LONDON—This July 28 BBC Prom at London’s Royal Albert Hall was a welcome opportunity to hear the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo conduct his fellow countryman Sibelius. It also boasted the anticipated UK … » Read

MENLO PARK, CA – Music@Menlo sallied forth this summer in a mode of remembrance, for it was the final season in which the two founders, pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel, would lead their 24-year-old festival. But it … » Read

The spirit of Richard Strauss must be smiling on Leon Botstein and his annual SummerScape festival at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY: The new production of Die ägyptische Helena , which ended its five-performance run on August 2, … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Director Keturah Stickann’s delightfully entertaining new production of Handel’s Rinaldo for West Edge Opera turns on a simple but probing observation. The opera’s libretto, drawn like so many Baroque plots … » Read

CHICAGO—With Chicago bona fides across the bill, the Grant Park Music Festival’s July 31 concert may well have been hometown pride night. Neither conductor Kedrick Armstrong nor violinist Gabriela Lara was born in Chicago: Armstrong … » Read

SANTA CRUZ, CA—With “We, the Dreamers” as the 2026 Cabrillo Festival’s overall theme, and “On Freedom” as the title of its July 31 season opener, one could expect some kind of statement pertaining to the … » Read

To celebrate its 150 th anniversary, the Bayreuth Festival turned to AI to generate a new staging of Wagner’s tetralogy. The result, concludes Flora Willson in The Guardian , had “something for everyone to dislike.” The … » Read

LONDON—The music on the two halves of this July 27 BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall may have had absolutely nothing in common but each had its own charms. It was also a chance for Londoners to hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra … » Read

LONDON—With the 2026 BBC Proms season well and truly underway, it was nice to see a genuinely savvy piece of programming at this July 23 concert from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under its LA-born Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft. … » Read

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra has seen some bumpy times since Nicholas McGegan ended his illustrious 35-year tenure as music director in 2020.His successor, Richard Egarr, lasted only four seasons, announcing his resignation (effective after … » Read