Classical Music Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 4

Review: The San Diego Symphony Opens Summer Season at San Diego's Rady Shell
by Ron Bierman - July 03, 2023

Pacho Flores is a winner of the top prize in the world’s most prestigious trumpet competition, the Maurice André International, and the list of contemporary composers writing for him is impressive and growing. The San Diego Symphony has now performed two of the results. Last season it was Paquito D'...

Review: THE MAINLY MOZART ALL STAR ORCHESTRA PERFORMS BEETHOVEN'S NINTH at The Epstein Family Amphitheater On The UCSD Campus
by Ron Bierman - June 28, 2023

What did our critic think of THE MAINLY MOZART ALL STAR ORCHESTRA PERFORMS BEETHOVEN'S NINTH at The Epstein Family Amphitheater On The UCSD Campus?...

Review: WHAT'S GOING ON NOW at Kennedy Center
by Roger Catlin - June 19, 2023

The National Symphony Orchestra’s intent this weekend was to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of native son Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Going On” album, a high water mark for both social commentary and Motown soul. ...

Review: MORLOT, SEATTLE SYMPHONY CAPTIVATE IN ALL-FRENCH PROGRAM at Benaroya Hall
by Erica Miner - June 05, 2023

This was a hugely demanding program, and Morlot and his musicians together produced an awe-inspiring accomplishment....

Review: THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at Metropolitan Opera
by Peter Danish - June 02, 2023

Thomas Guggeis, the young German conductor making his Met debut, is Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Berlin and the designated Generalmusikdirektor of the Oper Frankfurt; pretty impressive for one who has yet to hit his 30th birthday!   His Met debut was justly anticipated, as across Europe he is kno...

Review: RISING at Warner Classics/Erato Label
by Erica Miner - June 02, 2023

A veritable cornucopia of African American talent from multiple generations. One could hardly imagine a more comprehensive collection. Not to be missed....

Review: THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORMS TWO CLASSICS AND A WORLD PREMIERE At San Diego's Rady Shell
by Ron Bierman - May 24, 2023

What did our critic think of THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORMS TWO CLASSICS AND A WORLD PREMIERE at San Diego's Rady Shell?...

Review: LA BOHÈME at Kennedy Center
by David Friscic - May 17, 2023

The glorious music of Puccini remains the principal reason to see the Washington National Opera’s (WNO)current production of the beloved classic opera La bohème. This oft-referenced opera that has influenced everything from the famous film Moonstruck to the hit Broadway musical Rent, must be a fairl...

Review: MasterVoices Shows that There's Still Life in Gilbert & Sullivan's IOLANTHE in the 21st Century
by Richard Sasanow - May 05, 2023

Maybe the Met should stop thinking about THE MERRY WIDOW and DIE FLEDERMAUS when it takes a turn at operetta—let alone the bevy of comic operas by Rossini and Donizetti that are given more than their due on a regular basis—and let Gilbert & Sullivan (G&S) have a turn at bat....

Review: San Diego Opera's Production of GHOSTS at Balboa Theatre
by Ron Bierman - April 21, 2023

Nicolas Reveles was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer shortly after completing Ghosts, and it is tragic that he died just weeks before its world premiere in a San Diego Opera production. A sincerely religious man, his spirit lives on in the minds of the many grieving friends and admirers w...

Review: 'O HOW GOOD' Choral Concert at Central Synagogue
by Joanna Barouch - March 30, 2023

It's truly amazing that one can walk by a place and be unaware of it, no matter how important it may be. Or what it looks like inside. I, for one, am not one of those people. I have been curious about New York City's Central Synagogue (in Midtown East) for a long time. And just recently I had the ch...

Review: MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS CONDUCTS THE NY PHILHARMONIC at David Geffen Hall
by Peter Danish - March 16, 2023

What did our critic think of MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS CONDUCTS THE NY PHILHARMONIC at David Geffen Hall? Sunday's performance at the NY Philharmonic was nothing short of a lovefest. From the moment MTT entered the auditorium until after his last standing ovation, curtain call - well over two hours late...

