LONDON—Back in the 19th century, Das Paradies und die Peri (Paradise and the Peri) was Robert Schumann’s most popular work. A mishmash of decorative Orientalism and Christian morality, its slushy sentiment appealed to pious Victorian … » Read

This has been a summer of epic thunderstorms and steamy heat in Bayreuth, paralleling the controversy surrounding the storied festival’s future. Through four generations of Wagners, and legendary internal and external squabbles, the … » Read

Although it has remained a bastion of conservatism musically, devoting itself exclusively to the operas of Richard Wagner, productions at the annual Bayreuth  Festival have become increasingly radical and provocative under the management of … » Read

LONDON—This year’s BBC Proms have largely steered clear of the most challenging contemporary music, making this August 17 concert at the Royal Albert Hall a welcome exception. And unlike Samuel Beckett's endlessly awaited Godot, … » Read

A surprising word came to mind during a concert August 13 at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. The occasion was the second night of Time:Spans, an annual festival of contemporary classical music. The performers were the JACK Quartet, … » Read

U.S. ensembles continue to champion new music with a trio of recent standouts. Julius Eastman Volume 3 The music of once-forgotten composer Julius Eastman, who died unremarked in a Buffalo hospital in 1990, continues to prove an especially rich … » Read

SALZBURG, Austria—The Salzburg Festival offers events in such profusion that each day can seem like a mini-festival in itself. With 179 performances (plus 34 more in its youth program) over 43 days, each day of the 2023 festival—the … » Read

LONDON--Composed in 1887, Ruddigore has suffered by comparison, sandwiched as it was between box office hits The Mikado and The Yeomen of the Guard . And whereas Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas generally won popular acclaim by skewering the … » Read

If Orfeo [reviewed yesterday] offered a return-to-origins story about the power of opera—and of live performance, imperiled on so many fronts—Santa Fe’s Tosca , viewed August 1, sought to open up some fresh angles on a wildly … » Read

SANTA FE, NM—Though its first performance was in 1607, L’Orfeo is filling the new-commission slot for this summer’s Santa Fe Opera season. The company asked Nico Muhly, whose own operas have been staged by the Met, to … » Read