OAKLAND, CA—In its aptly named “Notes from California” program on February 24, the Oakland Symphony got the evening off to an atmospherically entrancing start, rich in local color. Performing as usual at the Paramount Theater, a … » Read

SAN PEDRO, California—Here we are a couple months into 2023 and the performing arts are still sorting out the casualties of the pandemic, making up for lost time. Case in point, one of many: the delayed world premiere of Kate Soper’s … » Read

LONDON—Richard Jones’s recent production of The Valkyrie, part of an English National Opera Ring Cycle once destined for the Met, was a lackluster affair: visually spartan and conceptually opaque. Anyone hoping that The Rhinegold , … » Read

LONDON—Revolution was in the air at the London Symphony Orchestra’s February 16 Barbican Center concert. Led by Principal Guest Conductor François-Xavier Roth, and with a visceral performance by daredevil violinist Patricia … » Read

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary with a busy season at home, but on Monday evening (Feb. 13) the locus of festivities shifted to Carnegie Hall for the orchestra’s first appearance there in 12 … » Read

NEW YORK—Having recorded all the Bach cantatas and a staggering amount of his other music besides, the venerable Bach Collegium Japan and its director, Masaaki Suzuki, have moved ahead chronologically for repertoire, achieving notable … » Read

BERLIN—The 1983 Broadway premiere of La Cage aux Folles took New York by storm. Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein's drag musical, based on Jean Poiret’s 1973 play, became the first mainstream hit show dealing with gay themes and … » Read

CHICAGO— Let’s get one thing straight: Chicago classical music needs more projects like The Factotum . It bordered on surreal to see the city’s predominantly Black South Side depicted onstage Feb. 3 by the Lyric Opera of … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—On an afternoon when the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) welcomed back Herbert Blomstedt, their esteemed former music director who led the ensemble from 1985-95, the musicians had a pre-performance message to deliver. As … » Read

LONDON—When Edward Gardner became principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra there was always a chance he’d import some of the repertoire that helped make his name during his time at the helm of ENO. And La Damnation de … » Read