The Classical Review

Michael Tilson Thomas 1944-2026

Michael Tilson Thomas died Wednesday at his home in the San Francisco Bay area. Artistic director laureate of the New World ...
The Classical Review

New World Symphony & Miami City Ballet team up for new work with five premieres

The Choreographic Concerto also includes Lamentations, by Jamar Roberts set to music by Carlos Simon and Polymnia from ...
The Classical Review

Stephen Hough’s new concerto looks to the past as well as the future

Stephen Hough will perform the world premiere of his Piano Concerto, “The World of Yesterday” Friday night with the Utah Symphony led by Donald Runnicles. Sir Stephen Hough’s response as to the ...
The Classical Review

Dubious “Dutchman” and trenchant “Tosca” refract two classics through modern lenses at Santa Fe Opera

Nicholas Brownlee and Elza van den Heever in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at Santa Fe Opera. Photo: Curtis Brown/SFO General director Robert Meya has given Wagner fans cause to rejoice: Santa Fe Opera ...
The Classical Review

A tragedy haunts the past and present in Met’s “Innocence”

Vilma Jää as Markéta and Joyce DiDonato as the Waitress in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera Conductor Susanna Mälkki, one of Saariaho’s most ...
The Classical Review

No slowing down for Gerard Schwarz, South Florida’s busiest conductor

Gerard Schwarz conducting the Palm Beach Symphony at a 2024 concert. Photo: IndieHouse Films When Gerard Schwarz was a teenage trumpet student, he dreamed of being a member of the New York ...
The Classical Review

Rust Belt bel canto: Met provides a dark, mostly compelling update to “Lucia”

Nadine Sierra in the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Marty Sohl Cheers greeted Simon Stone and his creative team Saturday night as they walked onstage ...
The Classical Review

Philadelphia’s BalletX navigates uncertain times with ingenuity

Presenting dance performances during a global pandemic is a test of ingenuity and perseverance. On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia-based BalletX beautifully rose to the challenge. Three short films ...
The Classical Review

Santa Fe Opera rounds out comeback season with brilliant Verdi and Wagner

Quinn Kelsey stars in the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff at Santa Fe Opera. Photo: Curtis Brown The most complex works on the stage this summer at Santa Fe Opera came at the end of the first full week ...
The Classical Review

Mäkelä, CSO wrap year with bracing contemporary works, Beethoven and Schumann

The final Chicago Symphony Orchestra program of 2025 offered much to attract concertgoers: warhorses by Beethoven and Schumann as well as the subscription debut of pianist and Van Cliburn gold medal ...
The Classical Review

A beautiful, riveting tragedy with Chicago Symphony’s Mahler Sixth

Jaap van Zweden conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 Thursday night. Photo: Todd Rosenberg With multiple street closures and exits off the Drive shut down for a race in ...