LONDON--Thanks to a friendly media buzz there was goodwill aplenty ahead of Opera North’s new Rigoletto , but Femi Elufowoju Jr.’s ill-focused production failed to repay it. For a concept whose selling point is its contemporary … » Read

While live music making remains perilous, there’s still plenty to sink your teeth into on disc, much of it either newly minted or freshly rediscovered. For those seeking a little originality in artistically straitened times, here are four … » Read

Nobody was expecting a swan-song masterpiece at the January 23 rd New York premiere of Penelope , the quasi-opera by the late composer André Previn (he died on February 28, 2019) and playwright Tom Stoppard. Unlike their 1977 … » Read

An arrangement, in music, adapts a particular piece for a specific set of performers. It’s often driven by expediency, retrofitting a musical vision to the forces at hand. In the social arena, an arrangement is an informal agreement between … » Read

On Jan. 13, pianist Igor Levit made himself at home in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. His recital, which included works by Beethoven, Fred Hersh, Wagner, and Liszt, was, wrote Zachary Woolfe in the New York Times , “judiciously … » Read

LONDON--The HD cameras were ready to roll, Daniele Abbado’s 2013 production had been spruced up, but alas, the diva had cancelled. Anna Netrebko, scheduled to make her role debut as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco , pulled out from this … » Read

In his program note for the Saxophone Concerto, John Adams writes that his preference for the soloist is the “looser, grittier, ‘jazz style’” of playing, rather than the “French style” generally associated with … » Read

LONDON--A new year brings new challenges as COVID continues its determined tussle with the arts here in the U.K. However, despite case numbers in London being off the charts, it seemed nothing was going to stop music lovers packing the Barbican … » Read

General Manager Peter Gelb greeted the audience at the premiere of the new  Rigoletto  on New Year’s Eve at the Metropolitan Opera. Among other things, he said announcements would no longer be made that singers would perform … » Read

The Metropolitan Opera has designated two operas as holiday presentations this year, both abridged and sung in English, designed to be “family friendly.” Mozart’s The Magic Flute opened on December 10, a 90-minute, … » Read