It seems odd to speak of a composer’s “late style” when the composer, Franz Schubert, died at 31. But the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) made the case convincingly at the opening of its “Winter Festival: The … » Read

A Jan. 19 concert by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, with violinist Pinchas Zukerman as both conductor and soloist, left critic Scott Cantrell feeling that the ensemble “lacked its usual focus and cohesiveness.” Zukerman is well-known … » Read

Alban Berg as Franz Schubert's musical grandson? That idea of a kinship between two Viennese composers who lived a century apart—proposed in a program note by Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst—began to make … » Read

As the Metropolitan Opera struggles to redefine itself, the company reached back nearly a half century on Sunday afternoon to John Dexter’s classic production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. Though last revived just four … » Read

Suicide-prevention warnings are now common in many quarters—even, apparently, opera.  David Lang’s note to a friend premiered at the Prototype Festival, Jan. 12-15 (I attended the final performance) with one: “This … » Read

LONDON--Last year, the Irish National Opera (INO) production of Vivaldi’s Bajazet —the first opera by the Venetian composer to be staged at London’s Royal Opera House—won them multiple awards. This year, the same … » Read

In The Beloved Vision: A History of Nineteenth Century Music , Stephen Walsh has written a clear and insightful history of Romanticism in music. The author, an emeritus professor at Cardiff University, frames his study with what historians call … » Read

LONDON—Simon Rattle is on record as saying that his inspiration to become an opera conductor came from the work of Czech composer Leoš Janácek. It’s not surprising then that this January 11 concert performance of Katya … » Read

Plunked down right in the middle of the Prototype Festival’s usually ultra-serious fare of experimental chamber opera came the first night, on Tuesday, of the latest revival of Donizetti’s frothy charmer L’Elisir d’amore … » Read

The Prototype Festival makes reputations more for creators than for performers, the latest being Emma O’Halloran, an emerging Irish composer here shown to be an important new voice. Her double bill, Trade/Mary Motorhead, a coproduction … » Read