SALZBURG—Markus Hinterhäuser, recently (and controversially) fired as Salzburg Festival artistic director , based this season’s program on Roland Barthes’s book, A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments , which explores … » Read

Despite the Sturm und Drang surrounding the Boston Symphony, the music-making during Andris Nelsons’s last 2026 weekend at Tanglewood did not disappoint. (He exits at the end of next season.) Nor did the audience’s evident commitment … » Read

SANTA FE—In Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman’s Lili Elbe , a marriage changes faster than either partner can comprehend. First staged at Theater St. Gallen in 2023, the opera is receiving its American premiere. James … » Read

CHICAGO—In the beginning (1904) it was Ravinia Park, a high-class amusement complex complete with dance hall and baseball diamond 20-some miles north of Chicago. In 1936 the Chicago Symphony Orchestra arrived for the first of what would … » Read

LONDON–Back in April the BBC Proms happily launched its 2026 season featuring an extensive celebration of American music to mark 250 years, apparently undaunted by Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster. … » 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

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

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