MILAN--On the evening of February 24, Valery Gergiev conducted the highly successful opening night of a new Pique Dame at La Scala. At dawn the next day, Vladimir Putin launched a ruthless invasion of Ukraine. Gergiev has subsequently refused to … » Read

LONDON--Alarm bells rather than telephones rang when Barbara Hannigan declared in a video—on the London Symphony Orchestra website--that La Voix humaine (“The human voice”) “seems to be” the last conversation of a … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO—In a charmingly entertaining evening devoted to Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus , the San Francisco Symphony under its Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen offered a buoyant performance of the 1801 ballet score, … » Read

Violinist Nicola Benedetti is to be the next director of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), becoming the first woman and the first Scot to lead the 75-year-old late summer celebration of music, theater, opera, and dance. “This is a … » Read

The 2022-23 season lineup for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, claims Chief Executive Chad Smith, is as noteworthy for what isn’t being announced as for what is. Planning for a typical season often begins four years in advance. … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO--To produce his hauntingly layered score for the chamber opera Sophia’s Forest , Lembit Beecher mingled a string quartet, percussion, and his own sound sculptures made of rotating wine glasses, a bicycle wheel, and other found … » Read

FRANKFURT (AFP) – Acclaimed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, known to have close ties to the Kremlin, was fired Tuesday from his job as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic after failing to denounce Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. … » Read

The Rotterdam Philharmonic announced last Friday that it would  terminate its relationship with Valery Gergiev as well as his festival in the fall if he did not distance himself from Putin. “Following last week’s invasion of … » Read

Russian-Austrian soprano Anna Netrebko, who has come under criticism for her warm relations with Vladimir Putin, announced Tuesday that she was stepping down from the stage "until further notice." "After careful consideration, I have made the … » Read

The 50-year-old Michigan Opera Theatre is to be known as the Detroit Opera when it returns to performing this spring in its real home (as opposed to its parking garage and other pandemic-induced venues), the Detroit Opera House. “A new … » Read