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Illustration by Jed Chisholm for NPR

The 50 Best Albums of 2023

The album's not dead! Want proof? NPR Music's list of the best albums of 2023 features masterworks by veterans, newcomers, iconoclasts and at least one supergroup.
Erio Piccagliani

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Teatro alla Scala

Maria Callas: The soprano of the century

Tom Huizenga

One hundred years after her birth, Maria Callas still commands attention in the world of opera, which she forever altered with her singular, searing performances.

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Finding a place at the Met, this opera sings in a language of its own
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'Maestro' chronicles the brilliant Bernstein — and his disorderly conduct
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A violist memorializes lost voices at Terezin concentration camp

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The curious mind — and hard work — of bassist Christian McBride

Lara Downes

The Grammy-winning bassist, bandleader and broadcaster talks about his love for music, family ties in the jazz world, and the thrill of sitting in with Wynton Marsalis as a teenager.
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A disciplined plea for peace – and quiet – from composer Arvo Pärt

Tom Huizenga

A new album of music by the 88-year-old Estonian mystic seems to put an arm around you and whisper, "In troubled times, music can help."
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The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to China for anniversary of historic 1973 trip

Karen Zamora

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with violinist Davyd Booth, who was part of the Philadelphia Orchestra's historic 1973 tour of China.
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Emerson String Quartet: Tiny Desk Concert

Tom Huizenga

In one of its very final performances ever, the durable and beloved string quartet says farewell with music by Beethoven, Walker and Ravel.
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The world's largest musical instrument is in the mountains of Virginia

Alan Goffinski

Luray caverns in Virginia have been a natural landmark for 50 years. They also hold the world's largest musical instrument, a Stalacpipe organ.
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Malcolm X arrives — finally — at New York's Metropolitan Opera

Anastasia Tsioulcas

An opera about civil rights leader Malcolm X opens Friday — nearly 40 years after X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X premiered. The creative team says its message feels more relevant than ever.
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Conrad Tao and Caleb Teicher: Tiny Desk Concert

Tom Huizenga

In our very first tap dancing Tiny Desk, the artists created an experience so unexpectedly fresh and suffused with joy, it moved some to tears and others to cheer for more.
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Hauschka's prepared piano is a layered canvas of sounds in new album

Olivia Hampton

On Philanthropy, the artist's 14th studio album, Volker Bertelmann, also known as Hauschka, returns to his signature prepared piano sound in music he hopes will strengthen connections between people.
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Even Beethoven got bad reviews. John Malkovich reads them aloud as 'The Music Critic'

Anastasia Tsioulcas

A new live stage show features actor John Malkovich transformed into some of the meanest music critics ever — in real reviews skewering the work of great composers like Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin.
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How Corinne Bailey Rae and Theaster Gates are preserving Black culture

Lara Downes

On her album, Black Rainbows, Bailey Rae was inspired by the art, books and magazines at the Stony Island Arts Bank, a repository for Black history on Chicago's South Side, created by Gates.