Classical Music Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: A FESTIVAL OF LESSONS AND CAROLS at Benaroya Hall
by Erica Miner - December 25, 2024

Ending on a a fervent note, spurring the audience to go forth and enjoy their holidays in the best way possible: with music in their hearts and minds...

Review: The La Jolla Music Society Presents the SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA at The Conrad
by Ron Bierman - December 18, 2024

What did our critic think of THE LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY PRESENTS THE SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA at The Conrad? The La Jolla Music Society has featured exceptional musicians in many genres over the years. Best known for staging classical concerts, since the opening of its intimate home at the Conrad th...

Review: San Diego Symphony Perform Richard Strauss and Shostakovich at The Jacobs Music Center
by Ron Bierman - December 13, 2024

This year’s final subscription concert at the new Jacobs Music Center began with Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan and ended with his equally familiar Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks. In between, Inon Barnatan was featured in two 20th Century piano concertos by Dimitri Shostakovich. The usual p...

Review: SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN'S CHORUS HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR 2024 at Sydney Goldstein Theater
by Steve Murray - December 07, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN'S CHORUS HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR 2024 at Sydney Goldstein Theater?...

Review: Yunchan Lim And The New York Philharmonic Perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2
by Peter Danish - December 06, 2024

What did our critic think of YUNCHAN LIM AND THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ENCHANT WITH CHOPIN’S PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2 at Geffen Hall?...

Review: MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 1 at Benaroya Hall
by Erica Miner - November 17, 2024

Both monumental works were perfectly matched in their brashness and sensitivity, helmed and rendered with great panache by two outstanding young artists: a program to delight all tastes...

Review: STRAUSS AND SIBELIUS at the NY Philharmonic
by Peter Danish - November 16, 2024

What did our critic think of STRAUSS AND SIBELIUS AT THE NY PHILHARMONIC at Geffen Hall?...

Review: STRIKE UP THE BAND! at Carnegie Hall
by Joanna Barouch - November 12, 2024

Musical gems buried in a mind-numbing story...

Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA PRESENTS LA BOHÈME at San Diego Civic Center
by Ron Bierman - November 06, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN DIEGO OPERA PRESENTS LA BOHÈME at San Diego Civic Center? San Diego Opera celebrated the opening of its 60th season with Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, the same opera the company staged to open its first season. Its magnificent melodies, a touchingly tragic love story...

Review: SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORMS MENDELSSOHN, BRUCH AND TCHAIKOVSKY at the Jacobs Music Center
by Ron Bierman - November 01, 2024

The music that people enjoy the most, whether they are fans of classical or hip hop, is music that evokes emotion. The San Diego Symphony under guest conductor Antonio Méndez took note of that with a concert of proven favorites, Mendelssohn’s Ruy Blas Overture, Bruch’s first violin concerto, and Tch...

Review: FIDELIO at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - October 28, 2024

The Washington National Opera’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio is a triumph of elegant, efficient style and directorial finesse. Director Francesca Zambello re-invigorates the somewhat uninspired libretto by Joesph Von Sonnleithner with a vigor and intelligence that envelops this tale of valor, c...

Review: The Philadelphia Orchestra Delivers a Monumental Mahler 3 at Carnegie
by Peter Danish - October 25, 2024

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance of Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 3 aCarnegie Hall on October 15th was an unforgettable evening of rich musical storytelling. Under the dynamic direction of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the orchestra captured the emotional breadth and technical demands of ...

Review: RENÉE FLEMING AND THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Kennedy Center
by Elliot Lanes - October 21, 2024

With the size of theatrical orchestras being drastically cut, one of the few places left to hear a full string section is at a symphonic concert. What better symphony is there than YOUR National Symphony Orchestra (NSO)?...

Review: San Diego Symphony Presents A Concert Of Works By Mahler And Larcher
by Ron Bierman - October 10, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORM WORKS BY MAHLER AND LARCHER at the Jacobs Music Center? There were only two pieces on the San Diego Symphony’s program for the second weekend of the new season, the first after the renovation of the Jacobs Music Center. But one of them was Mah...

Review: SLÄPSTICK: SCHËRZO, Wilton's Music Hall
by Michael Higgs - October 10, 2024

A brilliant comedy hit that fuses music, physical theatre, and that type of really-clever-yet-really-dumb humour that works for most audiences, it’s a show that keeps the audience laughing at every turn....

Review: San Diego Symphony Shines at New Jacobs Music Center Opening
by Ron Bierman - October 02, 2024

What did our critic think of SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY SHINES AT NEW JACOBS MUSIC CENTER OPENING! Shortly after the waterfront’s Rady Shell opened in 2021, I was standing in a short line behind San Diego Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer and complimented her on the Rady’s awesome state-of-the-art sound system. T...

Review: TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 4 at Benaroya Hall
by Erica Miner - September 29, 2024

The performance was, in a word, superb...

Review: LUCIA DE LAMMERMOOR at Opera In The Heights
by Armando Urdiales - September 21, 2024

What did our critic think of LUCIA DE LAMMERMOOR at Opera In The Heights?...

Review: SZYMANOWSKI, CHOPIN & MAHLER, Barbican Centre
by Michael Higgs - September 24, 2024

Pappano is top of his game as he once again proves he is a pristine fit as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. His leadership ties the entire evening together so seamlessly that it’s hardly surprising he earns a standing ovation....

Review: ECHOES OF AMERICA at Kennedy Center
by Elliot Lanes - September 16, 2024

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) began their classical season this past Saturday evening in a very satisfying manner. The program was entitled Echoes of America and was conducted by the Artistic Director of The Washington Chorus Eugene Rogers....

Review: GUSTAV MAHLER'S SYMPHONY NO 2 'RESURRECTION', Bold Tendencies
by Matthew Paluch - September 16, 2024

The Bold Tendencies Communion season came to an end last night, and it didn't go quietly. With 119 musicians of the Philharmonia Orchestra, 100 members of the Philharmonia Chorus and two soloists sopranos, conductor Nefeli Chadouli led the vast troupe in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No 2 'Resurrection’....

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 70 – PROKOFIEV'S ROMEO AND JULIET, Royal Albert Hall
by Debbie Gilpin - September 13, 2024

Another helping of Shakespeare, in this otherwise rather Eastern European-themed Prom. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales was guided through the evening’s events by Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martín, who seemed to relish every moment of his appearance on the Royal Albert Hall stage, and broug...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 65: HANDEL'S MESSIAH, Royal Albert Hall
by Aliya Al-Hassan - September 09, 2024

The climax to the Proms' Choral Day could only be George Frideric Handel's majestic Messiah. This 1789 arrangement by Mozart was performed by The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, joined by an incredible six (yes six) choirs, conducted by an ebullient John Butt....

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 62: RATTLE CONDUCTS MAHLER'S 6TH, Royal Albert Hall
by Louise Penn - September 08, 2024

There were no phone screens, no sotto voce conversations, no fidgeting, as a packed Hall watched the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in rapt appreciation. Each instrument had its moment. The dual harps added a cool clarity, the double basses a morose touch, the trombones a sweet elegance. This wa...

Review: BBC PROMS: PROM 54: BEETHOVEN FOR THREE, Royal Albert Hall
by Kat Mokrynski - September 02, 2024

With soloists Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma on violin, piano and cello respectively coming together to form a mighty trio of classical musicians, audiences are in for a treat, regardless of what is being played. Indeed, I found myself thinking that the musicians could have just performe...