Here I Stand , the centerpiece of the Oakland Symphony’s February 16 concert at the Paramount Theater, was a communal event in the widest sense of the term. In commissioning and performing a new oratorio about the singer, actor, and … » Read

Having taken a first bow or two after his February 7 Carnegie Hall debut with J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Víkingur Ólafsson returned to the stage, produced a mic from his sleeve like a rabbit from a hat, and directed the … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Symphony threw a party on Valentine’s Day. Bands of colored lights adorned the back wall at Davies Symphony Hall. Extra bars and concession stands did a lively business in the lobby. Patrons carried … » Read

“Is it possible for us to use the tools of classical art music to make people feel better?” San Francisco composer Danny Clay posed that plainspoken yet nuanced and provocative question as the formative spark for Music for Hard Times, … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO--The Attacca Quartet lived up to its name on Sunday, February 4, in an absorbing afternoon concert at Hertz Hall on the University of California Berkeley campus. On both halves of the Cal Performances program, the musicians played … » Read

LONDON—Oksana Lyniv [pictured] is a notable breaker of glass ceilings. In 2021 she was the first woman to conduct at Bayreuth, opening the festival with a feisty account of The Flying Dutchman . The following year she became the first … » Read

LONG BEACH, CA—The world premiere of Alyssa Weinberg’s opera Isola took place February 3 in a site called Compound, a small performance space (Laboratory) attached to a hip-looking art gallery/cafe/bar located on a tiny side street in … » Read

LONDON—Joyce DiDonato, shrewd diva that she is, has carved a useful niche in her résumé out of playing one character. That’s Dido, of course, the Carthaginian queen whose name is encoded within her own. As a sequel to … » Read

On February 1 at Carnegie Hall, Lise Davidsen reaffirmed her status as a once-in-a-generation vocal phenomenon. Singing the Wesendonck Lieder , with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra led by its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, … » Read

LONDON—Born in Venice in 1619, Barbara Strozzi was registered as the daughter of Isabella Griega, housekeeper to the academician Giulio Strozzi. That the famous poet and opera librettist went on to adopt her suggests she was his actual … » Read