LONDON—Premiered on Good Friday 1727, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion followed on from the St. John Passion of 1724. What would have struck the Leipzig congregation immediately, however, was the sheer ambition of the new work, one composed … » Read

In her role as principal guest conductor, Marin Alsop led the Philadelphia Orchestra in the local premiere of John Adams’s The Rock You Stand On at Carnegie Hall on March 31, part of the hall’s semiquincentennial series, “United … » Read

The Hannover State Opera has tapped Francesco Angelico as its new general music director as of the beginning of the 2026-27 season. He succeeds Stephan Zillias, who joined the State Opera in 2020. The 49-year-old Italian was general music … » Read

The Easter season sees the music of J. S. Bach everywhere, writes Tom Service in The Guardian . “There are performances of his St Matthew Passion in every musical city you care to name, from London to Leipzig, Rome to Rotterdam.” Two … » Read

Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is to succeed George Manahan as director of orchestral activities and chair of conducting at the Manhattan School of Music. Manahan announced his retirement in December, having been with the school for 55 … » Read

Initially the Washington National Opera’s decision in January to part ways with The Kennedy Center, its home since 1971, left Francesca Zambello, the company’s artistic director, uneasy. “I was very concerned knowing what it's … » Read

LONDON—The current season marks the 400 th anniversary of the death of John Dowland, the English composer, lutenist, and singer who came to personify the Elizabethan embrace of melancholia. To celebrate, Wigmore Hall invited countertenor … » Read

LOS ANGELES—Two reimaginings of portions of Philip Glass’ so-called Cocteau trilogy came to California during the month of March.  Hot on the heels of Opera Parallèle’s innovative multimedia production of the … » Read

In his fourth season as artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) Jonathan Cohen will conduct five of the ensemble’s eight mainstage concerts, beginning with the season opener—Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso … » Read

AMSTERDAM (AP)—The plush red seats of the Concertgebouw’s main auditorium are occupied by students cramming for upcoming exams and finishing dissertations as classical music fills the hall. The students aren’t being rude by … » Read