EVANSTON, IL—During intermission at “Exile & Resilience: Music of the Jewish & African Diasporas,” a new program by Apollo’s Fire, a breathless patron chased down an ensemble administrator. “The music! … » Read

Conductor Harry Bicket and his polished period-instrument ensemble The English Concert began offering large-scale vocal works by Handel at Carnegie Hall a decade ago. Most in the annual series have been operas, but several oratorios with The … » Read

LONDON—Chelsea Opera Group has a long and distinguished pedigree for unearthing forgotten works by major composers. In recent years it has presented Rubinstein’s The Demon , Verdi’s Oberto , Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot , and … » Read

In the past few years, American orchestras have begun to redefine relationships with the communities they occupy and develop a deeper understanding of how they can productively engage with society’s challenges. The Boston Symphony’s … » Read

For years, we’ve had it wrong. Trees aren’t just to be hugged but to be heard. At least that’s the theory (and a convincing one) in Overstory Overture, the new Tod Machover opera of sorts about communication among trees, and … » Read

CARDIFF—Welsh National Opera has high hopes for director Daisy Evans, who has so far given the company lively productions of Shostakovich’s Cherry Town, Moscow, and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Her production of Bluebeard's Castle … » Read

When the Vienna Philharmonic last appeared at Carnegie Hall, it was announced one day before the first of its three concerts, on February 24—the first day of the Russian invasion--that Yannick Nézet-Séguin would replace the … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—For Samuel Adams, the pandemic was both a constraint and source of transformation. Isolated like everyone else in the spring of 2020, the composer began to rethink his practice, pushing himself, as he put it in a San Francisco … » Read

Time was when only the vocal greats dared assay the title role of Bellini’s Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, from Lilli Lehmann to Montserrat Caballé, with Rosa Ponselle, Maria Callas, and Joan Sutherland, among others, falling in … » Read

LOS ANGELES, CA– In hindsight, the great Dave Brubeck was a prophet of inclusion in the concert music world. When he disbanded his classic jazz quartet in 1967 in order to devote time to writing sacred classical works, one of his goals was … » Read