Find articles | Susan Stempleski

The Hong Kong-born conductor conducts a masterful performance of selections from Prokofiev’s Cinderella and Philharmonic Principal Carter Brey bids farewell in Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto.  

Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin plays Haydn before the esteemed German maestro conducts a vibrant Scottish Symphony. 

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

Marin Alsop is joined by pianist Hayato Sumino as she conducts the Philadelphians in an exhilarating program of works by John Adams, Gershwin and Prokofiev.  

Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the New York premiere of a solemn, modernist work paired with two high-spirited symphonies from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Following his acclaimed 2025 all-Russian recital at Carnegie Hall, the young Canadian pianist returns with a wide-ranging, imaginative program spotlighting his virtuosity and elegance.

William Levi Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, overlooked for decades, heads an all-American program of 20th-century works in New York. 

The Spanish violinist delivers a radiant rendition of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto after which Honeck interprets his own distillation of music from Strauss’ Elektra.

Xian Zhang returns to the Philharmonic to lead a program pairing two 19th-century Romantic works with a 21st-century tone poem.

Marco Armiliato conducts a finely balanced rendition of Bellini's final masterpiece with a stellar cast headed by Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee.

An extraordinary group of musicians join violinist Maxim Vengerov in performing two chamber music jewels by Johannes Brahms.

The Metropolitan Opera kicks off this season’s revival of Umberto Giordano’s tempestuous melodrama with standout performances from a resplendent cast.

The pianist concluded her US tour performing a formidable program of Prokofiev, Debussy and Tchaikovsky.

Nadine Sierra stars as a highly affecting Amina in the tenor-turned-director’s revisionist take on Bellini’s bel canto masterwork. 

The Philharmonic continues its celebration of the composer-conductor’s centennial with pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist in an innovative program juxtaposing selections by the modernist maestro with pieces by Debussy.

With a standout cast, fine orchestral playing under Carlo Rizzi, and newly refurbished sets, Zeffirelli’s 1987 staging of Puccini’s epic fairy tale appears as bright as ever.

The Australian conductor leads a superb performance of Bruckner’s Sixth paired with Steven Isserlis playing Schumann’s Cello Concerto. 

Singers Susanna Phillips, Michelle DeYoung and Ben Bliss impress in an intimate performance with members of the Met Orchestra.

A haunting account of Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto is paired with a vivid rendition of his Eleventh Symphony.

Bartlett Sher’s 2006 production of Rossini’s tuneful masterpiece is showing its age, but a superb cast and conductor keep the comedy moving. 

In a rare visit to New York, the Philharmonic’s incoming Music Director leads the ensemble in an exhilarating program of works by Varèse, Gershwin... and a Ravel world premiere. 

Fifteen years after its Dallas Opera world premiere, Jake Heggie’s grand adaptation of Herman Melville’s sprawling epic arrives in New York in a stunning production with a standout cast.  

The pianist impressed but the soprano proved less than ideally suited to some of the selections in a wide-ranging recital program that included Rachmaninov, Strauss, standards and spirituals.

Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic deliver emotionally charged accounts of Bruckner and Schubert in the first of three consecutive programs at Carnegie Hall. 

In commemoration of Maurice Ravel’s 150th birthday, the Seoul-born, Berlin-based virtuoso performs all of the composer’s solo works for piano over the course of a single evening.

The virtuoso violinist glows in Brahms’ Violin Concerto and the Met musicians display their virtuosity and versatility in the composer’s complex final symphony. 

The captivating pianist leads the orchestra from the keyboard in works by Stravinsky, Janáček and Gershwin. 

Music Director Emeritus Riccardo Muti led the Chicagoans in smoldering Bellini, vividly realized Verdi and revitalized Tchaikovsky.

The American soprano heads an uneven cast in Michael Mayer’s archeologically inspired staging of Verdi’s great tale of love, war and betrayal.

Semyon Bychkov and the much-lauded ensemble are joined at Carnegie Hall by Yo-Yo Ma in dazzling performances from the Czech repertoire. 

Rising conductor Kazuki Yamada conducts a clear, forthright and flowing account of Rachmaninov's Second Symphony. 

The star violinist and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra bring their two-night traversal of Mozart’s complete works for violin and orchestra to a stunning conclusion.

The Moldavan-born violinist dazzles in a generous, emotion-laden program led by the LPO's Principal Conductor, Edward Gardner. 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in a multifaceted performance of Mahler’s monumental, life-affirming score.

After a heavily promoted but underwhelming opening night, the company gets the new season back on track with plenty of star power in Offenbach’s final masterpiece.