LONDON–We have Covid to thank for Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new opera, a two-act piece inspired by Edith Nesbit’s novel The Railway Children . Locked down in 2020 with his partner Rachael Hewer, who is rather conveniently a … » Read

CHICAGO—It’s a quiet, brisk Sunday at the University of Chicago, most students having retreated to libraries or their dorms to study. Autumn leaves, shivering on their branches or skittering across the ground, are the main source of … » Read

LONDON—Katie Mitchell is known for her frequently revelatory radical Feminist revisions of the operatic canon, but in the case of Janácek’s The Makropulos Case she has staged an all-out intervention. Last week, the British … » Read

LONDON —Dead Man Walking is never a comfortable evening in the theatre—nor should it be. Jake Heggie’s opera, premiered in San Francisco in 2000, asks difficult questions and refuses easy answers. But in doing so, it achieves … » Read

CHICAGO—Just as cellist Paul Wiancko sat down to play at Guarneri Hall, he locked eyes with an audience member in the front row, proudly wearing a Kronos T-shirt. “Mike, man,” he sighed, in mock exasperation, “wrong … » Read

LONDON—Having departed the Hallé after 25 years as chief conductor, Sir Mark Elder is now a free agent. This October 31 Royal Festival Hall concert proved that Manchester’s loss is London’s gain. The program, part of the … » Read

German baritone Benjamin Appl is a protégé of another baritone, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, having met the esteemed singer in masterclasses at a Schubertiade in Austria three years before his death in 2012. Appl went on to study … » Read

Víkingur Ólafsson served notice, right off the bat, that he would be offering an idiosyncratic take on the Emperor Concerto. The Icelandic pianist, performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra at its October 9 Carnegie Hall concert, … » Read

Few musicians have left a legacy as substantial as that of Birgit Nilsson, nor done more than she to support their art form in practical and philanthropic ways. Since 1973, when the Swedish diva was at the height of her fame, the Birgit Nilsson … » Read

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) has not been immune to industry challenges. Echoing the tough calls of other companies, General Director Lawrence Edelson cut last year’s Platée when it became clear the company wouldn’t be able to … » Read