Classical Music Theater Reviews

Review: COLORS BY DANIEL TEMKIN at Church Of The Intersession
by Peter Danish - April 17, 2024

What did our critic think of COLORS BY DANIEL TEMKIN at Church Of The Intersession?...

Review: The Rule of Threes: The GNSO Performs Soros, Price and Mahler at Aquinas Hall, Newburgh
by Peter Danish - April 03, 2024

Programming is a key element in the lifeblood of every symphony orchestra.  Finding the right blend of old and new, of familiar and unfamiliar, of modern and traditional, of the accessible and the more challenging; this is the task....

Review: San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Presents DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall
by Steve Murray - March 29, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS PRESENTS DRAG ME TO THE MOVIES! at Davies Symphony Hall?...

Review: PLAY/WRITE at Planet M Records
by Erica Miner - March 22, 2024

What did our critic think of PLAY/WRITE at Planet M Records? There is much to unpack here in the way of unique sounds, colors and vibrations...

Review: STEPHEN HOUGH WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY at San Diego Civic Center Theater
by Ron Bierman - March 22, 2024

Read BroadwayWorld's review of Stephen Hough with the San Diego Symphony at San Diego Civic Center Theater....

Review: SONGBIRD at Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - March 12, 2024

There’s an awful lot of death in opera, Timothy O’Leary, the general director of Washington National Opera, lamented on a recent opening night. And those plentiful tragedies are also often further burdened with overbearing scores, turgid storylines, super-large casts and strident if not shrill perfo...

Review: NJSO PERFORMS STRAUSS, VIVALDI AND ESMAIL AT NJPAC at NJPAC
by Peter Danish - March 09, 2024

What did our critic think of NJSO PERFORMS STRAUSS, VIVALDI AND ESMAIL AT NJPAC at NJPAC?...

Review: ROMEO ET JULIETTE at Arizona Opera
by Herbert Paine - March 05, 2024

Arizona Opera's revival of Charles Gounod’s ROMEO ET JULIETTE is, by all measures, a triumph of staging and performance. Following its performances in Phoenix, the production moves to the Temple of Music and Art in Tucson AZ (March 9th and 10th)....

Review: THE NIGHTINGALE AND OTHER FABLES – ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2024 at Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
by Barry Lenny - March 02, 2024

It is as visually rich as it is aurally....

Review: SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PLAYS RAVEL, RESPIGHI, AND BATES at San Diego Civic Center Theater
by Ron Bierman - March 01, 2024

If this concert didn’t convince newcomers to classical music that they’d been missing out, nothing will. Conductor Rafael Payare went all out for excitement and got it with a program that displayed the orchestra's virtuosity. The result was an exceptionally enjoyable concert....

Review: Boston Lyric Opera's THE ANONYMOUS LOVER is a Joyous Delight
by R. Scott Reedy - February 18, 2024

What did our critic think of THE ANONYMOUS LOVER at Boston Lyric Opera?...

Review: BACH'S WINTER REVERIE & SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY VIRTUOSITY at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
by Ron Bierman - February 14, 2024

Edo de Waart opened a conservative program of J. S. Bach, Samuel Barber and Josef Haydn with Bach’s B-minor Orchestral Suite. The suite is often performed with a full-sized modern string section of 40 or more. De Waart chose a size much closer to one listeners would have been likely to hear in the 1...

Review: Renée Fleming Dazzles with VOICE OF NATURE: THE ANTHROPOCENE at Symphony Hall
by R. Scott Reedy - February 08, 2024

What did our critic think of VOICE OF NATURE: THE ANTHROPOCENE at Symphony Hall? With her sold-out Celebrity Series of Boston performance this past Sunday at Symphony Hall, Renée Fleming offered a splendid reminder, although none is needed, of why she is widely considered to be the preeminent Americ...

Review: Audra McDonald in Concert with The National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center Concert Hall
by Mary Lincer - January 31, 2024

Audra McDonald has (at least) four voices--Broadway, jazz, opera, blues--not to mention six Tonys. She brought them all (the voices, not the awards) to her two hour concert with the National Symphony Pops which repeats Wednesday evening, January 31. ...

Review: THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORMS MOZART at The Conrad In La Jolla
by Ron Bierman - January 30, 2024

The San Diego Symphony was at a little more than half its usual size, but with a near full complement of strings, and Raphael Payare conducted with great feeling and passion. (A friend commented at intermission, “I thought he was on a trampoline.”) The result was unusually satisfying versions of th...

Review: JUDAS MACCABAEUS at Riverside Church
by Joanna Barouch - December 22, 2023

Leon Botstein, Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra, has made it the orchestra’s mission to present lesser-known orchestral and choral works. Dr. Botstein, President of Bard College,  decided that this year’s holiday presentation would be Georg Friedrich Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus from 1...

Review: SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5 at Benaroya Hall
by Erica Miner - December 01, 2023

Two contemporary compositions provided the framework for the haunting, ebullient Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82 by iconic Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in a recent program, performed live in Benaroya Hall on Nov. 16, 2023, and streamed on the innovative Seattle Symphony+ service. Helmed by ...

Review: SIR BRYN TERFEL at Kennedy Center
by Elliot Lanes - November 21, 2023

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a reviewer happy and have an excellent musical experience. Welsh Bass-Baritone superstar Sir Bryn Terfel with only two instrumentalists proved that in spades. Add to that the bonus of what seemed like NO, that’s right, ZERO amplification this past Sunday in th...

Review: The San Diego Symphony Orchestra Performs in the California Festival at The Rady Shell
by Ron Bierman - November 15, 2023

What did our critic think of THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERFORMS IN THE CALIFORNIA FESTIVAL at The Rady Shell?...

Review: LA TRAVIATA, London Coliseum
by Franco Milazzo - October 24, 2023

Much shorter than Richard Eyre’s three-hour plus version for the ROH, Peter Konwitschny’s La Traviata perhaps should be renamed La Trav or L’ Abbreviata. Its breathless sprint over 105 uninterrupted minutes takes more than it gives but there’s an admirable boldness to it all....

Review: THE LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY PRESENTS AN ALL-STAR TRIO at The Conrad
by Ron Bierman - October 18, 2023

What did our critic think of THE LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY PRESENTS AN ALL-STAR TRIO at The Conrad?...

Review: PROM 68 – MAX RICHTER - RECOMPOSED, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - September 10, 2023

The Britten Sinfonia is unusual in the world of professional orchestras, in that they don’t have the now-traditional principal conductor as their figurehead, instead choosing to collaborate with leading exponents of the field. For this Prom, violinist Thomas Gould both played and acted as director; ...

Review: PROM 60: BERLIN RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Royal Albert Hall
by Louise Penn - September 03, 2023

Marking the Proms debut of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin), their artistic director Vladimir Jurowski conducted a lively and varied programme of works by Weill, Adès and Rachmaninov to a Royal Albert Hall high in anticipation. ...

Review: PROM 56 – RATTLE CONDUCTS MAHLER'S NINTH, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - August 28, 2023

Last night’s performance consisted of a rendition of Francis Poulenc’s Figure humaine by the BBC Singers, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra tackling Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. A fitting pairing for something of a bittersweet evening, as it brings together words from the French Resistance...

Review: PROM 55 – GERSHWIN'S PIANO CONCERTO, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - August 28, 2023

The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s second outing at this year’s Proms celebrated the magic of movement, with varying degrees of dance in pieces by Stravinsky, Ravel, Gershwin, and a European première from Carlos Simon. Their programme took the audience back in time, beginning in the 2020s and ending in...