LONDON--With the 2021 BBC Proms season drawing to a close, this August 30 concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall was a reminder of the rewardingly thoughtful programming that has typified this year’s festival. Not only was there a … » Read

In 2016, Andris Nelsons was engaged to conduct a new staging by Eric Laufenberg of Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, but he cancelled three weeks before it opened , reputedly over differences with Christian Thielemann, then the festival’s … » Read

Tobias Kratzer’s bold, imaginative production of Tannhäuser , which opened here in 2019 to mostly positive reviews, was revived this season with a few changes reflecting, and reflecting on, the Covid environment. As before, … » Read

BAYREUTH -- For Die Walküre , seen August 19, the vast Bayreuth stage has been turned into a giant, bright white triptych. Controversial Viennese artist Herman Nitsch, charged with creating the “artistic action” for this concert … » Read

BAYREUTH, Germany—After last summer’s lost season, the Bayreuth Festival reopened with an audacious production of Der fliegende Höllander led by Oksana Lyniv of Urkania, the first woman ever to conduct here. With strict rules in … » Read

HOLLYWOOD—“Enjoy the show,” the announcer said at curtain time Sunday night (Aug. 15) at The Ford, a cozy amphitheater tucked in the hills just across the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood Bowl. I’m not sure, though, that … » Read

LONDON--The August 12 BBC Prom concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall was much anticipated for Vladimir Jurowski taking his farewell of the orchestra he has helmed as principal conductor for 14 remarkable years. Under his tenure, the London … » Read

LENOX, Mass--Last Sunday’s terrific Boston Symphony Orchestra concert had multiple connections to the Year 2014: The program in the Koussevitzky Music Shed opened with Sinfonia ( for Orbiting Spheres ), composed in that year by Missy … » Read

LONDON—Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla has taken the U.K. by storm. The Lithuanian conductor first guested with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2015 and was appointed as its music director in 2016 , a post she will have held until she … » Read

LONDON--Here in the U.K., July 19 was christened “Freedom Day,” as final COVID restrictions were lifted following months of lockdown, including another delay caused by the alarming spread of the Delta variant. Two days later, and a … » Read