CHICAGO – Lidiya Yankovskaya’s rapid rise among U.S.-based conductors of her generation seems to be driven as much by her exceptional talent as her eagerness to take on ambitious, out-of-the-way artistic projects. One such undertaking … » Read

CULVER CITY, CA – “For two hundred years, the Europeans have been sending us their operas,” wrote John Cage. “Now I’m sending them back.” A wag or two might have amended that to read, “sending them … » Read

SEATTLE—Making its U.S. premiere at the center of Seattle Symphony’s most recent program, Pascal Dusapin’s At Swim-Two-Birds (heard on November 8) immediately stood out as one of the most significant commissions in music … » Read

NEW YORK—When a production has been out of the Metropolitan Opera’s repertory for nearly 20 years, it’s a good bet it may never be seen again. Yet last Thursday (Nov. 8) Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele , in Robert … » Read

Wu Man, pipa player extraordinaire and founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble, was named  Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America in 2013. Five years on, her Carnegie Hall mainstage appearance with the internationally acclaimed … » Read

On Nov. 2, just two days after Halloween, an audience of over 1,200 poured into the Moss Art Center on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, to watch the legendary Maria Callas, who died 41 years ago, perform her most famous arias over … » Read

LOS ANGELES—Last weekend’s program by the Los Angeles Philharmonic was both a newsworthy event and a rousing artistic triumph. Newsworthy because it offered the world premiere of the first composition Steve Reich has written for a … » Read

Premiered in Vienna in 1875, Karl Goldmark’s Die Königin von Saba (The Queen of Sheba) is a fascinating curiosity. The Met took it up in 1885, and it held the stage in New York for 20 years, but then, like most of Goldmark’s … » Read

CHICAGO—Oh, boy. Literally. When the curtain rose Saturday night on Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new production of Siegfried , some in the audience doubtless felt their hackles rising right along with it. Mime, the excellent German tenor … » Read

Tributes to historic masterpieces and their creators are a tricky business. In dance, the choreographer and original dancers with whom he or she created the piece are long gone. What has been passed on inevitably undergoes changes from the … » Read