Review: THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY at San Diego's Civic Center Theater
by Ron Bierman - March 15, 2023

Edo de Waart is now in his fourth year as Principal Guest Conductor of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In his long career he’s headed orchestras on four continents and taught in this country’s finest music schools. It’s no coincidence that his frequent conducting appearances in San Diego have coin...

Review: The Vienna Philharmonic, Bruckner 8th at Carnegie Hall
by Peter Danish - March 14, 2023

What did our critic think of THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC AT CARNEGIE HALL at Carnegie Hall? As I sat in Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, awaiting Christian Thielemann and his mighty Vienna Philharmonic's final performance of a three-concert visit, I waxed nostalgic and drifted back to my very first he...

Review: THE SONG POET at Minnesota Opera
by Jared Fessler - March 10, 2023

What did our critic think of THE SONG POET at Minnesota Opera? The first Hmong story adapted for the operatic stage, St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang's memoir The Song Poet comes to life in this world premiere. It tells the story of Yang's family and her song poet father as war drives them from the mo...

Review: New Jersey Symphony Performs MAHLER 3RD at NJPAC
by Peter Danish - March 08, 2023

What did our critic think of NJ SYMPHONY MAHLER 3RD at NJPAC? NJ Symphony musical director, Xian Zhang has stated often that the Mahler 3rd is her favorite work of all time. This was evident from the instant she bounded up onto the platform until the time she stepped down some 99 minutes later. Duri...

Review: NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC FEATURES YO YO MA at David Geffen Hall At Lincoln Center
by Joanna Barouch - March 05, 2023

It’s always exciting to hear or see a musician’s performance debut. It’s doubly exciting when a musician of Daniela Candillari’s caliber makes her New York Philhamonic debut in the beautifully refreshed David Geffen Hall....

Review: BRUCH VIOLIN CONCERTO at Charlotte Symphony
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 26, 2023

A meteor named Mei-Ann Chen had an impact on Charlotte Symphony and its subscribers that was simply electrifying....

Review: THE SAN DIEGO OPERA'S PUCCINI DUO at San Diego Civic Center Theater
by Ron Bierman - February 16, 2023

The big question for the evening was how mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe would do as the first woman in professional opera to sing the baritone title role in Gianni Schicchi. But the question wouldn’t be answered until the second one-act opera in San Diego Opera’s “Puccini Duo.” Blythe was first a co...

Review: Tarmo Peltokoski Makes His U.S. Debut with The San Diego Symphony Orchestra at the Southwestern College Performing Arts Center
by Ron Bierman - February 08, 2023

What did our critic think of TARMO PELTOKOSKI As He MAKES HIS U.S. DEBUT WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA at Southwestern Colleges Performing Arts Center? We seem to be going through an unprecedented flood of young conducting talent. Finnland's Tarmo Peltokoski is an example. At 22 his recent-c...

Review: SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5 at Charlotte Symphony
by Perry Tannenbaum - February 05, 2023

A worthy candidate for CSO's vacant musical directorship, Vinay Parameswaran brings a winsome personality and an eclectic modern program to the Knight Theater podium for his Charlotte debut....

Review: PROKOFIEV'S ROMEO & JULIET at Robinson Center
by Theresa Bertram - January 31, 2023

What did our critic think of PROKOFIEV'S ROMEO & JULIET at Robinson Center?...

Review: ANNE AKIKO MEYERS And THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY at The California Center For The Arts, Escondido
by Ron Bierman - January 11, 2023

What did our critic think of ANNE AKIKO MEYERS AND THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY at The California Center For The Arts, Escondido? Review: A New Violin Concerto Delights the Audience!...

Review: RING IN THE NEW - ADELAIDE CANTATA BAND at Pilgrim Uniting Church
by Barry Lenny - January 07, 2023

The calibre of the musicians was undoubted....

Review: 10th Anniversary PROTOTYPE Festival in NY Blasts Off with Du Yun's IN OUR DAUGHTER'S EYES
by Richard Sasanow - January 06, 2023

There’s more contemporary opera in New York these days than there used to be and I’ll drink to that. But there’s nothing else that does it with the panache of the PROTOTYPE Festival, the brainchild of Beth Morrison Projects and HERE....