CHICAGO—This is a tough news cycle for any Don Giovanni . After a civil suit last month accused a group of fraternity brothers at Cornell University of gang rape, sexual violence is once again in the headlines. Just hours after Lyric Opera … » Read

CHICAGO—Klaus Mäkelä closed his three-week fall visit to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in spectacular fashion, giving the orchestra and its downtown home, Chicago Symphony Center, a kind of musical road test. The repertoire for … » Read

The Berlin Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko [pictured] stepped away from their usual territory for the gala October 8 opening of the Carnegie Hall season. Instead of a sampling of Germanic classics, they offered an all-Italian … » Read

The Pacific Symphony and its first new music director in 35 years are looking like a promising partnership, according to Orange County Register critic Timothy Mangan. This marks Alexander Shelley's first season since  succeeding longtime … » Read

LONDON—Ancient Greece was at the heart of this October 3 presentation by the BBC Concert Orchestra (BBCCO) at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. A mixture of old and new, the program had been thoughtfully curated. A pity, then, that the … » Read

The operas of composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang often carry their share of polemics. Their 2018 work An American Soldier is an outraged response to the racist hazing, and eventual suicide, of the Chinese-American G.I. Danny … » Read

First impressions matter, so a lot was riding on the inaugural concert on Oct. 2 by Harmonium of Texas, the new orchestra founded by Jeffrey Kahane in San Antonio. For the past five years, since the demise of the San Antonio Symphony in 2022 , … » Read

LONDON—Wagner’s final opera used to be presented as a life-enriching spiritual experience, its musical sensuality in thrall to a religious message preaching forgiveness and redemption. In recent decades, however, directors have been … » Read

CHICAGO—Chicago is blessed with two top-flight ensembles specializing in early music: The Newberry Consort, which celebrates its 40 th anniversary this season, and Haymarket Opera Company, founded in 2010. On their own, they are period … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO— Simon Boccanegra has always been a difficult opera to bring off. Even Verdi had to remake it, returning nearly a quarter-century after the unsuccessful 1857 premiere to revise it substantially with Arrigo Boito’s … » Read