Music Reviews

With mixed results, the San Francisco Symphony performed Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” using projected imagery and movement on June 11th [2015] at Davies Symphony Hall.

The Bordeaux Opéra Nationale has been packing its 18^th-century Grand Théâtre for a week of sellout performances of Norma, the great Vincenzo Bellini opera on which much of his reputation rests.

"The classical music scene in New York City is amazing. Not only for the quality, but also for the depth and breadth of the offerings. Yes, there are always the A-list attractions, Netrebko at the Met, Argerich at Carnegie.

Speaking recently at the Hay Literary festival, he declared that it w

In his 70s, the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim continues to attract attention not only for his performance schedule but also for his views on global issues.

When an aging Radu Lupu sauntered onstage in Bordeaux Tuesday evening (27 May) a hush fell over the packed Auditorium. This pianist is generally recognized as one of the world’s most accomplished keyboard artists, and the full house of 2,200 attendees knew it.

One can easily imagine an opulent home of a Seattle billionaire like Bill Gates or Paul Allen as a setting for Richard Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos.” So after the curtain went up for Seattle Opera’s opening night (May 2) at McCaw Hall, the contemporary setting, created by Robert Dahlstrom, aptly

When legendary soprano Patricia Racette, currently starring at the Met in Pagliacci, called and asked if I would like to produce her new CD, I had to pinch myself. This is the kind of request that can make my day, week and month.

Young Boston area players performed a broad range of instrumental and vocal works by the up-and-coming Boston University (BU) composer Christopher LaRosa (in the picture) Friday night at Boston’s United Church of Brookline, virtually rattling the stained-glass win

Music Director Andris Nelsons’s Thursday [April 9, 2014] BSO program, comprising a wide range of musical styles and eras, induced an enthusiastic reception in the nearly full house. The program will be repeated tonight (Friday), Saturday and next Tuesday.

When scheduling an orchestral program a year or more in advance, it is probably impossible to know how a brand new piece will match up with any other work, but Michael Gandofi’s “Ascending Light,” which received its world premiere last weekend from Boston Symphony, had a lot in common with Gusta

The Handel and Haydn Society celebrated its 200^th anniversary with an intense and moving performance of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” before a full house at Symphony Hall (Boston) on Friday (March 27).

Why?

Alessandro Deljavan, the charismatic Italian pianist whose playing created a sensation at the 2013 Cliburn International Piano Competition, has produced his much-anticipated CD of Robert Schumann works. Distribution is scheduled for the end of this month.

When the thunderous introduction to Grieg’s piano concerto erupted in Carnegie Hall on a spring evening in 1951, the audience was poised for a great musical experience.

You might think that watching a Baroque opera with its endless da capo arias would be akin to watching paint dry, but Seattle Opera’s all-new production of Handel’s “Semele” tosses that notion out the window.

Frances Wilson: Who or what inspired you to take up the piano and make it your career?