In its year-end review of classical music, The San Francisco Chronicle , makes the case that it’s been a great year for women. “Maybe,” writes critic Joshua Kosman, “we [can] even give Bach and Beethoven and the rest of … » Read

Calling the soon-to-end decade “transformative” for classical music, the Chicago Sun-Times points out a few highlights in more or less in chronological order. They begin—literally—with the arrival on September 19, 2010, of … » Read

For opera to retain its relevance today it needs to be either timely or timeless. Alban Berg’s Wozzeck (1925), based on Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck , one of the most ahead-of-its-time plays ever written, happens to be both. An … » Read

SAN FRANCISCO — It was a tumultuous year in the opera world, a year in which sexual harassment allegations against superstar Plácido Domingo prompted his disappearance from American stages and sparked deep soul-searching. Opera … » Read

The New Year brings with it the release of the United Kingdom’s annual Honors List recognizing the achievements of more than 1,000 people who have contributed in some manner to the greater UK community. While many of those on the list are … » Read

As part of her Best of the Year wrap-up (“outstanding music around the UK this year distracted us from woes about the planet and Brexit”), Fiona Maddocks does a quick run down of all the changes anticipated at major UK orchestras: … » Read

Tony Award-winning composer Jerry Herman, who wrote the cheerful, good-natured music and lyrics for such classic shows as Mame, Hello, Dolly!, and La Cage aux Folles , died Thursday. He was 88. His goddaughter Jane Dorian confirmed his death to … » Read

PARIS (AP) — The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is still so fragile that there’s a “50 percent chance” the structure might not be saved, because scaffolding installed before this year’s fire … » Read

Dalton Baldwin, an American pianist known for his sensitive collaboration with some of the world’s greatest singers, died on Dec. 12 in Kunming, in the Yunnan Province of China. He was 87 and collapsed while returning to Tokyo after a visit … » Read

The final stretch of 2019 has yielded competition results both celebrated and disputed, starting with the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition , which ended on November 16 in Paris, with much disagreement between audience and jury. The latter was … » Read