Lang Lang has been making the rounds with his distinctive interpretation of Bach’s formidable Goldberg Variations . His recent performance at London’s Barbican met with a decidedly ambivalent response from Martin Kettle in The … » Read

As he led the San Francisco Opera Chorus through a concert that ran from Charpentier and Bach to Scott Joplin and Leonard Bernstein, Chorus Director Ian Robertson exhibited the sure-handed, self-effacing command that has marked his leadership of … » Read

NEW YORK (AP) — The glistening Christmas tree is growing again, up to the rafters. The confetti snowflakes are swirling anew. The Nutcracker Prince has resumed battling the multi-headed Mouse King — and winning, with young … » Read

If all Randall Goosby had going for him was his sound, he would go far. With a signature tone of simmering heat, polish, and power, this 25-year-old violinist could have been destined to take on leading roles in the major concert halls of the … » Read

MILAN--La Scala’s opening night ought to be the artistic high point of the season. After all, the “Prima” is the theater’s chance to shine, with weeks of advance hype in the Italian media and live broadcasts of the … » Read

Jaap van Zweden led the New York Philharmonic last weekend in a program that included Dvorák's Seventh Symphony and Emanuel Ax playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G. With such crowd pleasers on offer, what better an occasion to … » Read

Alexandros Papadiamantis’s novella, The Murderess enjoys seminal status in Greece where it has stood as a challenge to conventional socio-political thinking and the roles of church and state since its publication in 1903. Adapted by Giorgos … » Read

NEW YORK (AP)--We’re so rife with reboots and remakes today that it can take a moment to gauge just what Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is. It isn’t a papered-over modernizing or a thinly disguised retread. It’s a feat … » Read

LONDON--Like many exiled composers, Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970) has dropped off the radar since his death half a century ago, a victim perhaps of a national tendency to champion our own while the multinationals slip through the cracks. A Spanish … » Read

MILAN--The 1750 London premiere of Handel’s Theodora was a flop, receiving only three performances in its opening run. The oratorio’s La Scala debut on Nov. 20 was a different story, the audience erupting into raucous applause at the … » Read