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Review: BBC PROMS: SHOSTAKOVICH’S ‘LADY MACBETH’, Royal Albert Hall
Written between 1930 and 1932, The Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District was first performed in 1934 - and received a scathing write-up in the Pravda newspaper in 1936, due to its graphic sexual violence and murderous female lead. Whilst it alludes to Shakespeare’s infamous character, the opera is a...
Review: THE LSO AT BOLD TENDENCIES, Peckham
Experiencing art in a former car park is never going to get old - cold perhaps - so I was glad to return to Bold Tendencies to sample their 2025 season titled Déjà vu.
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Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
A thought-provoking reworking of Mozart's popular opera....
Review: LA JOLLA MUSIC SUMMERFEST FINALE at The Conrad
The La Jolla Music Society concluded its 2025 four-week SummerFest with three works for chamber-sized orchestras. Learn more about the festival here!...
Review: BBC PROMS: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO FROM GLYNDEBOURNE, Royal Albert Hall
Mozart's beloved comedy The Marriage of Figaro opened Glyndebourne's very first Festival in 1934 and is the renowned opera house's most performed work. No sooner has the production closed in Sussex, it reappeared in London at the BBC Proms for a super semi-staged version....
Review: BBC PROMS: MÄKELÄ CONDUCTS MOZART, PROKOFIEV & BARTÓK, Royal Albert Hall
This programme of music seems to thrive on themes of togetherness, resilience, and support that may have also influenced the Russian composer at the mid-point of his life, the Hungarian maestro nearing the end of his, and even the bright young man setting out to shake us the music scene in Europe to...
Review: BBC PROMS, ANOUSHKA SHANKAR-'CHAPTERS', Royal Albert Hall
It's 20 years since Anoushka Shankar made her Proms debut, along with her father Ravi Shakar. Since then she has eclipsed even his enduring reputation as a world-renowned sitarist. Now a multi-Grammy-nominated artist, a sitar virtuoso and prolific composer, Shankar makes a triumphant return to the ...
Review: BBC PROMS: BEETHOVEN AND BARTOK FROM BUDAPEST, Royal Albert Hall
Bringing Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra back to the BBC Proms, last night’s concert offered a programme of Beethoven’s 'Symphony No. 7 in A major' alongside Bartok’s dark one-act opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.
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Review: BEETHOVEN: I SHALL HEAR IN HEAVEN, Opera Holland Park
This is a great opportunity to hear the breadth of Beethoven’s work performed in a novel way, and the drama does have its flashes of brilliance. In order to preserve these fleeting moments of conviction, though, Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven needs to move away from tired biographical tropes an...
Review: BBC PROMS: BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH, Royal Albert Hall
A program featuring one of the world's most beloved symphonies, a stunning piano concerto allowing pianist Alexandre Kantorow to show off his prowess, and a fascinating contemporary piece by Scottish composer Jay Capperauld, the 10th BBC Prom 2025 marks a triumph for conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and...
Review: BBC PROMS: MENDELSSOHN'S VIOLIN CONCERTO, Royal Albert Hall
From the moment the first note rang out, this was no ordinary Proms night. Four wildly different pieces, one restless thread: mischief. Mendelssohn is the marquee name here but really this was a foray into the world of fairytale birds, lyrical longing, mythological monkeys and death-defying prankste...
Review: BBC PROMS: VIVALDI AND BACH, Royal Albert Hall
Once Proms season comes around, there aren’t many better places to be on a Sunday morning than at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a return to more traditional Proms fare this time, with a trip to the 17th and 18th centuries for a selection of mostly Vivaldi and Bach pieces - although the programme a...
Review: BBC PROMS: FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS 2025, Royal Albert Hall
As classical performance continues to wrestle with relevance, accessibility and representation, the Proms are under pressure to lead this change. This opening night offered progress in places, but also showed how much further there is to go....
Review: THE MAINLY MOZART ALL-STAR ORCHESTRA at the Epstein Family Amphitheater
What did BroadwayWorld's critic think of THE MAINLY MOZART ALL-STA FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA at Epstein Family Amphitheater? Read the review here and learn more!
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Review: PETER SCHICKELE at New York Society For Ethical Culture
It’s become the custom in recent years to present memorial concerts which pay tribute to musicians after they leave this mortal plane....
Review: THE GNSO TRIUMPHS IN MAHLER'S RESURRECTION SYMPHONY at Aquinas Hall, Newburgh
On the evening of Saturday, April 26, 2025, the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra (GNSO) presented a breathtaking rendition of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Resurrection, at Aquinas Hall at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY....
Review: TOSCA at McCaw Hall
Ending the season with a memorable production of one of opera’s most tour de force masterpieces is sure to motivate audiences to return for Seattle Opera’s next season...
Review: AMERICAN RHAPSODY at Kennedy Center
An evening of the myriad modes of music that constitute the American Experience was celebrated at the Kennedy Center’s production of American Rhapsody. The evening was a rich treasure trove of the glory that is American music from opera, spirituals, modern composers, classic songwriters, and Broad...
Review: YUNCHAN LIM STUNS WITH GOLDBERG VARIATIONS at Carnegie Hall
Yunchan Lim’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Carnegie Hall was a masterclass in both technique and emotional depth, showcasing his extraordinary maturity and artistry for such a young performer. From the moment he began, it was clear that Lim was not just playing the piece; he was ...
Review: The Philadelphia Reveals an Austere Mahler 6 at Carnegie Hall
On April 15, 2025, The Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, presented Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony at Carnegie Hall in a performance defined by its precision, structural rigor, and interpretive restraint. Rather than indulging in the sweeping romanticism that of...
Review: FISH OUT OF WATER at Chamber Music Society Of St. Louis
A splendid evening of Schubert, Haydn, Satie, de Grignol, and Montgomery...
Review: LSO: MACMILLAN AND SHOSTAKOVICH 12, Barbican Theatre
Dominated by a new James MacMillan work, and a lively couple of pieces by Shostakovich reflecting on the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, this concert from the LSO, with their Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda and violinist Nicola Benedetti, offered a lively evening of music. Full-blo...
Review: HIGH OCTANE OCTET at Carnegie Hall-Weill Recital Hall
Imagine you are living with your family at your mother-in-law’s house. Imagine you don’t really “work” for a living because you are a composer. But you are very bored. You mother-in-law takes in boarders, and one day you distinctly hear the sound of two violins playing a duet! ...
Review: INNOCENCE – ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2025 at Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
This will be talked about for a long time to come....
Review: THE LONDON SYMPHONY and PIANIST YUNCHAN LIM at San Diego Jacobs Music Center
What did our critic think of THE LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY PRESENTS THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at San Diego Jacobs Music Center?
Standing Ovations showed the audience's appreciation of pianist Yunchan Lim in Rachmaninov's second piano concerto and the orchestra's excellence under conductor Sir Anto...
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Toomai String Quintet: From Duke Ellington to La Lupe National Opera Center, Scorca Hall (6/13-6/13) |
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