LONG BEACH, California--Franz Kafka’s short story In the Penal Colony  is a surreal little shocker that was published in 1919 just after the end of World War I. It’s about a Visitor from an unnamed country who is invited to … » Read

LONDON—Covent Garden was due a new Billy Budd . The opera debuted there in 1951 and reappeared regularly until the turn of the century, but of late Britten’s opera has been conspicuous by its absence from the London stage, except for … » Read

“Don’t clap too early!” warned Austrian composer Thomas Larcher as he strode onto the David Geffen Hall stage to introduce the April 24 U.S. premiere of his Second Symphony with the New York Philharmonic. Not that Larcher should … » Read

In 2002 the Pacifica Quartet dazzled listeners at the Miller Theater by tackling all five of Elliott Carter’s string quartets in a single concert. Now the JACK Quartet has followed suit, first in a two-concert stint at London’s … » Read

MANCHESTER—There is no argument that Jerome Robbins’ Tony Award-winning choreography for West Side Story has stood the test of time. His slick moves for the Jets and Sharks have been the full story since he opened the show on Broadway … » Read

Bridge Records has pledged to record everything George Crumb ever composed. As Crumb’s 90th birthday year was honored on Sunday with a world premiere, in his presence, it’s apparent that Bridge will be busy for a long time.  A … » Read

LOS ANGELES--Local audiences know what to expect when they show up to hear Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct The Rite of Spring with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They expect a wild good time, an orchestral spectacle, a whomping cataclysm of sound. … » Read

BERLIN — Deutsche Oper presented a pair of rarely seen operas in rotation recently: Alexander Zemlinsky’s unfairly neglected Der Zwerg (“The Dwarf”) and Richard Wagner’s grandiose early breakthrough, Rienzi — a … » Read

Try as it might, the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) couldn’t convince me that there was a coherent theme running through its April 11 concert in Zankel Hall. The drawcard was the New York premiere of a substantial work from Du Yun, one … » Read

Once upon a time, Helen of Sparta was carried off to Troy. Or was she? Euripides, writing in 412 BC, called that out as “fake news.” Taking his cue from Herodotus, the radical Athenian tragedian ran with a set of “alternative … » Read