SAN FRANCISCO—Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen turned to his left on the Davies Hall podium and waved a flattened hand in the air, eliciting a gently rippling bell-like melody. It wasn’t produced by the players before him, but rather by … » Read

LONDON—While English National Opera’s woes may not be as bad as initially feared, the breadth and depth of the company’s 2023-24 season has clearly been impacted.  And while new productions are decidedly thinner on the … » Read

In writing about what transpired on September 29 at David Geffen Hall in New York City, some allusion to calamitous conditions and nature’s fury feels obligatory: “Joshua Bell confronts The Elements— and so does his … » Read

CHICAGO— “The creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic. There is hardly a moment in between.” Those words are Gertrude Stein’s, first delivered nearly a century ago in a lecture at … » Read

LONDON —None of the three previous collaborations between composer George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp brimmed with humor, so it was a pleasant surprise to find sunny spells breaking out during the prevailing despair of their latest … » Read

CHICAGO—During his 13 years as Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director, Riccardo Muti and the orchestra have visited Carnegie Hall often, in 2011, 2012 (when they opened the season), 2015, 2018 and 2019. Tomorrow night will be their … » Read

CHICAGO—After more than a decade attending Haymarket Opera Company’s seasons of Baroque opera, I’ve finally figured out why the ensemble’s productions are so delightful. The idea struck me after Friday night’s … » Read

BALTIMORE—The upbeat vibes surrounding the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s new music director, Jonathon Heyward, were reinforced in an engaging America-centric program that launched the season’s first subscription concerts. … » Read

LOS ANGELES—Mozart’s Don Giovanni owes a lot of its durability to its ambiguity. Everyone has a different take on it. Just the description of it as a dramma giocoso invites a vast interpretive range. Take, for instance, the startling … » Read

Early in the opera Dead Man Walking , based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir of counseling death-row inmates, the protagonist’s car gets stopped for speeding. Sister Helen is racing to cover the 150 miles between her New Orleans … » Read