and George Gershwin. A live recording of that concert is now available.
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Widely considered the greatest singing actor in opera history, Callas died in 1977 at the age of 53. Now, several new releases celebrate both her singing and her acting.
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Verdi imagined each of his operas painted with a different tincture. Conductor Riccardo Chailly puts together an exciting new album of Verdi's choruses, from his best known to his most obscure.
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This set features excerpts from most of Flemming's 26 roles at the NYC Met. Fleming's studio recordings have always captured her lovely voice; these live recordings prove her magic on the stage.