SAN FRANCISCO—It’s all about Dido at the end of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas , the Carthaginian queen’s grief expressed in her death-scene lament that implores us to “Remember me, but ah! Forget my fate.” … » Read

Following continues Peter Clark’s review of La Divina: Maria Callas in All Her Roles, a 135-disc collection of all of her commercial recordings and many of her live performances. Part I was posted yesterday. Verdi's La Traviata , one of her … » Read

I once heard Leonard Bernstein ask a woodwind player to play a solo passage as a singer would phrase it. “Did you ever hear Callas sing?,” he said. Bernstein knew whereof he spoke, having conducted the great Greek-American diva in her … » Read

LONDON—A stone’s throw from the Barbican Centre, Milton Court is a home for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a place where the Barbican can present chamber works as part of its far-sighted Milton Court Artist-in-Residence … » Read

In a season where the Metropolitan Opera is devoting inordinate attention to “new” operas, prominent composers from the bread-and-butter years before World War II—Puccini being the main exception—tend to be represented by … » Read

MILAN—In recent years, Rome's Teatro dell'Opera has established itself as an artistically adventurous alternative to La Scala, its more traditional competitor in Milan. Having hosted the debut stagings of artist Ai Weiwei ( Turandot , 2022 … » Read

The San Francisco Symphony’s Nov. 24 premiere of Odisea ( Odyssey ), a new concerto for the cuatro by Venezuelan composer Gonzalo Grau, proved to be a special occasion for the San Francisco Chronicle’s chief classical music critic. It … » Read

TOKYO—Right from its opening in 1997, the New National Theatre, Tokyo has specialized in lavish international productions—Franco Zeffirelli’s Aida and Wolfgang Wagner’s Lohengrin set the tone in its inaugural … » Read

Bradley Cooper’s Maestro , a high-wire act of a biopic, leaps constantly between on stage and off, flying through Leonard Bernstein’s very public life as a conductor while diving into his more private marriage to Felicia Montealegre. … » Read

Given their prohibitive costs, it’s a miracle opera pops up on disc as often as it does. This trio of new releases proves that not only is there life in the old dog yet, there’s more to be rediscovered by those prepared to dig. The … » Read