LONDON—It’s hard to imagine a more quintessentially British outfit than the BBC Symphony Orchestra, nor a conductor more Italian than Daniele Rustioni; yet when on February 13 these European musicians brought a 1950s urban New York to … » Read

CHICAGO—Upon entering Orchestra Hall on February 10, audience members were handed something in addition to the evening’s program: a pencil. That was the first hint that Emily — No Prisoner Be wasn’t going to be “your … » Read

The Great Wave , an opera by composer Dai Fujikura and librettist Harry Ross, presents a series of vignettes from the life and death of the artist Katsushika Hokusai, best known for the iconic print that gives the composition its name. Premiered … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—As the San Francisco Symphony soldiers on in search of a new music director, a revitalized identity, and a proposed renovation of Davies Symphony Hall, one of the organization’s programs is thriving. SoundBox concerts, … » Read

PARIS—The superb production of Werther at the Opéra Comique last month was a veritable team effort headed by conductor Raphaël Pichon, who has brought his orchestra Pygmalion to the forefront of the period-instrument movement. … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—It’s not often that clothes match the style and mood of a concert. But such was the case on Thursday, February 5, in a splendid all-Mozart bill performed by the San Francisco Symphony. Conductor Harry Bicket made the … » Read

Iván Fischer, leading his Budapest Festival Orchestra on February 6 in the first of two Carnegie Hall concerts, began the evening with a droll surprise. The billed program-opener was Summa by Arvo Pärt, current holder of … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—The emcee and narrator of the January 31 Jewish Nightlife program at Temple Emanu—El made the show’s agenda explicit from the outset. This is not, said Francesco Spagnola, an evening about Jewish Music, but rather … » Read

VIENNA—Have you ever wondered what it would be like to die and go to Baroque heaven? The audience at this February 4 concert performance of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Theater an der Wien got a pretty good idea, as zesty … » Read

PARIS—Beethoven’s Missa solemnis has returned to the center of musical life in a striking way. In Paris on January 28, Klaus Mäkelä led the work with the Choeur and Orchestre de Paris for the second time in his still-young … » Read