LONDON—Copland’s Third Symphony and Barber’s Violin Concerto may get regular outings in the U.S. but over here they count as rarities. This February 13 BBC Symphony Orchestra concert at London’s Barbican Centre was a … » Read

CHICAGO— Love was on Sondra Radvanovsky’s mind during a Valentine’s Day Eve recital— and not just because it was an all-Puccini program. It was more personal than that, she told a well-sold Lyric Opera house. Originally … » Read

CHICAGO—Somewhere, Pierre Boulez is turning in his grave. The Chicago Symphony enjoyed a long association with the conductor–composer, culminating in an appointment as conductor emeritus from 2006 to 2010. But in what would have … » Read

LONDON—Where to begin with Festen , the explosive new opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage? At the end, perhaps, when a dazed first-night audience staggered to its collective feet to applaud a tour de force? Or the moment in the 100-minute evening … » Read

LONDON—First staged in 1977, just four years after Death in Venice , Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots has had to wait 48 years for its London premiere. A commission from Scottish Opera, the original Edinburgh production was … » Read

LONDON—With the country’s premiere opera company officially changing its name to the Royal Ballet and Opera, a cross-artform collaboration seems apposite. This double bill, dubbed Phaedra + Minotaur and seen February 7 in their … » Read

LONDON—Antonio Pappano has focused his opening season as chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra on British music, but this February 6 concert at the Barbican Centre paid equal homage to works from across the Atlantic, an apt … » Read

At the curtain call for Heartbeat Opera’s February 6 Salome , Executive Director Christian De Gré Cardénas made a pitch for donations while assuring that the company continued to be in good financial health. In the context of … » Read

SAN FRANISCO—In January of 2024, San Francisco Symphony management announced a cost-cutting pullback from its popular SoundBox series. One previously scheduled concert was scrapped. Going forward, these late-night curated cabaret-style … » Read

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The reputation of Vanessa has gone through some rocky times. The Samuel Barber/Gian Carlo Menotti opera, the first new work of Rudolf Bing’s Metropolitan Opera intendancy, was generally lauded at its 1958 world … » Read