LONDON—Katie Mitchell is known for her frequently revelatory radical Feminist revisions of the operatic canon, but in the case of Janácek’s The Makropulos Case she has staged an all-out intervention. Last week, the British … » Read

LONDON —Dead Man Walking is never a comfortable evening in the theatre—nor should it be. Jake Heggie’s opera, premiered in San Francisco in 2000, asks difficult questions and refuses easy answers. But in doing so, it achieves … » Read

CHICAGO—Just as cellist Paul Wiancko sat down to play at Guarneri Hall, he locked eyes with an audience member in the front row, proudly wearing a Kronos T-shirt. “Mike, man,” he sighed, in mock exasperation, “wrong … » Read

LONDON—Having departed the Hallé after 25 years as chief conductor, Sir Mark Elder is now a free agent. This October 31 Royal Festival Hall concert proved that Manchester’s loss is London’s gain. The program, part of the … » Read

German baritone Benjamin Appl is a protégé of another baritone, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, having met the esteemed singer in masterclasses at a Schubertiade in Austria three years before his death in 2012. Appl went on to study … » Read

Víkingur Ólafsson served notice, right off the bat, that he would be offering an idiosyncratic take on the Emperor Concerto. The Icelandic pianist, performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra at its October 9 Carnegie Hall concert, … » Read

Few musicians have left a legacy as substantial as that of Birgit Nilsson, nor done more than she to support their art form in practical and philanthropic ways. Since 1973, when the Swedish diva was at the height of her fame, the Birgit Nilsson … » Read

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) has not been immune to industry challenges. Echoing the tough calls of other companies, General Director Lawrence Edelson cut last year’s Platée when it became clear the company wouldn’t be able to … » Read

LONDON—British composer Thomas Adès has built a reputation in recent years as a savvy programmer and an insightful conductor. This October 19 Barbican Centre concert with the London Symphony Orchestra was a chance to hear his … » Read

LONDON—Scoring films is a 20th-century art, its form and function laid down in part by European emigrees, many of them Jewish, who sought sanctuary in the U.S. before, during, and after WWII. The man today who carries the torch once borne … » Read