LONDON—There were only two items on the ticket for the London Symphony Orchestra’s October 25 Barbican Hall concert, yet perhaps surprisingly it was the new work that left the stronger impression despite the tumultuous spiritual … » Read

SEATTLE—Near the end of Samuel Adams’s No Such Spring , pianist Conor Hanick’s hands climbed in successive leaps toward the extreme treble. Against a hushed bed of sustained brass and string chords, he reached beyond the last … » Read

LONDON—The London Philharmonic Orchestra likes to play to a theme and this October 23 concert at Royal Festival Hall was no exception. The subject was transformations, as represented by Dorothy Howell’s Lamia , a symphonic poem about … » Read

CHICAGO—Lyric Opera of Chicago co-commissioned Omar , an opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, along with the Spoleto Festival USA, Carolina Performing Arts, San Francisco Opera , Los Angeles Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Detroit … » Read

Verdi’s sixth opera Alzira has been an object of neglect almost from its 1845 premiere at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, a potential candidate to duplicate the wild popularity won by Ernani at La Scala the year prior. It flopped, and Verdi … » Read

You can understand Lincoln in the Bardo ’s appeal as a subject for an opera. George Saunders’s 2017 novel takes the form of an oral history, the primary narrators being a crowd of ghosts. They haunt the cemetery outside the mausoleum … » Read

LONDON—Alongside the national and country house opera companies, the U.K. has a thriving amateur or semi-professional circuit, ranging from local Gilbert and Sullivan societies to more ambitious outfits with a healthy interest in eclectic … » Read

CHICAGO—A lot has happened to Giancarlo Guerrero since he last conducted the Chicago Symphony, in spring 2024. Later that year, the Nicaragua-born, Costa Rica-raised conductor was appointed music director of the Grant Park Music Festival, … » Read

LONDON—Japanese composer Dai Fujikura found double fortune this Fall when he was commissioned by Nomura Holdings to compose a short work for Sir Antonio Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra. Not only would his composition receive its … » Read

A certain indoor-outdoor dichotomy graces Olivier Messiaen's epic Des canyons aux étoiles... ( From the Canyons to the Stars... ). Commissioned by Alice Tully in tribute to the 1976 bicentennial, the composer cited the profound natural and … » Read