Maybe it’s an after effect of the Trump era, but more orchestras and conductors than ever seem to be making programs that reflect on America and what it means to be American, as demonstrated by four new orchestral recordings. Perhaps the … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO --Harriet’s Spirit , a 50-minute opera rooted in the legacy of the Black abolitionist Harriet Tubman, received its first professional performances on November 13 and 14 at the Bayview Opera House, an Opera Parallèle … » Read

Admirers of Baroque opera don’t have much to choose from in New York, which makes Juilliard Opera’s excursions into the repertory highly valued. Productions in recent years have included Cavalli’s  La Calisto  and … » Read

LONDON--Whether it was the inclusion of Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending —a work that recently topped the U.K.’s Classic FM Hall of Fame for the 11th year in a row—or the star power of American violinist Hilary Hahn, … » Read

MILAN--While 17th- and 18th-century opera has been a staple of European theaters for the last several decades, it is relatively uncommon among Italy’s opera houses. La Scala has been attempting to change that, scheduling a string of … » Read

LONDON--In opera, directorial “concepts” can sometimes be frustrating, distorting or even overwhelming a composer’s intentions. That Daisy Evans’s powerful re-imagining of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle as … » Read

The San Diego Symphony is on the ascent these days, financially and arguably artistically healthier than ever in its 110-year history. It helps that in 2002 it received $120 million, said to be the largest single gift ever made to an orchestra. … » Read

Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Vista had its belated-due-to-the-pandemic world premiere last May at the Helsinki Philharmonic before making the rounds to the Berlin and Oslo philharmonics. Susanna Mälkki conducted them all, so it … » Read

Though Arvo Pärt enjoys mainstream popularity that has only escalated as he has turned 86, the Sunday afternoon retrospective concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shows how much this Estonian composer remains an artistic voice as … » Read

LONDON--Never mind the why and wherefore, but HMS Pinafore is the Gilbert and Sullivan opera I find hardest to love. Perhaps it’s because in their next collaboration, the ever-seaworthy Pirates of Penzance , they trod similar ground with … » Read