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

LOS ANGELES—The banners were out on the exterior facade of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion last Saturday, proclaiming the debut of the Venezuelan/Armenian conductor Domingo Hindoyan as the new music director of LA Opera. He has large shoes to … » Read

In a strange alignment of stars, the Orchestra of the Greek National Opera made its U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall on October 15, the same night Teatro Real’s orchestra appeared a few blocks north at David Geffen Hall. The similarities end … » Read