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

PHILADELPHIA--William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony had a rewarding trip back to the Philadelphia Orchestra after its successful 1934 premiere under Leopold Stokowski, and it was surrounded by unusually sympathetic company. Call it … » Read

LOS ANGELES — Even though the LA Opera is halfway through the 2022-23 season, its new production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro felt like a homecoming. All thoughts of attendance refusing to rebound in the wake of the … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO— Everest – An immersive Experience is the latest but not last iteration of an opera that began life at the Dallas Opera in January of 2015, where it was enthusiastically received. There were further performances in … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—Patrons encounter them on their way to Davies Symphony Hall as they do almost anywhere in San Francisco. The homeless are everywhere in the city, sleeping in doorways, wheeling their possessions about in shopping carts, holed … » Read

MILAN—Opera companies have been updating Verdi's I vespri siciliani almost since its conception. Set to the backdrop of the French occupation of 13th-century Sicily, the work premiered in French at the Paris Opera in 1885. It was translated … » Read

LONDON—Camille Saint-Saëns has been unfairly pigeon-holed, not least by his contemporaries such as Debussy and Berlioz, as a conservative composer of little depth or originality. (The latter famously slighted the younger composer with … » Read

LOS ANGELES--John Adams calls Girls of the Golden West “my most personal of all stage creations.” But it’s also the one that’s given him the most trouble. Premiered by the San Francisco Opera in 2017, it was revised for … » Read

How does she do it? The 35-year-old pianist Yuja Wang showed strategy, passion, and poise but little strain when playing all five Rachmaninoff piano and orchestra works in a single concert Saturday afternoon at Carnegie Hall. The … » Read