Alexei Ratmansky’s first new work as artist-in-residence of the New York City Ballet stands apart from his internationally acclaimed body of work. Neither a reconstruction of a full-length ballet nor an innovative treatment of codified … » Read

CHICAGO—When Bernard Rands crossed the threshold from adolescence to adulthood, his parents had had enough. It was time, they said, to give up this music business—it was fine as a hobby, but not as a profession. Rands’s … » Read

LONDON—The tale of Charles Byrne, known to history as the Irish Giant, is a tragedy of operatic proportions. That’s one reason Sarah Angliss’s dramatization of his final year on earth makes such a powerful piece of music … » Read

George Lewis is a man with a mission, opening the concert-music field to composers previously marginalized or overlooked, and International Contemporary Ensemble audiences are reaping the benefits of his zeal. Since he became artistic director in … » Read

CARDIFF–Welsh National Opera is currently on a hunt for a new general director, Aidan Lang having thrown in the towel after just four years in the job amid drastic cuts to the company’s touring program by Arts Council England. Holding … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Hours after the stunning news broke that Esa-Pekka Salonen would be stepping down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony, effective at the end of his five-year contract in June of 2025, he took the podium at Davies … » Read

A Bruckner symphony in a standard orchestral concert will almost always serve as the closer—the major work after the intermission—or, in the case of the sprawling Eighth, fill the entire program. But Symphony No. 9 is a special case … » Read

CHICAGO—At any experimental music function, taking the good with the not-so-good is a given. Experiments, by definition, sometimes fail. That made the end-to-end dazzle of this year’s Frequency Festival (Feb. 20 to 25), anchored at … » Read

LONDON—When Simon Rattle recorded The Jazz Album back in 1987 it became clear that here was a British conductor with an affinity for American music and an instinct for Gershwin. Likewise, his lasting friendship with John Adams can be dated … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Alexander Scriabin, to put it mildly, had a multi-track mind. His never-realized dreams for Mysterium called for a seven-day, appeal-to-all-senses piece to be staged in a cathedral built for the occasion in the Himalayan … » Read