One can hardly blame Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic for milking the reopening of David Geffen Hall for all it’s worth. This is no simple homecoming, after all, but rather the culmination of a $500 million pandemic project … » Read

LONDON—An hour and a half spent waiting for the lead character to commit suicide may sound a grim prospect, but in Last Days , Oliver Leith achieves something that’s rare and often strangely beautiful. His opera, seen at the Royal … » Read

LONDON--Iannis Xenakis is more than just a distinct creative voice—he speaks listeners outside of the contemporary classical music scene. It was appropriate, therefore, that London’s Southbank Centre opened itself up to everybody on … » Read

Part of the month-long reopening of David Geffen Hall—actually now an entire  building, since the revamped concert hall has been named the Wu Tsai Theater —was last Saturday’s premiere of jazz artist and composer Etienne … » Read

This month sees a clutch of new releases featuring orchestral and chamber music by three contrasting but uniquely original American voices, each composer a generation apart. George Walker Hot on the heels of the National Symphony Orchestra and … » Read

LONDON—In the wrong hands, even an expensive-looking production can seem parochial. Take this new Tosca from English National Opera. The settings by distinguished designer Christian Schmidt are solid-state and convincing; however, they … » Read

It’s not easy to find negative things to say about the season premiere of Idomeneo at the Metropolitan Opera on September 28, the second night of its new season. But isn’t it time to retire Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 40-year-old … » Read

A performance? An art installation? Or a secular ritual fashioned for the post-pandemic 21st century? All definitions loosely apply, but especially the ritual definition in Monochromatic Light (Afterlife), a new work playing at New York’s … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO  — John Adams has not tired of defying expectations. Nowhere is this more evident than in his works for the stage, which tend to trigger the most heated, even contradictory, critical reactions. Antony and Cleopatra , his … » Read

The title role of Medea must be one of opera’s most challenging, and when Cherubini’s 1797 work finally arrived at the Met Opera on Tuesday for the beginning of the company’s 137 th season, Sondra Radvanovsky triumphantly met … » Read