April 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Houston Grand Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of April 2025

1. Sumac and Moor Mother- The Film
End times.

2. Sherelle- With a Vengeance
British footwork.

3. Leif Ove Andsnes and the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir- Liszt: Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works
Sometimes it causes me to tremble.

4. Gerald Clayton- Ones & Twos
My review.

5. Salif Keita- So Kono
Hushed beauty.

6. Black Country, New Road- Forever Howlong
My review.

7. Marilyn Crispell, Thommy Andersson and Michala Østergaard-Nielsen- The Cave
Improvisation worthy of Plato.

8. Willie Nelson- Oh What a Beautiful World
Willie on Rodney.

9. The Mars Volta- Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio
My review.

10. Tucker Wetmore- What Not To
My review.

The Top Three Reissues, Repackagings and Reimaginings of April 2025

1. John Hicks- Steadfast
Forty-year-old solo piano.

2. Sun Ra- Nuits de la Fondation Maeght
The space bop motherlode.

3. Stanley Cowell- Musa: Ancestral Streams
A 1974 classic reemerges.

The Top Ten Songs of April 2025

1. Emma-Jean Thackray- "Thank You for the Day"
Blessings abound.

2. Sault- “L.U.”
Gospel truth.

3. Bon Iver featuring Dijon and Flock of Dimes- "Day One"
We miss the old Kanye.

4. Lorde- "What Was That"
Royal.

5. Carin León, Diego El Cigala and Chanela Clicka- "Te Quiero Y Me Miento"
Intercontinental fusion.

6. Christian Nodal- "Amé"
Love.

7. Mark Morton featuring Nikki Lane- “Down No More”
Straight and narrow.

8. Viagra Boys- "You N33d Me"
Needy.

9. Jane Remover featuring Danny Brown- "Psychoboost"
Hyperpop fantasia.

10. Mekons- "Before the Ice Age"
Warmth.

The Top Ten Performances of April 2025

1. Jake Heggie’s master class at Grant Recital Hall
My review.

2. Joseph Genualdi and Sean Chen at White Recital Hall
My review.

3. Les Arts Florissants with Théotime Langlois de Swarte at the Folly Theater
My Instagram clip.

4. Lauren Auge and Jacob Hofeling at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram clip.

5. Electronic Music Midwest Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College
My Instagram clips: day one and day two.

6. Helen Sung with Bach Aria Soloists at the Folly Theater
My review.

7. Opus 76 at Shawnee Mission South High School
My Instagram clip.

8. The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society’s “3 Expressions of Light and Sound” at Charlotte Street Foundation
My Instagram clip.

9. Bob Bowman at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.

10. Aaron Sizemore, Craig Akin and Taylor Babb at the Music House
My Instagram clip.

The previous monthly recap is here.

Concert Review: Joseph Genualdi and Sean Chen at White Recital Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The recent misfortunes affecting all global citizens have been paralleled by personal setbacks in recent weeks. My gloom resulted in an insatiable craving for chamber music.

Seven of the 13 performances I’ve attended so far this month fall into the category. And while I wasn’t interested in tuning into broadcasts from the Coachella festival, I’m currently obsessed with The 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition.

I was impelled to claim a front-and-center seat amid an audience of a few dozen at a free faculty recital by pianist Sean Chen and violinist Joseph Genualdi at White Recital Hall on Wednesday, April 23. The UMKC Conservatory professors’ interpretations of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Fauré hit home.

Accompanied by rolling thunder, Genualdi’s take of Bach’s famed chaconne may be the most transcendent thing I’ll hear in 2025. My passion for a piece written more than 300 years ago almost certainly correlates with my malaise.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I was disappointed when an elegant forty-year-old woman walked into Polsky Theatre on Monday, March 3. Prior to her entrance, I was a contender for the youngest person in the audience of about 125. The piano duo of Jeffrey and Karen Savage performed impressionist works by composers including Claude Debussy and Isaac Albéniz at the free noon recital using the unfortunate moniker 88 Squared. As the youngest person in the room busied herself with a to-do list, a few geezers seated near me napped. I’m not mocking them- I aspire to their refusal to stay home in their eighties. A transcription of a slightly dissonant composition by the Savages’ UMKC colleague Sean Chen was balanced by an unsuitable medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz. Only then did I feel as if I were confined to a dreary nursing home.